I guess that I'm pretty well "preaching to the converted" here, but I thought I would just post a review of the wonderful day I had last Friday. My partner and I had a days flint knapping instruction with John Lord and we both had a great day doing so. John and his wife Val greeted us at their home (once we found it!) and invited us in for a cuppa before we started the instructional bit of the day. Once outside we sat and watched in awe as John produced the most incredible axe head from a large flint nodule, giving instructions and explanations of what he was doing as he went along. As my only experience of any sort of flint work prior to this was cracking a flint a good-un with something else to see if I could get a sharp bit I was amazed at the way a flake of flint could be removed from the main piece by design. Its form and function becoming ever more obvious as the flint became an axe head in Johns skilled hands.
Once we had finished ogling the axe head, John produced a grapefruit sized blade core. After explaining and demonstrating how blades could be flaked from the core it was our turn to try. The satisfaction of having a piece of rock break just where you wanted it to is something that can only be understood by those that have done it. Passing it between us we whittled the core down to a fraction of its original size and John decided it was time for us to get a little more adventurous with our efforts.
Trepidation set in as we sat and looked at the virginous flint in our laps. Would it simply shatter at the first blow or could we, by some miracle, actually hope to produce anything worthwhile from it? With Johns patient and detailed instruction we started to shape the flint into what we called hand axes. I guess that in all fairness, anyone who was any good at knapping would have called them "Sort of wedge shaped triangular things", but hey, they were our first attempts and we were (and still are) damned proud of them !
Johns quiet voice would correct our mistakes often before we made them. The guy knows more about this knapping lark than you'd believe, and was often able to correct a mistake before it ever happened, probably saving the work-piece from joining the ever growing pile of flint debris around our feet. We stopped for lunch (A lovely home baked quiche... Thank you Val!) then started to experiment a little with our newly gained and very limited knowledge. Sandy worked on making a smaller hand axe, her confidence growing as John watched and helped along the way whilst I decided that i would try for a spear point. Sandys efforts were well rewarded with a lovely minature version of the larger axe she had made before lunch, and I managed to make a pointy thing
Pressure flaking proved harder than either of us had thought it would be, but I was helped along by John and actually managed to make a barbed arrow point which I shall forever be proud of.
As if to emphasize his skill (in a completely natural and non-boastful manner) John then showed us what a true master of the art he is by almost casually knapping one of the days earlier and larger flakes into a beautiful oval, leaf-shaped blade. This blade he gave to Sandy as a gift and she has already started looking for a suitable way to mount it for display in the house she is so happy with it.
Before leaving we were taken up to a local quarry where John showed us how to choose the most worthwhile flint for knapping. John and I each made 2 trips back to the car with arms full of the big nodules. I loaded them into the boot making sure to note the few decent bits I had found against the greater quantity that John had collected before we went back to the house for a final cuppa. Arriving there we went to unload and sort the flint only for John to say that he only needed the one piece (for a demo he was to do the following day) and that we could keep the rest ! This demonstrated the mans generosity as well, I suspect, that he realised we need the practice
All in all, we both had a wonderful day learning something new from a man who obviously knows his art inside out and back to front, a master of his craft and a true gentleman.
Anyone who knows about knapping will know that John Lord is the man with the knowledge and skill. Anyone who doesn't know about knapping but would like to would do very well indeed to book themselves a day with Mr Lord and rest assured that they will be in the hands of a true master and an excellent tutor.
Oh, and before you go, you might like to practice your aim. Whacking your own thigh-bone as hard as you can with about 2 lbs of antler hurts! (Don't bother to ask how I know ), and I think Sandy's thumb will be OK when the bruise goes down......
Once we had finished ogling the axe head, John produced a grapefruit sized blade core. After explaining and demonstrating how blades could be flaked from the core it was our turn to try. The satisfaction of having a piece of rock break just where you wanted it to is something that can only be understood by those that have done it. Passing it between us we whittled the core down to a fraction of its original size and John decided it was time for us to get a little more adventurous with our efforts.
Trepidation set in as we sat and looked at the virginous flint in our laps. Would it simply shatter at the first blow or could we, by some miracle, actually hope to produce anything worthwhile from it? With Johns patient and detailed instruction we started to shape the flint into what we called hand axes. I guess that in all fairness, anyone who was any good at knapping would have called them "Sort of wedge shaped triangular things", but hey, they were our first attempts and we were (and still are) damned proud of them !
Johns quiet voice would correct our mistakes often before we made them. The guy knows more about this knapping lark than you'd believe, and was often able to correct a mistake before it ever happened, probably saving the work-piece from joining the ever growing pile of flint debris around our feet. We stopped for lunch (A lovely home baked quiche... Thank you Val!) then started to experiment a little with our newly gained and very limited knowledge. Sandy worked on making a smaller hand axe, her confidence growing as John watched and helped along the way whilst I decided that i would try for a spear point. Sandys efforts were well rewarded with a lovely minature version of the larger axe she had made before lunch, and I managed to make a pointy thing
Pressure flaking proved harder than either of us had thought it would be, but I was helped along by John and actually managed to make a barbed arrow point which I shall forever be proud of.
As if to emphasize his skill (in a completely natural and non-boastful manner) John then showed us what a true master of the art he is by almost casually knapping one of the days earlier and larger flakes into a beautiful oval, leaf-shaped blade. This blade he gave to Sandy as a gift and she has already started looking for a suitable way to mount it for display in the house she is so happy with it.
Before leaving we were taken up to a local quarry where John showed us how to choose the most worthwhile flint for knapping. John and I each made 2 trips back to the car with arms full of the big nodules. I loaded them into the boot making sure to note the few decent bits I had found against the greater quantity that John had collected before we went back to the house for a final cuppa. Arriving there we went to unload and sort the flint only for John to say that he only needed the one piece (for a demo he was to do the following day) and that we could keep the rest ! This demonstrated the mans generosity as well, I suspect, that he realised we need the practice
All in all, we both had a wonderful day learning something new from a man who obviously knows his art inside out and back to front, a master of his craft and a true gentleman.
Anyone who knows about knapping will know that John Lord is the man with the knowledge and skill. Anyone who doesn't know about knapping but would like to would do very well indeed to book themselves a day with Mr Lord and rest assured that they will be in the hands of a true master and an excellent tutor.
Oh, and before you go, you might like to practice your aim. Whacking your own thigh-bone as hard as you can with about 2 lbs of antler hurts! (Don't bother to ask how I know
), and I think Sandy's thumb will be OK when the bruise goes down......
