flint knives

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nomadbushcraft

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a couple of my flint knives,

Hope you like them:
 

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ChrisKavanaugh

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I've posted before ( collective group yawn) about excavating a Wyoming Folsum site and cutting my hand open on the still deadly edge. I once cataloged a lithic collection for an estate. A gemnologist happened to be at the home looking at an equally impressive jewelry collection. He looked at the materials and made a comment no one in archaeology seems to have pondered. " You know, whoever made this had a cutter's eye. He probably looked at several rocks, read what was inside and chose his striking point with the same care as a master diamond cutter."
 

Toddy

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Jan 21, 2005
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S. Lanarkshire
ChrisKavanaugh said:
I've posted before ( collective group yawn) about excavating a Wyoming Folsum site and cutting my hand open on the still deadly edge. I once cataloged a lithic collection for an estate. A gemnologist happened to be at the home looking at an equally impressive jewelry collection. He looked at the materials and made a comment no one in archaeology seems to have pondered. " You know, whoever made this had a cutter's eye. He probably looked at several rocks, read what was inside and chose his striking point with the same care as a master diamond cutter."

It's not a yawn Chris, I hadn't heard it before :) and I'm sure many others haven't either. We don't usually find big pieces of flint in Scotland, but like your jewellery expert I too have wondered at the skill needed to pick out a viable stone and turn it into useable flakes. I have found some of the tiny little mesolithic cores left when whoever had worked it finally gave up. The cores were smaller than the stone inside a plum by then. The little flakes themselves were beautifully worked, and as you said, still sharp enough to slice an unwary finger :(

Andrew your knives are fascinating, I'm sorry I won't get to the meeting.

Cheers,
Toddy
 
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nomadbushcraft

Guest
thanks guys, when using surface flint I check each nodule gives a ringing sound when tapped (gets some strrange looks at the beach or pit) this indiccates that the silica isn't faceted or shattered iside due to weathering or kinetic stress.

once a blade core is prepared, i strike the flakes using an antler punch, shaping, abdrading and flaking with stones and antler billets. My knives are extremely sharp I test each knife before I am happy with it.

I use manilla rope and leather as test mediums, if it can cut these it'll skin, prepare fireboard notches etc with ease.

I have butchered several elk with my knives over the years and they do everything except split the pelvis (which can be done with a stone axe) the more I use these tools the more I understand how effective they actually are.

andrew
 

ChrisKavanaugh

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When I was knapping in university to learn more about lithics I read a theory that some stones had been further tempered much like steel to tighten the grain. I had ( and still do) a desire for a classic aechulian handaxe in flint. A black powder dealer had imported a quantity of flints fom Grimes Graves and I purchased a few dozen. I had them all arranged for a weekend of fun. My roommate saw the reference to fire tempering and decided to help me along. Into the oven they went and he maxed it out @ 450 F :eek: Luckily no one was about when they exploded, punching out the tempered glass door and imbedding deeply into the cement wall.
 

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