How to flint knapp

[nameless]

Hi lads

Justa question for you knappers out there, james bought me a flint knapping kit at the wilderness gathering just gone, so pretty much can anyone tell us on how to get started because at the moment i just have a rock which i'm quite unsure of how to break. So general pointers to well really anything would be of great use

Cheers
Adam

 

[Grooveski]

Check out PaleoPlanet , in the knapping section there's a ton of advice and examples. In some places it's hard to tell where knapping becomes art but rest assured everyone there is tolerant of beginners.

Read through the old posts and you'll get endless tips and ideas. Keep your eye open for Stonefacescar's diagrams, he has an amazing way of describing things. His description of how to whack off an initial flake is on this thread.
Some folk can pick it up from books but the general opinion is that being shown how to do it is better. After a year of creating gravel I've taken the advice given here and booked a session with John Lord. I'm looking forward to it already as I know fine well I'll learn more in a day than I would in a lifetime sitting here smashing up perfectly good rock.

 

[Exbomz]

I will second that advice - a session with John will set you on the right path a lot faster than DIY.

http://www.flintknapping.co.uk/

 

[nameless]

cheers lads i'll get cracking on it.

Cheers
Adam

 

[Gail]

I did a session with John and Will Lord last November - one of those things that looks easy when the experts do it - good luck with it - I managed a very impressive pile of dust after 8 hours hard graft !

 

[stevo]

I live in Edinburgh, Scotland, want to get into flintknapping....anyone know of any good places arround to get me hands on some good rock??


cheers

 

[Grooveski]

Up by Peterhead is the main source. Can't say what it's like as I've not been. I stopped by one day but was just quickly searching the beach and didn't find much. Later found out that the seam is up by the fish farm at Sandfordhill above Stirling village. That site is protected but flint can apparently be found in the surrounding area as well.

I've been using pitchstone from the beach at Corrigills, just south of Brodick on Arran. There's a regular little cliff of the stuff runs along the coast for a couple of hundred metres then off out into the sea, and most of the shore is black glass boulders from from fist size to about 3m high.

The next time I'm over I'm going to try to get to another seam, partway down the cliff at Drumadoon on the west coast of the island. I'm hoping it's the source of another type of pitchstone, light green in colour and by the looks of things it fractures nicely.

There's Jasper in the Campsies, not a great deal of it by the sounds of it. I've got one circle on a map up near Birkenburn Reserviour and another in the gully below the quarry in Kilsyth. Just circles on maps though, haven't checked them out yet.

On the whole, flint can usualy be found where chalk is, but I've never spotted much chalk in Scotland(Don't have a decent Geology map of up here).

Here's the couple of links that got me going.

http://www.soton.ac.uk/~imw/Geology-Britain.htm
http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/onlinedb/maccull/machome1.htm

 

[rich59]

I don't think there is any chalk in Scotland - Chalk is a young sedimentary rock found really only in the SE of England. Scotland has much older rocks. Next time you take a trip to London we can find you some flint either in our clay or chalk.

 

[Toddy]

I live in Edinburgh, Scotland, want to get into flintknapping....anyone know of any good places arround to get me hands on some good rock??


cheers

Have a look at this thread

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=4900&highlight=chert

and if you're really keen speak to Troy; he sourced some from Boddam for the first Scottish meet. He's a bit ( major understatement there ) busy right now though.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Grooveski]

Those Leadhills chert deposits sound interesting. While Raven Gill itself is protected under sssi it's only a 7 acre site. The rest of the Glencaple valley is open and it sounds as though chert is quite widely spread around the area.
Looks like a jaunt down to Abington is on the cards.

Another site worth mentioning is Pike 'o' Stickle in Langdale, Cumbria. It's right up the top of the hill but the view is a cracker and the volcanic tuff which was mined there is amazing stuff.
If anyone was looking at the the greenstone axes and adze lying by the leather table at the meet, that's what they were made of.