Knapping with John Lord

[Tony]

The weekend has come and gone, but what a great weekend.
Many thanks to John and Val Lord for a fantastic weekend of knapping. Some great pieces were produce and all of us learnt great respect for the exceptional skill John has as well as the art of knapping itself :super:

It was good to meet new people as well as there were a few that I didn’t know before the weekend, we all had a great time and some good friends were made. :You_Rock_

We’ll get some pictures up soon and I’ve some books to put in the shop for anyone interested. It’s a great pastime, very rewarding, although very frustrating at times. I would recommend that everyone give it a try, even Stuart made something very nice, in the end

 

[Kim]

Sounds like it was really good Tony. I'd like to give flint knapping a try in the future.

Looking forward to seeing the piccies.

 

[greg2935]

I did a (very short) one day tutorial with him as part of Ray Mears primitive technology course, the thing I was amazed a was the skill required to be able to produce even very simple tools. I would have liked to spend longer with him as there is so much to learn, bet you learned a lot.

Greg

 

[shinobi]

That was a very hard decision I had to make about what to do over the weekend. Ashdown or flint knapping ? It's like buses I tell you

Glad you had fun.

Martin

 

[Rob]

Big thanks to all those who sorted out the Flint Knapping. It was an excellent weekend - and we slept inside.

I hope your good lady liked your creations Tony

 

[Ed]

I'm gutted to have missed it... oh well maybe next time..... Did any of you get some pics of the things you knapped (as opposed to photos of people sitting around drinking tea)?


Ed

 

[den]

Big thanks to all those who sorted out the Flint Knapping. It was an excellent weekend

I'll second that. Thanks everyone. :You_Rock_

A really big thanks to John and Val. :notworthy :notworthy

 

[Rhapsody]

John Lord? I thought you were talking about Deep Purple's organist .

Anyway, did the course help you? I've never knapped before and would love to learn but haven't a clue where to start... not being a driver, courses are awkward to get to but if it'd set me on the right track then I might find it to be worth it!

 

[den]

Anyway, did the course help you?

Big time. I've tried knapping on my own plenty of times without much success. You can learn more with John and Val in ten minutes than years of reading books.
John’s demonstrations were truly amazing. I'd do another course anytime.

 

[Richie]

Yes great course, John made it look so easy. Yet it is one of the hardess things I have done yet.

I managed a few scrapers mind I think Stewart had a few of them as well

Richie :biggthump

 

[Tony]

I think Stewart had a few of them as well

Richie :biggthump

A few?? :rolmao:

 

[Buckshot]

I'm sorry I could only make a flying visit on Sunday morning.
John did a quick demo for me, it's amazing how good he is and how easy he makes it look - bash, bash, bash there you go :shock: Wow.

It was good to see some familiar faces again, some from last years meet up and some from DG's Hunter course. :super:

It's the first time I've been mistaken for a lord of the manor ! :?: I think Val was a bit dissapointed when she found out I wasn't anything special.

Cheers

Mark

 

[Stuart]

John and val were fantastic, not just good teachers but extremely warm and friendly people too.

the first day I was utterly confused and succeeded only it making large rocks progressively smaller until there was nothing left.

on the second day I had a 10 minute one to one with John and it all became wonderfully clear. :notworthy

 

[Stuart]

OK I thought I would get some pictures up

John and val teaching the art of flint knapping:

A group pic of everyone on the weekend:

I think everyone managed to make some really nice tools (and lots of scrapers) on the weekend.

with a great deal of help from john on the moring of the second day I made a flint axe.

a picture of me burning the hole for the axe head to fit:

John showing me how to fit the axe head:

the finnished products the axe and a flint knife I also made on the weekend:

the first three pictures were taken by roving rich.

 

[Buckshot]

So Stuart, how did you fix the blade to the axe handle?

Great pics BTW :biggthump

Cheers

Mark

 

[Stuart]

So Stuart, how did you fix the blade to the axe handle?

Great pics BTW :biggthump

Cheers

Mark

the axe head is tapered with the narrow end driven into the handle, so the more its used the firmer the head is forced into the handle.

I have also whipped the handle with cordage to help prevent it splitting.

the knife blade is also held by friction (its driven into the handle) and glued with resin.

the pictures were taken by roving rich

 

[tenbears10]

Guys do John and Val have a website and do they run courses which you can just book on or is it all specials like the bcuk one?

Thanks

Bill

 

[hootchi]

Here it is mate

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

:biggthump

 

[tenbears10]

Ta Hootchi. Some interesting pictures on his recent courses

 

[hootchi]

Oh yes I see them. Someone with a pencil behind his ear looks very pleased with himself. ): :biggthump