Using Jasper as a flint substitute

[underground]

Hi, can anyone tell me whether Jasper is a suitable rock to use as a flint? It was mentioned by Val Lord as a stone which can be fashioned in a similar way to flint, and since I have a big lump I thought I may try it with a steel.

However as I'm not sure if it will spark, I'd rather not break the piece up unneccesarily.

I don't know how to knap flint yet so I don't mind keeping the lump intact till I can...

Ta!

 

[Motorbike Man]

I could be wrong, but I wouldn't have thought that Jasper would be hard enough to strike a spark on. What sort of Jasper do you have, can you describe it? If I get the chance, I'll pick up a piece at work and give it a whirl

 

[underground]

Hi MM, hmm how can I describe it? It's came from a quarry above Porth Oer on the Lleyn peninsula, the quarrying being for the purpose of providing decorative stone.

It's almost sedimentary in appearance having linear planes and sharp corners- it looks nowt like a flint nodule. There's a bit of an ochrous deposit on it too.

A pebble I found on the beach has a similar deep red appearance to the quarry stone, and is 'marbled' with white and black veins....

 

[Toddy]

Jasper has been used in the past for edged tools, it is often considered to be a form of chert, but was used only in areas where there were no other suitable materials
see
http://www.scotgem.demon.co.uk/jasper.html

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[underground]

Thanks Toddy- I didn't know it was a form of quartz (not got round to reading my book yet). Hopefully I'll do something with it one day....

 

[Motorbike Man]

Hi MM, hmm how can I describe it? It's came from a quarry above Porth Oer on the Lleyn peninsula, the quarrying being for the purpose of providing decorative stone.

It's almost sedimentary in appearance having linear planes and sharp corners- it looks nowt like a flint nodule. There's a bit of an ochrous deposit on it too.

A pebble I found on the beach has a similar deep red appearance to the quarry stone, and is 'marbled' with white and black veins....

Sounds either like a Red or Brecciated Jasper, I'll give it a go and let you know, although I'm not too hopeful. Some Jaspers would be better for this than others

 

[R-Bowskill]

Jasper Flint and Chert are all closely related and tend to grade into ine another to some extent so a good quality piece of jasper can be better than a low quality flint.

 

[Realgar]

I've made arrowheads out of bloodstone which is just another form of jasper. It pressure flakes well but getting a suitable piece off the main block was a bit hit and miss.