jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Apr 2, 2017 2:52:18 GMT -5
Black flint from England is high quality and fracture free tumbling material. Good one for the tumbler. Pieces given to me at a spearhead knapping get together. Same flint knapped for a flintlock gun (gun flints) on Ebay for $15. Looks like obsidian, but much easier to tumble polish. www.ebay.com/itm/Original-XIX-century-Musket-Flintlock-Flints-set-of-4-pieces-no-4-/302268943403?hash=item4660a20c2b:g:9gIAAOSwA3dYiJzPA master making gun flints from a core English flint is pure and workable. A true flint. Raises question of what flint is. " The exact mode of formation of flint is not yet clear but it is thought that it occurs as a result of chemical changes in compressed sedimentary rock formations, during the process of diagenesis. One hypothesis is that a gelatinous material fills cavities in the sediment, such as holes bored by crustaceans or molluscs and that this becomes silicified. This hypothesis certainly explains the complex shapes of flint nodules that are found. The source of dissolved silica in the porous media could be the spicules of silicious sponges(DIATOMS).[3] Certain types of flint, such as that from the south coast of England, contain trapped fossilised marine flora. Pieces of coral and vegetation have been found preserved like amber inside the flint. Thin slices of the stone often reveal this effect."
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metalsmith
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Post by metalsmith on Apr 2, 2017 3:47:05 GMT -5
This appears to be very dark (/black) flint typical of Norfolk area, East Anglia. Some more info on a previous post here after I 'discovered' it (only 2 to 4,000-odd years after the stone-age really valued this material.
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metalsmith
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Post by metalsmith on Apr 2, 2017 3:53:39 GMT -5
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Apr 2, 2017 7:08:39 GMT -5
This appears to be very dark (/black) flint typical of Norfolk area, East Anglia. Some more info on a previous post here after I 'discovered' it (only 2 to 4,000-odd years after the stone-age really valued this material. The guys making arrowheads here in the south US are impressed with the UK flint. Probably the highest quality natural knapping material on earth metalsmith. It is silicified the same way our coastal plain chert and coral is by dissolved diatoms. The Flint River in s Georgia USA is paved with a similar grade but it is called chert. Chert-flint, not sure what differentiates the two. They are both chalk coated as is our coral. The source of silica is thin porous easily dissolvable silica skeletons of fossil diatom bedrock. add chemicals and ph changes for perfect recipe to make chert.
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metalsmith
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Post by metalsmith on Apr 2, 2017 7:22:05 GMT -5
This appears to be very dark (/black) flint typical of Norfolk area, East Anglia. Some more info on a previous post here after I 'discovered' it (only 2 to 4,000-odd years after the stone-age really valued this material. The guys making arrowheads here in the south US are impressed with the UK flint. Probably the highest quality natural knapping material on earth metalsmith. It is silicified the same way our coastal plain chert and coral is by dissolved diatoms. The Flint River in s Georgia USA is paved with a similar grade but it is called chert. Chert-flint, not sure what differentiates the two. They are both chalk coated as is our coral. The source of silica is thin porous easily dissolvable silica skeletons of fossil diatom bedrock. add chemicals and ph changes for perfect recipe to make chert. As per linked thread the black flint was viewed as the best thing in the world (its just that the known world was smaller). So much so that when the archaeologists turned up black flint from far-afield, they had to re-evaluate their model of communication and trading for the period. Previously they thought that wood/mud-huts were about as far as technology had evolved. Suddenly they find that Norfolk black flint stone equipment had really travelled so if there was travel then there must have been travellers, communication, trade and much wider interaction than previously postulated.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Apr 2, 2017 8:58:10 GMT -5
metalsmithThere are ship ballast piles along the shores of the barrier islands off the Eastern US. Many of them are Norfolk black flint. The English used to get mast poles off the barrier islands. Southern long leaf pine poles, monster logs. 100' long 3' at base, 2' at tip. 120' long 4' at base, 3' at tip. Bodacious British sailing machines.
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Post by 1dave on Apr 2, 2017 9:34:40 GMT -5
metalsmithThere are ship ballast piles along the shores of the barrier islands off the Eastern US. Many of them are Norfolk black flint. The English used to get mast poles off the barrier islands. Southern long leaf pine poles, monster logs. 100' long 3' at base, 2' at tip. 120' long 4' at base, 3' at tip. Bodacious British sailing machines. Labradorite was also used as ship ballast and dumped in many areas.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Apr 2, 2017 10:44:48 GMT -5
metalsmithThere are ship ballast piles along the shores of the barrier islands off the Eastern US. Many of them are Norfolk black flint. The English used to get mast poles off the barrier islands. Southern long leaf pine poles, monster logs. 100' long 3' at base, 2' at tip. 120' long 4' at base, 3' at tip. Bodacious British sailing machines. Labradorite was also used as ship ballast and dumped in many areas. Perhaps from Madagascar Dave ?
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metalsmith
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Post by metalsmith on Apr 2, 2017 12:52:11 GMT -5
Labradorite was also used as ship ballast and dumped in many areas. Perhaps from Madagascar Dave ? Probably from Norway. There's a load off the East coast of England not far from Hull. Larvikite I believe it is called as a stone containing the labradorescence that 1dave describes. Likelihood is that it has been used as ballast since the Viking times.
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Post by 1dave on Apr 2, 2017 17:48:18 GMT -5
Also from Labrador itself.
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Post by spiceman on Apr 2, 2017 19:40:31 GMT -5
On a flintlock gun. The flint scraps off .002 of metal to make the spark, it's not flint making the spark it's a small shaving of metal. Flint is hard enough and sharp enough to do that. That's why you see little digs where the flint strikes.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Apr 3, 2017 5:42:00 GMT -5
On a flintlock gun. The flint scraps off .002 of metal to make the spark, it's not flint making the spark it's a small shaving of metal. Flint is hard enough and sharp enough to do that. That's why you see little digs where the flint strikes. Yep, it be the metal that makes the fire spice. This fire starter is a good example, uses magnesium. Works like a charm.
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Wooferhound
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Post by Wooferhound on Apr 3, 2017 7:24:45 GMT -5
My Next Wife is from very near Norfolk. She says that whole buildings are made from flint in that area. My favorite place to go rockhounding is a large stream about 10 miles away called the Flint Fiver. Here is my next wife and the Flint River . . .
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Post by spiceman on Apr 3, 2017 20:07:23 GMT -5
My Next Wife is from very near Norfolk. She says that whole buildings are made from flint in that area. My favorite place to go rockhounding is a large stream about 10 miles away called the Flint Fiver. Here is my next wife and the Flint River . . .
She must be talking to a bear and pointing over there saying,"that guy is a good man try him first". :)) Joking, have a good day.
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Wooferhound
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Post by Wooferhound on Apr 4, 2017 7:06:05 GMT -5
She must be talking to a bear and pointing over there saying,"that guy is a good man try him first". Joking, have a good day. That is exactly something that she would say
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Apr 4, 2017 7:44:39 GMT -5
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Fossilman
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 4, 2017 9:42:41 GMT -5
Now that is some nice Flint-HOLY MOLLY!!!!!!!
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Apr 5, 2017 3:42:20 GMT -5
Now that is some nice Flint-HOLY MOLLY!!!!!!! The knappers were sending off 5 inch super thin flakes with that stuff Michael. They were ordering MFRB's from some guy in England. One of the kids knapping it kept saying he was 'abo' knapping. Meaning he was not using sawn slabs but knapping like the aboriginals do it. Not using a preform cut on a saw.
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Wooferhound
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Post by Wooferhound on Apr 5, 2017 8:18:07 GMT -5
The Flint river runs down the middle of Madison county Alabama and empties into the Tennessee river Southeast of Huntsville. It's fairly small and you have to zoom in on a map to see it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_River_(Alabama)
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Apr 5, 2017 10:10:24 GMT -5
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