An Arrowhead I Made

Hey Johnny,

Thanks! Yeah, it was about the same size as the rough piece in the pic. However, I maintained most of the length. I actually got lucky with this one. Sometimes you get a really "chunky" piece of rough and most of it gets wasted. All the flakes removed from this were smaller than a dime.

Looks like a pro made it to me James !!

You're a very talented man!!

As for posting the pic's of it let me say this.

I like to think of this group as the whole bunch of us sitting in a room,helping each other ,sipping a cup of coffee,jawing and showing off our treasures.

Be they our back yards,cats,dogs,jewelry or the Northern Lights,,,,,and maybe even a tumble polished rock thrown in here and there.

It's what makes our group warm and special,,,,,,,,

Just a bunch of friends enjoying each other's company!!

Thanks,,,,,,,,,,,

Tom

Thats superb - total art James.

Its something else I've always wanted to try.

Again - total art, seems to me like you are one of those lucky people with A1 hand to eye coordination.

Much appreciated - cheers for the photos.

Andy.

I actually erruted into laughter after I read this part. You know, I really wish I was. If I was as interested in school as much as I am in my hobbies, I'd have a much larger bank account by now. Instead, I slave away at a Weyerhaesuer paper containerboard factory.

Thanks again for all the interest guys!

Let me see where to begin. First of all, people have writen extensive books on this topic, so I'll try and scale it down the best I can.

Tools:

The Indians use primarily stone and bone tools. Hammerstones and Deer antlers where most often used. Modern knappers prefer Moose antler because they are larger. Basically there are three major types of tools.

1. Hammerstone. This is basically a river pebble or other solid quartz type stone (round or angular) used to break into large pieces of material.

2. Billet. Billets are either antler, bone or wood batons used for more accurate flake removal.

3. Pressure flaker. A pressure flaker is a pointed antler tine used for "prying" off flakes.

There are also a number of other tools as well; such as punches, notching tools and wedges. The three mentioned above are the basic necessities.

There are also modern tools such as copper billets, pressure flakers, nails etc... You don't want to use steel. Steel tools cause fractures and shouldn't be used.

Materials:

Materials for knapping range from flint, chert, jasper, agate, and petrified wood to obsidian. The best materials are flint and obsidian. Chert, agate and jasper usually need to be heat treated to make the material "knappable." Good, solid petrified (opalized) wood is often hard to come by, but requires no heat treatment. In fact heat treating would ruin it.

All material must be free of fractures or it is usless! You also need a large amount of raw material in order to get a point. the point in the pic is only about 3-1/4 to 3-1/2 inches long and 1/4 inch thick!

Technique:

How do you turn a rough, blocky piece of stone into a sharp, thin, symmetrical point, capable of taking down a large animal?

That is a hard question to answer and it would take litterally pages literature to explain. I'll do my best...

First of all, you need to turn that rough block into a flat preform or "blank." You do this by setting up a series of "platforms." A platform is an angled striking area on the stone. This is essential. You cannot knock flakes off of steep or "square" surfaces! After you've setup a striking platform, use a billet to shear off flakes. Continue this pattern of platform preperation and flake removal untill the piece is down to a rough preform of the point that you're attempting to make. Another CRITICAL step in platform preperation is abrading. You use an abrading stone such as sandstone or carborundum (silicon carbide) to remove the sharp edges off your preform. If you try to strike a sharp edge, the preform will "crush." Crushing is what happens when the flake doesn't detach but rather shatters unevenly and often leaves a "hinge" or "step" fracture (Hang-up in the stone).

Once you've completed your preform, you're ready for pressure flaking. This is done by prying off smaller flakes using an antler tine. You do this for your touch up work and to remove those hard to get flakes. Striking flakes off with a billet is refered to as percussion flaking.

Finally, there's "notching." This is the step where (you guessed it) the notches are made on the base. This can also be done with a pressure flaker or a punch (a small antler tine, struck with a billet.) This technique is known as indirect percussion.

Now, as far as what I do with my finished points, I don't know. Perhaps when I have enough of them, I'll display them in a case or picture frame. Maybe with some other authentic looking Indian artifacts. I only have a few good points so far. And believe me, there were plenty of absolute disasters!!!

You know, this hobby can be a really hard one to grasp at first but just hang in there. The only way to learn is by your mistaks. You will get frustrated. You will doubt yourself. You will get impatient and ruin a few nice pieces. But just keep practicing. Like I said, I've only been doing this for a few weeks. I felt like giving up after the first day! Just hang in there.

Thanks again to all who replied. I hope this little essay will help you out if you decide to take up this hobby.

You'll really have to get a book and/or video on the subject though. If you're interest, go here to my buddy D.C's website. Tell him I sent you while you're at it www.moundbuilderbooks.com

Hey Andy, if you ever want to give knapping a try, just remember one thing. Britain is known for its superb British flint. I remember you mentioned once that there are no good rocks in Britain. There is now.

James, looks to me like you did an excellent job.

I don't, or should I say didn't, know a bit about knapping until your tutorial. Now I know a bit more. Interesting. Sounds really hard and time consuming to me! I think I will just stick to tumbling, my rock and wood projects and learning how to make stuff with my beads.

I have collected several good size chunks of flint with you in mind. I will take some pics of them tomorrow and send them by IM for you to take a look at.

llana

Wowser, James! Great job and great tutorial. What we need now are pics in progress and pics showing how the tools are held and used. I love flint (chert) and would love to really learn how to knap it. You Da Man, James, and now you've stepped it up a notch ;D

cookie

Wow James! Looks great. I saw something on PBS not long ago, Scientific Frontiers with Alan Alda I think, and they did a segment on arrowheads. Pretty cool stuff. You can have a decent piece going, then hit the stone the wrong way, and, poof! Start over.
Excellent job.

Ed

Holy Cow James!

That looks great, are you planning on selling them?

There are a couple of people on eBay that knap arrow-heads and they have a tendancy to sell quite well.

Awesome!

John

Dang, only a few weeks, wow, are you doin classes or somthin. i wish i could do that after just a few weeks it took me about a year do do that