First attempt at knapping

[NMSbowhunter]

I baked some rocks the other day to heat treat them since I had some wood around the yard that needed burning anyway. I knocked a few good flakes off one and pressure flaked out this little "bird point", as they are often called. I used a deer antler to do the pressure flaking. I've been watching a lot about primitive hunting, mostly Hunt Primitive on Youtube (Ryan Gill's channel) and the idea of making a self-bow, some river cane arrows and using stone points really intrigues me. I bought a copy of his book The Secrets and Science of Primitive Archery and it is very interesting.

Anyway, here is the little point. I was going for the triangular "Mississippian" style point. It is a bit small, even for what it is. Don't be too critical, remember, it is my first attempt, lol.

Man, this may be an all new rabbit hole.

 

[Horn]

Very cool! Maybe this is a silly question, but how would/ do you attach those to an arrow?

They look pretty good to me!

 

[NMSbowhunter]

According to Ryan Gill's book, these little triangular points were glued with pine pitch into the end of a rivercane arrow shaft or even a smaller foreshaft. The shaft would just be notched out and then reinforced below where the base of the point would be with sinew. These little triangular points could be made pretty fast out of left over flakes. If they were shot into animals and the point broke or just fell out and was lost, a new one could be fitted just by warming the pitch and putting in a new head. They were sort of easy, semi disposable points, so the theory goes.

I have one of the originals in my small collection of points. Below is an original I found.

 

[Phopkins]

That looks pretty good to my admittedly inexperienced eye. Good luck

 

[BTaylor]

Off to a good start looks like to me.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

Ok, well I did some more knapping after receiving a box of Edwards Plateau Chert in the mail this morning. First thing I stink at is spalling flakes from rocks. I may end up reducing these rocks to driveway gravel, but that is how I will learn, lol. I have to go watch some videos tonight and try and pick up some pointers. One pointer i did learn the hard way is not to spall chert wearing shorts. The blood has stopped, lol.

I did end up getting a few nice flakes off the rock and I took one and knapped it down into a respectable (for me) Madison point. I like these little late Mississippian points, having found a real one years ago. It is about 1/2 inch wide and about 3/4 inch long. I did get it good and sharp with a fine pointed pressure flaker I made.

Another point I am interested in is the Bayou Goula. It is a small fish shaped point.

I also broke a point this morning I was working on. It was heat treated gravel. Man, I was close, but it was just too thick on that one side.

 

[BTaylor]

Off to a great start!!

 

[NMSbowhunter]

Ok, another attempt at knapping a point this morning. This one is about 3/4 wide and 1 1/2 inch long. This one was challenging, and I was able to work through some obstacles like edge crushing and a turtle back. It is thicker than I would like at about 3/8" at the thickest part. This is also the largest point I have made so far. All in all though, it worked out. I am seeing steady improvement and I don't feel like I am just whacking away at a rock anymore, lol. I think there is some minute skill beginning to develop. This is fun!

 

[NMSbowhunter]

Another triangular point (largest), and the points together that I made yesterday and today.

 

[BTaylor]

Another triangular point (largest), and the points together that I made yesterday and today.

Looks nothing like the gravel I would make. Making awesome progress!!

 

[dalton916]

Yeah, man, looking good keep at it then come busting in here like Ric Flair when you kill a deer with one of em!

 

[NMSbowhunter]

Looks nothing like the gravel I would make. Making awesome progress!!

You would catch on pretty quickly. I made a lot of gravel so far.

 

[sweats]

Knapping is extremely difficult. Way harder than you'd think if you've never tried it.

Those points look better than anything I ever managed.

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[NMSbowhunter]

Knapping is extremely difficult. Way harder than you'd think if you've never tried it.

Those points look better than anything I ever managed.

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Thanks! Yes, it is a lot harder than it looks but I'm finding it is all about technique and learning a few principles and repeating them. One is recognizing a platform when I see it and thinking about where a flake will go when it breaks. The other is the importance of grinding the edge before you try to run a flake. It is just starting to click for me, but I have a long way to go for sure.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

I took a little break for a few days due to being very busy. I resumed knapping on a problem stone this morning and somewhat rescued it. Sometimes I just have to put something down and revisit it later. This was my first semi-successful attempt to make a Bayou Goula point. The back is kind of rough and the tail end would have turned out better, but it ended up being made out of a chalkier part of the rock that did not flake well at all. It is 1 7/8 long and 3/4 at the widest. It is still too fat, and I really need to work on my thinning.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

I made what I consider to be an Atlatl sized point today out of Edwards Plateau chert. The stone has several inclusions running throughout it that made knapping a real pain, and I could not get those spots to thin out. That said, many of the points I have found over the years have been pretty crude and blunt. I imagine that many of the ones we find together were rejects or practice for some novice Knapper in pre-history.

It was good practice, but I would not hunt with this point. 2 5/8 long and 1 1/8 wide.

 

[sweats]

Are you planning to hunt with stone tipped arrows at some point? I was just curious.

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[NMSbowhunter]

Are you planning to hunt with stone tipped arrows at some point? I was just curious.

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I am hoping too, yes.

 

[Bosey95]

This is seriously impressive! Job well done, I’ll definitely be keeping up with this thread.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

This is seriously impressive! Job well done, I’ll definitely be keeping up with this thread.

Thanks. I've been watching several Youtube channels, Ryan Gill's Huntprimitive, Jack Crafty, learningtoflintknap, and lithics and leather. I've gotten good tips on the process from all these guys, but nothing beats hands on experience. The main thing is not to be afraid to make junk or break points that seem to be going well. When they break, toss them aside and start over.