Flint Knapping: Tools

What Do You Really Need To Start Flintknapping?

Wyatt R. Knapp © copyright 2003.

Pictures of Modern Tools from Primitive Materials

By Charlie (aka Stonefacescar) Here are the tools that I made and use...

split branch ishi stick ishi stick adjustment

wrapped another hammer, encased in rawhide

hand flaker, showing the little bent 'cleat' or 'spur' that locks the tool into the inside of the handle

percussors

raw copper nugget percussor, and a splitting wedge/percussor antler tine holders

done with these tools

notching tool tip shape..

if you use branches off a tree, instead of dowels, it is easier to split the branch, down center, and it is easier to follow the 'pith' to hollow out the center with stone tools, for the antler or copper tools tips...

hope this helps

Charlie

From http://www.paleoplanet.net/, April 3, 2010

Making a Horseshoe Nail Notcher

By Mark Dellinges

I made this horse shoe nail holder from plumbing supply parts. You'll need a 1/4" hose barb adapter, 1/4' brass pipe nipple,1/4' pipe cap, horse shoe nails, wooden dowel, self cured acrylic resin or epoxy resin, and optional rubber tubing.

Fill the inside of a hose barb adapter about half way up with resin and insert a lubricated horse shoe nail. Allow to set and tap out the nail. Nails of similar type are now interchangeable and have good "side to side" stability.

Now assemble by screwing the hose barb adapter to one end of the pipe, insert the wood dowel and tighten the pipe cap to the other end. Note the good "front to back" stability. If

My "narrow entry" notching really improved once I found a way to keep the horse shoe nail vary stable. I hope this helps!

From http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/replyreply-275691, April 4, 2010, copied with permission

Simple Fluting Jig Pictures

By Ken Wallace (aka Paleoman 52)

To go along with the thread on fluting nipples I am posting a few pics of the fluting jig I have been using since 1993. As you can see this is a pretty uncomplicated device. The secret to making this jig work well is to be sure to spend as much time as you need to on preparing the fluting nipple. Always make sure that the ears of the point aren't pressing to hard against the uprights because this will cause them to snap off. Also be sure that when you are applying maximum pressure that the bar is almost 90 degrees with the preform. It helps to give a tug on the bar once you've applied to pressure you need to cause the fracture that releases the flake.

From http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/replyreply-294764, April 4, 2010, copied with permission

17

Tony Soars Fluting Jig

Posted by Richard Meyers (aka Twobear)

From http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/replyreply-294764, April 4, 2010, copied with permission

Rocker Punch Board

By Gary Abbatte (aka rhymeswithwhat)

I have interpreted the research of Dothager to construct a modern set of tools using similar physics and a blending the two Dothager tools into one practical set. The key to his Three Digging Stick Tool is the slot or space between the sticks and the use of a foot lever stick and thong to pull down a larger punch and hold it while striking. His second tool, a small split out branch tool, uses a tied down small punch. Both tools use leather pads or a pad over an anvil stone as an aid to locate the height of a preform or spall and set a striking angle for the punch and billet. Here is my tool set that combines the both lap tools into one with modern materials:

At the top is a large Cow Bone punch and a large Antler punch with a leather pull thong around it . The thong connects to the foot operated pedal stick for holding the punches firmly against the workpiece. The pedal stick and thong also holds the lap board very steady across the top of my legs when seated in working position and applying pedal pressure. The lapboard itself is oak, covered with leather and the other end away from the slot on the board is used for small punches that are tied down using a clove hitched leather strip. The underside of the board that rests on my legs is also covered with leather for comfort. The tools at the left are my striking tools: A Dogwood Billet, A Moose Tine Billet and a Limestone Billet. Small Antler punches can be seen at the right end of the board and one is fastened down in working position. Below the Foot lever stick is a variety of leather pads and an anvil stone.

A closer picture of the slotted punch board end.

Billets, anvil and padding.

Small punches at the right end of the board.

Conclusion: This tool set has a lot of potential and I hope to gain skill using it. It is nice and steady on the lap and I can take large thinning flakes and shape preforms out of Onondaga with the set. If you are unfamiliar with rocker punch methods for Flint Knapping take a look at the Dothager video set and see how he uses his tools developed from his research:

http://www.spiritinthewind.com/mike_1.htm

Punch em out! [To see this tool in use, go to http://s30.photobucket.co...amp;current=punchvid.flv] From http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/29696?page=1, April 4, 2010, copied with

permission

Converting a Pottery Kiln to Heat Treat Flint

by Mark Bracken

Dan’s Cave

© Long, Dan (2001). CHIPS: The Flintknapper's Publication. Vol. 13, #2 April. (unauthorized reproduction prohibited.)

Every man needs a place where he can go to "get away from it all" once in awhile, a cave to hide away in; a place for male bonding, making silica dust and washing it down. Whether it's a room in the basement, or, if a guy's lucky enough, a workshop out behind the house. A place, other than the local pub, where your wife will know where to find you......yet leave you alone to "create", knowing that you really can't get into any serious trouble "out there". This is the story of my "cave" and how it came to be.

I started knapping almost ten years ago now. Back then it was an outside only activity, done on occasion with a hammerstone and some chunks of Onondaga I picked up walking local fields.....oh yeah, and band-aids too of course. I was curious and interested, but the obsession hadn't quite kicked in yet. After some initial struggles (who didn't?) I found a copy of D.C.'s "The Art of Flintknapping" at the Buffalo Museum of Science. I was astounded.....I couldn't believe that such a thing existed. Boy, I thought, I've got it made now! After reading and struggling some more, I came to the conclusion that I just had to have somebody show me how to do this. At about this time I was introduced to Jack Holland, a gentleman well known in both knapping and archaeology circles......"Mr. Lithics". I pretty much just tormented Jack until he was kind enough to invite me to his home to give me a knapping lesson.....I guess it was either that or learn how to deal with a stalker! Jack showed me the basics, saw that I was sincere in my desire to learn, and decided that he should get me on down to meet Ken Wallace, a knapping legend here in the Northeast.

To make a long story, well, a little shorter. Ken and I became fast friends and I was put firmly on the road to learning this "lost art". Having a good teacher accelerated my abilities light years beyond where I would have been had I continued to struggle on my own. I still consider myself extremely fortunate to have met such a skilled knapper, and one who so easily and generously gave of his knowledge, so early in my knapping career.

The first time I visited Ken with Jack, as I sat in his home marvelling at the case after case of work that he put before me, I wondered where all of this magic happened. My question was answered as we moved outside to "the shop". Ken's shop was small, with a low, sloped ceiling and a wooden floor.....I could see small pieces of debitage imbedded in it and caught between the boards. There were things to see in every nook; arrows, darts, antlers, tanned hides, trade beads......I was overwhelmed!! The day was somewhat of a blur; it would have seemed almost dreamlike looking back at it later that night, had it not been for the paper thin Snyders point that I clutched in my hand....one of Ken's signature pieces and a gift to remember the day by.

Needless to say, I returned home totally pumped up and ready to knap. I looked at my little room in the basement, the one I shared with the boiler. Sure, it was plenty warm, but the light was poor and ventilation was non-existent (we tend not to open our windows much in Canada in the winter). Of course there was the rickety old garage, which was fine if it wasn't really cold....kept me out of the wind anyway. I didn't have to worry too much about the flakes on the floor either; we didn't put cars in the garage and it had a gravel floor, as the previous owners had removed the old wooden floor after repeated skunk infestations under it. This wasn't the most pleasant place to knap.....I needed a change.

My next attempt at a knapping studio brought me to our cottage, which is on a large river a short distance from the house. I got hold of a huge canvas tarp at a flea market, moved all of the furniture aside and covered the floor with it. This worked fairly well until Spring, when even after repeated vacuuming of the carpeted floor, my wife, who lives in bare feet as soon as it's warm enough to do so, started to "discover" small hidden flakes. Looked like I needed another plan.

It was time to tear the garage down before it fell down and build a new structure; not a garage but a combination workshop/storeroom. I attacked the garage, and to say that it was in trouble is an understatement; I took the whole thing down with no more than a crowbar....there was nothing bigger than a 2x3 in it!

I had designed an L-shaped building with the larger part of the L being the shop and the shorter part the storage area. After visiting the City planning department I found that I could build a much larger structure than I had thought, but I fought the temptation to eat up too much of the backyard (my wife loves her gardens), so I settled on a 16'x20' area for the shop and a 10'x16' area for storage. I knew that these nice even measurements would make construction easier too. I set to excavating for the floating concrete pad that the whole thing would sit on. Things got interesting almost immediately as I found a few flakes of aboriginal debitage in the soil just outside of what would have been the garage, so I know that it wasn't mine. It really wasn't a total surprise as we live less than two blocks from the Niagara River in one direction and about two blocks from a large tributary of it in another. I considered this an incredibly good omen, even more so than if I had found a point; knowing that prehistoric people had knapped right on that spot made it seem perfect. I even incorporated some of the flakes and a couple of my points into the concrete as we poured the pad.

The structure went up fairly quickly, thanks to pre-fab trusses and a friend who just happens to be a carpenter! We included two large windows on opposite walls on either side of the knapping area, and in line with the prevailing wind for flow-through ventilation. I wasn't just building a workshop for all of the things it might be used for.....I was building this thing with knapping as the primary consideration. I'd already decided where I would be sitting to knap; looking at the window that faces the house so I could see and hear my wife when she called me in for a meal. Being in the throws of a heavy knapping session is one of the few things that will cause me to forget to eat!! I've since installed an intercom to take care of these things in the winter months.

In addition to the two large windows for ventilation and light, I installed a 2'x4' skylight directly over the knapping area. If there is one piece of advice I would pass on to anyone considering building or modifying a shop for knapping, it would be to put in a skylight; it makes all the difference in the world.

It was finally time to begin finishing the inside of the shop; wiring, insulation, deciding where the workbench and power tools would reside, and in which corner the kiln would sit. Figuring out all of this ahead of time also helped me to distribute my electrical load evenly throughout.

Now, what to cover the walls with. I had decided to keep the ceiling open to keep the rafters available for storage (glad I did), but I did want to cover the insulation in the walls with something. I didn't really want to mess around with drywall....had to keep reminding myself that this is "just a shop". I looked around for an alternative and came up with a solution.....at work! I'm a lineman for an electrical utility, and our yard at work had a quantity of hydro poles that had outlived there usefulness. They are western red cedar from British Columbia, and some of the guys had started milling them up and making decks out of them, so I thought, "Why not panelling?" I had them milled to 3/4" thick and whatever width each pole provided. Once through a thickness planer to achieve uniform thickness and smooth them out (and bring out the grain beautifully), and they were ready to go up on the wall. They looked, and smelled, great!

The only wall I didn't cover with the planks is the one behind the woodstove, which is a wall of 100 year old bricks I picked up on my travels. Cedar is a fairly soft wood, which was evident after my "shop warming knap-in" when I found small chert flakes actually imbedded in the walls!

I next hung two eight foot, double tube flourescent lights on either side of the knapping area and a ceiling fan directly overhead (more air movement). Feeling that I'd covered just about everything; heat, light, ventilation, communication, storage, even a small beer fridge (gotta wash that silica dust down somehow), I realized that the only thing lacking was a bathroom. I hadn't run plumbing to the shop, and knowing that I had neighbours all around I couldn't use the method that we used at Ken's shop (out the back door). Not wanting to leave a toasty warm shop in January to run to the house, I had to come up with an alternative; so I dug a three foot deep hole outside, drilled a hole through the wall and ran some PVC tubing through it. The end of the tubing was at the bottom of the hole in the ground, which I proceeded to fill with alternating layers of sand, gravel and activated charcoal (for odour control). On the inside end of the tubing is a large funnel (the kind you use for draining your motor oil), and behind that on the wall is a small piece of plexiglass......a splashguard for those knappers who have trouble "hitting the platform". The first test run gurgled back at me....I hadn't considered the requirement of a drain vent. A small hole drilled into thePVC just before it disappeared under the ground solved that problem, and a"flush" from a jug of vinegar keeps things clean without pouring chemicals into the ground. The "bathroom" is even strategically located in a corner so that the user can be behind the door of the shop for a little privacy.

Adorning the walls are several cases of points that I've traded for or been given over the years, and several posters; The Story in Stone poster of course, Pete Bostrom's Clovis poster, and Val's drawings of the Wenatchee points among others. I even have an award that I was presented with at a knap-in a couple of years ago in Pennsylvania.....it was for being "The First to Arrive".....OK, so I got the dates wrong and went a week early!

Are there any things I'd change in retrospect? Yes, only two: First, I didn't know about "cold start" ballasts for flourescent lights. Seems the lights I hung (the price was right) are made for indoor use only; the air has to be at least 50 degrees for them to operate properly. This is remedied by getting a good fire going in the stove before I settle in to knap.....not a big deal. Secondly, I put a "brushed" finish on the concrete floor, which I thought nothing of until the first time I tried to sweep up flakes.....should've left it smooth. Again, this is taken care of by using a tarp to knap over, which makes clean up easier anyway. All in all I've been very happy with the result, and the knappers that have joined me over the last couple of years have given the place a hearty thumbs up!

If you're considering moving out of the basement or garage, or even modifying an existing space to be more knapper friendly, I hope that some of the suggestions I've put forth here will be of some use to you.

Oh yeah, and don't forget the vinegar!!

From http://knapper_dan.tripod.com/page2.html, April 4, 2010, copied with permission

Pictures of Dan’s cave from http://www.creeksideartifacts.com/DLKI/index.html

Paleoman52’s Man Cave

by Ken Wallace (aka Paleoman52)

When I started this thread last week I forgot to include my outside cave. Here are a few shots of where the magic takes place. Many of you have been here and will recognize it very well, for those of you that have not been here yet, I welcome you to stop by, My cave is always open to you. My only requirement is bring a rock with you, enjoy!

This is the outside of my Cave and it kinda looks like a cave with that big opening and all the different antlers hanging around the front.

This is the area I like to sit during warmer weather and chip out my creations. It has a good view of the neighborhood and sometimes my neighbors spot me here and bring beer to share.

This is in the inner cave where I collect my finished pieces and grab cold ones out of the fridge to celebrate the successful completion of any point that doesn't break.

More views of the inner sanctum of my cave, this is organized but my wife considers it very messy, Hey I know where everything is, that all that counts.

This is my meager rock supply that I have, when this gone I don't chip anymore until someone brings rock to the area, or I travel to a local knapping gathering.

OK this picture kind of speaks for itself. Am I the only one brave enough to show "The Funnel"? This is one of the most popular places in my Cave and is visited at least one or 2 times a day by everyone when we gather for a day of chipping. I'm sure that all caves have different forms of this feature and recently I have rebuilt and improved my "Funnel" to handle more volume when my friend Mike arrives at my place after he drives in from Niagara Falls, NY. If you look closely you can see that there is a handle hanging from the rafter to pull if the need arises and also a miniature toilet on the shelf next to the"Funnel" that has a handle to trip and it is complete with full flushing sounds.

It may not be a place of beauty but it is my Cave and I enjoy every moment I spend out there, I hope you enjoyed your tour! -Paleoman52-

From http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/replyreply-261940, April 4, 2010, copied with permission