SPALLS

April 2002

Richard Urata, Joan Urata and Dave Rauschenberg are producing this issue of SPALLS with contributions from Leroy Jines, Michael Hill, Dave Pehling, Donald Rothfuss and Ed Thomas.  Please contact Richard Urata for questions, comments, and future additions to SPALLS.

SPALLS Distribution

Many of the PSK members with only snail-mail address are not receiving SPALLS.  For you members that are receiving SPALLS via e-mail, please notify these snail-mail members to send a payment of $5.00 for 2002 to Dave Rauschenberg at 38010 272^nd Ave. S.E., Enumclaw, WA 98022.  Year 2002 subscription is due at this time.  Please not that the subscription rate dropped to $5.00 per year.

THE POLICY IS: If you send your e-mail address to Richard Urata at richurata@cybernet1.com there is no charge for SPALLS.   If you do not have an e-mail address and want SPALLS by snail-mail, you must send $5.00 to cover the cost of printing and postage.

If you have an e-mail address and did not receive SPALLS in April, e-mail your address to Richard Urata.  I have from 5 to 10 “not deliverable” messages at this time.  I need some updates!

POSSIBLE CHANGE OF NAME FOR PSK

By Dave Rauschenberg.

What would your thoughts be on maybe changing the name of PSK to something like "Western States Knappers", "Great Basin knappers" or something on that line.
We have quite a few members that are not residents of Washington.  The majority are from one of the western states. This will make more of the members feel more at home.  Send your name and suggestions to Richard Urata, e-mail and/or snail-mail.

EVENTS:

Bakersfield Monthly Knap-In, Bakersfield, California

(Not a PKS Event).

A monthly knap-in is held on the first Sunday of every month, with June's knap-in moved to our local pow wow.  The one-day event goes from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at the Hart Memorial Park.  The park is eight miles northeast of Bakersfield on the Alfred Harrell Highway.  Knappers meet at the East end of the park. 

While on highway 58, east of Bakersfield, take the Camanche exit and turn to the north.  Camanche curves around 5-6 miles and dead ends into highway 178. Turn north on 178 (right) then a quick left (less then 1/4 mile) onto Alfred Harrel highway. Alfred Harrel 7-8 miles goes into Hart Park.   The knap-in is 100 yards or so from the entrance on the right hand side of the park.

For more information contact Gary Pickett (661) 392-7729
air-o-head@webtv.net Or Sherry Pauley (661) 392-7063
webmaster@opalvalley.com.  Knap-in is held the first sunday of each month, with June's knap-in moved to our local pow wow.

Goldendale Knap-In, Goldendale, Washington, May 25 through 27

This year is the first annual Goldendale Knap-In.  The official knap-in is from May 25 through 27 but knappers may arrive up to a week earlier and stay up to a week later.  It’s too early to tell but events are being planned for an archery range, knapping and jasper collecting.

To get there, find Goldendale on Hwy 97, approximately 15 miles North of Biggs on the Columbia River and about 70 miles South of Yakima.  Enter Goldendale at the North exit. Travel 2-3 blocks towards town.  Bickelton Hwy goes to east at corner where Reno's Pizza is. Travel east on Bkltn Hwy (under Hwy 97) about 4.3 miles.  Watch for Willis Road on Right side (PSK Sign also). Turn Left (North) on private gravel road (15 mph limit) and follow PSK signs. Left on Rocky Ridge Rd, then 2nd Driveway on left. It is about 1 mile from the junction with Bkltn Hwy.   PSK signs will be posted at intersections from Reno’s to the knap-in. 

For more information call Ed Thomas at (509) 773-6461 or e-mail at: feather@gorge.net

Wrightwood Knap-In, Wrightwood, California, June 1 & 2

(Not a PSK Event)

The Wrightwood Knap-In is held at the Indian Springs Ranch, a few miles from Wrightwood.  The Ranch is run by Robbin & Terry Cornett.  It is an open area and will handle camping from tents to RV’s.  Take the 138 turnoff from I-15 and go west on 138 for 1.3 miles.  Then turn left on Lone Pine Canyon Road and go 3.6 miles to the Indian Springs Ranch.  Look for tepees on the left of the road.  Water and shower facilities available.  Cost of $10.00 per day for camping.

Contact: Alton (760) 249-5045 or Tom Mills Paleoaleo@aol.com.

Davis Creek Knap-In, Davis Creek, California, June 15 &16

Davis Creek has a beautiful campground with 100-foot pines that produce about 70% shade throughout the campground.  A creek runs along the side of the campground.  Collect Rainbows, Electric Blues, Needles, and Pink Lady obsidian.  Davis Creek is located in Northeastern California on the east side of highway 395 approximately 20 miles north of the town of Alturus, California, and approximately 20 miles south of the Oregon border.  All permits and maps will be provided by Richard Urata when you get there.  Camping is free.

Knappers from the Northern states should plan you go through Lakeview, Oregon, and stop at the "Indian Village Restaurant".  The food is good and plentiful for the price. They have the restaurant walls all decorated with arrowheads (thousands) and indian outfits.  It is worth going there if a person is interested in artifact arrowheads.  I think the restaurant is on 1st or 2nd street.  When going north, turn right on one of the streets. The restaurant is on a corner just a couple of streets off 395.  If you cannot find it, ask any local. It is a well-known restaurant there.  Also stop at the Safeway store and get your supplies.  That is the largest store before Davis Creek.   Also gas up at Lakeview.

Go south on 395 approximately 20 miles from the Oregon border.   Davis Creek is on the east-side of the highway.  Stop by at the “Davis Creek Mercantile” and get familiar with the supplies and services that the store provides. The owners cater to “rock hounds” and “knappers”.  You can obtain maps of the obsidian locations and permits – free.  Services available are gasoline, diesel, ice, food, public phone and even a small restaurant.  Many of the “single-type” knappers go to the store for breakfast.  The store is a few miles from the campground, a 10 to 15 minutes drive.  Last year they had a Friday BBQ for about $8.00. The BBQ included beef ribs, pork ribs, and/or chicken.  The access road to the Plum Valley Campground is approximately 100 yards north of the store.  Turn east towards the mountain and follow the signs.  The campground is hidden from view by the pine trees.  These trees produce about 70 percent shade throughout the day.  There is a creek that runs along the border of the campground.  There are two outhouses that are well taken care of by the forestry department.  The admission is free, and camping is free.  There will be a potluck on Saturday night (breaking with tradition) and the hosts will provide a main dish of spaghetti and participants can bring side dishes of rolls, salads or deserts.

Knappers from Southern and Central California should go north on either highway 5 or 101 to highway 299.  Then go east on 299 to 395 in the town of Alturus.  Alturus is the last “big town” you will go through.  Then go north to Davis Creek.   Davis Creek is a one building town store with some gas pumps in front of it on the east side of 395. 

For more information, call Richard Urata at (406) 363-7256, or e-mail: richurata@cybernet1.com.

Pine City Knap-In, Minnesota, June 28 and 29

(Not a PSK Event)

Sponsored by the Minnesota Flint Knappers Guild and the Minnesota Historical Society.  It will be held at the North West Company Fur Post in Pine City.

Take Exit # 169 off of Interstate 35, go 1.5 miles West on Pine County Hwy 7.  Watch for a sign on the North side of the road: "North West Company Fur Post".  Primitive camping available on site for knappers (no fee, no reservations needed)

Motels available in Pine City, Minnesota:

Chalet Motel 320-629-7684

Gail Motel 320-629-2559

Schwartzwald Motel 320-629-2511

For more information contact Tony Romano at 320-629-3524 or adromano@ecenet.com or Art Magruder            at 507-252-9321 or ArtMagruder@aol.com.

Cle Elum, Washington, Knap-In, July 26 Thru 28

Knap-in is at Stuart & Rose Murdock’s 3-acre residence.  Lots of room for camping.  Stu found a secret dig close by his residence, ask him about it, maybe he will tell you about it.  Stu and Rose always have a fantastic meal centered around the potlluck on Saturday night.  Bring a side dish if you plan to participate.   To get to Stu’s place take I-90:

Eastbound:  I-90 take exit 74, “Nelson Siding Road” and go east (parallels the south side of the freeway) for 4 miles to Secret Valley Road. Turn left (going towards the freeway) and keep to the left whenever the road forks.  Secret Valley road will dead end at Stu’s place.

Westbound: I-90 take exit 78, “Golf Course Road”, pass the railroad tracks and turn right on “Nelson Siding Road”.  Go west for ½ miles to “Secret Valley Road”.  Turn right and keep to the left whenever the road forks.   Secret Valley road will dead end at Stu’s place. 

For more information call Stuart or Rose Murdock at (509) 674-1975 or E-Mail at:  murdock@inlandnet.com

Enum Claw, Washington, Flint Tipped Archers/PSK  Knap-In, August 16- Thru 18

Having fun, pigging out, knapping, and friendly archery competition is what this get together of two groups is all about.  We will have flintknapping, potluck on Saturday night, novelty shoots, vendors and our own bow building.  Bring anything to add to the potluck table.  Stores and restaurants are close by, within five minutes.  There is plenty of room at the Flint Tip Range, camping space for trailers and tents, water and a kitchen.  There are restroom facilities but there are no showers.  Oh well, guess we can put up with a little natural aroma, we survived Glass Buttes and Davis Creek okay.  The Flint Tip range has a 14 target course, and is only about a 1/2 mile from town.  The weekend will be open to the public. 

To get to the range, go through Enumclaw, Washington on highway 410 toward the mountains.  Just out of town, maybe a half mile you'll see their sign on the left side of the road.  I think Dave intends to add some knapping signs to the existing sign. Expect:  Archery shooting, bow making, knapping, arrow making, information sharing, story swapping, eating, etc. 

For more information, call Dave Rauschenberg at (360) 825-3117 or email: davraus1@aol.com .

Medicine Creek Knap-in, Labor Day Weekend

This knap-in has not been scheduled.  A host is needed for this knap-in. Any volunteers?

Moses Lake Walnut Harvest, Knap-In, Moses Lake, Washington, When The Walnuts Are Ready

The exact date is not set at this time.  It all depends on when the walnuts are ready for harvest.  Keep the middle of September through the middle of October open for this event.

The knap-in will be held at Ken and Adell Calvert’s place, at Moses Lake, Washington.  Plenty of room for camping.  Ken’s property is a lake front property.  They say that the lake has all kinds of fish.

To get there, take interstate 90 off ramp 179 and go north on highway 17 toward Soap Lake.  Stay on highway 17 until mile post 59.  You will see a gravel pit on your left. Turn left after the gravel pit onto Mc Connilte Road.  Stay on Mc Connilte Road for several miles and turn left onto “D 5” road.  Go to end of the road and turn left.  You will see a Knap-in sign about 100 yards down on the right of the road.  Turn right onto Ken’s property.  If you miss “D 5” road stay on Mc Connilte Road (Stay on the pavement) and it will circle around and will pass Ken’s property.  Look for the Knap-in sign on your right.  Ken’s address is 4535 Road 6.5 N.E. 

For more information, call Ken at (509) 762-2454.

Wrightwood Knap-In, Wrightwood, California, October 5 and 6

(Not a PSK Event)

The Wrightwood Knap-In is held at the Indian Springs Ranch, a few miles from Wrightwood.  The Ranch is run by Robbin & Terry Cornett.  It is an open area and will handle camping from tents to RV’s.  Take the 138 turnoff from I-15 and go west on 138 for 1.3 miles.  Then turn left on Lone Pine Canyon Road and go 3.6 miles to the Indian Springs Ranch.  Look for tepees on the left of the road.  Water and shower facilities available.  Cost of $10.00 per day for camping.

Contact: Alton (760) 249-5045 or Tom Mills Paleoaleo@aol.com.

6^th Annual Turkey Feast Knap-In, Millersylvania, Washington, November 2 and 3

Holly and Mick Hill, the hosts, always have a potluck centered around a fantastic turkey dinner at this knap-in.  Get ready for Thanksgiving by attending the Millersylvania Knap-In south of Olympia, WA.  In the past Holly Hill arranged a pre-Thanksgiving pot-luck feast; I think Holly provided most of the feast.  The potluck will be held approximately 1:00 pm Saturday.  Millersylvania is a Washington State Park with a picnic shelter complete with fireplace and a kitchen. As usual the knapping and dinner will be around the huge covered indoor fireplace or kitchen wood stoves so we will all be warm and dry
regardless of weather.

Bring a potluck item for Saturday, camp stool or lawn chair, and the usual knappers stuff, tools, displays, barters, sales, etc.!  Holly will be bringing FABRIC and the TURKEY – Mick.

To get to the park, take I-5 to Exit 95.  Then follow signs to park entrance, Kitchen #1.  A hike path is located at the first parking lot to cabin near Deep Lake.  We will have wheelbarrows available again for transporting supplies from vehicles to the cabin. Thanks for your efforts to follow park rules. If necessary, there is a back road to
deliver heavy goods or to meet needs of those who don't hike. For those who have attended, please watch for others trying to find the path to the cabin!

The campground has a small overnight camping fee and there are hookups, bathrooms, and hot quarter-operated showers. The kitchen cabin has electricity for lights and wall socket use, but water has been turned off for winter weathering. Jugs of water will be available for drinking, etc. There is a bathroom a short distance from the cabin
also.
 

Call Mick and Holly for more directions: (360) 357-9506 or (360) 493-8439 or e-mail at: mickhill@attbi.com or hollyhill@attbi.com.  Please let them know if you are going.

REPORTS:

PSK Event Pictures are available on the Internet!

Joan still has the Medicine Creek/Moses Lake Knap-In pictures online.  Here are the directions:  go to www.cartogra.com fill in “friends account name” pugetsoundknappers (all lower case) – click on the Medicine Creek/Moses Lake Knap-In Album – enter the “password”: psk (all lowercase-no spaces)  Have Fun!!

The Davis Creek pictures are still online. There is a different account name and password from the one above.  Here are the directions: go to www.cartogra.com – fill in “friends account name” : joanurata  (all lower case)  - click on the album you wish to view and enter the “password” :  PSK  (all uppercase – no spaces)  Enjoy!!!

Quartzsite, Arizona Knap-In, January 1 through February 28

Joan and I arrived at Quartzsite on January 15.  The knap-in has been going on for 2 weeks by then and lots of knappers attended and left before we got there.  Nine-fingers and Mary got the established location back this year – next to the bakery!  The tipi was up as a landmark and the knapping area cover was already up.  The knapping area, 15 X 30 can easily accommodate up to 25 knappers.  They had already removed approximately 12 buckets of debitage before we got there.

Knappers were out shopping for bulk and slabbed imperial jasper from Mexico, oolite, agates and jaspers of all kinds, alibates, flint and obsidian.  We were also waiting for some bifaces from Leroy.

Nine-fingers brought lots of materials including the Nevada Banded Agate, and the Perkinsville Pink (agate?).  Sonny Owens kept going home to Prescott and returning with burro creek and other material to keep us supplied. Ralph Lawless brought about 100 pounds of California flint from the Salinas River.

Leroy Jines and Ann arrived around 4:00 P M., January 22.  Richard and Joan Urata, Clay Graves, Phillip Churchill, Michael McCall, Sonny Owens, Wayne and Loretta and several other knappers totaling 8 or more were always there knapping.  Art Magruder from Minesota kept popping in every 2 or 3 days. Sometimes Dick Graybush and Jim Schroeder from Wisconson came with Art.  Stan Norgaard dropped by every 2 or 3 days througout the two months.  Phillip Churchill was busy throughout the knap-in making points, daggers, eagles.  Phil always had standing orders for the eagles and small arrowheads.  He made two obsidian daggers (I saw only the pictures), 10 to 15 inches long with an eagle on one, and an indian head on the other at the butt end of the handles….Richard

I (Leroy) had promised Richard first grab on his trade blades and he and Clay kept at me to get them unloaded as soon as I got out of our van.  After walking around to shake out some kinks and to greet 9 (Jerry said his first name was 9) and Mary I got around to unloading the goods.  We knapped and talked until dark and turned in early. Jack Hemphill had been at Joe Miller's knapin and also drove to Quartzsite. 

During the days we would go rock shopping and do some knapping. Nine got me hooked on dried mango so everywhere we went we munched and shopped. There is every kind of rock you can think of for sale at Quartzsite. There are also tools, mangos (G), clothes, jewelry and anything else you might want. 9 is into collecting those old one cylinder motors and old tractors. There was an antique motor show going on also and we shopped for parts and did a bit of trading there too. 9 fixed me up with an electric starter for my gasoline welder. (getting too old for cranking by hand)

Randy Beach and Jim Redfearn showed up Saturday with a load of prime Texas rootbeer they had gathered after Joe Miller's knap-in. (wouldn't tell where they found it...GG) It sold like hotcakes at a church social. Randy was buying rock like there was no tomorrow. Montana agate, imperial jasper and several varieties I couldn't recognize. I'm sure he will have it slabbed and cooked and ready for sell at his next knapin. He and Redfearn said they might be at Paynes Prairie in Florida toward the end of February. Jim wowed them with his knapping skill and sold everything he made as soon as it was finished.  Just like Jerry Bridwell at Joe Miller's knapin, he had a crowd around him every time he picked up his billet. Hershel Harper and family were also at Q. doing some vending and buying.  Dave Graves was there and sat and knapped with us. I kept looking for Earl Bird but, didn't run into him.  You couldn't see everything in Q in 3 days unless you were superman. I was there 10 days and didn't see everything. One rock show ends and the venders leave and are replaced by another rock show and venders. Joe Greenwell and Bettye Hensel from Washington State was there. Joe is one of my favorite obsidian pressure flakers. (Haven't seen him working rock.)  Makes big and small points but, does an outstanding job on tiny points with oblique and collateral flaking.

Ten of us convoyed to Mary's place 125 miles N. E. of Q and got a first hand look at her new straw bale adobe house and guest house she and 9 built during the last year. Nine had to go pick up a tractor to swap for a different tractor.  We stopped on the way back at an old mining museum and had lunch. 9 was in his element. There were old motors and mining equipment everywhere. 

There's no place like Quartzsite and it could rightly be called one of the largest swap meets in the country. From a town of about 2800 during the off season it swells to about a million visitors in the prime season with venders from all over the world. There are motor homes parked in a 2 mile radius around the small town with prime parking areas costing from $5.00 per day and up, depending on whether you required electricity and sewer hookups. When the sun goes down they roll up the sidewalks with little to do until the next day.  We just brought out the lights and kept knapping until 10:00 or 11:00. Mary always had a pot of coffee going, free for the drinking.  Some knappers would leave for home and others would drift in to take their places. 

Mary carves small feathers and eagles from bone for jewelry and such and is quite talented. Nine sells a few tools and points and does a bit of rock trading to pass the time during his 2 month long knapin.  He's ready to do a bit of old motor swapping too. We had a great time and extended our stay 4 days longer than planned, leaving Feb. 2nd.
 

A tip of my big billet (bought it from 9) to 9 and Mary for a great time. They put on a great knapin.  If you get the opportunity go to the Quartzsite knapin, you won't regret it. From the top of the Texas panhandle… Leroy

By Leroy Jines  & Richard Urata

Cabin Fever Break Knap-In, Seattle, Washington, Sunday, February 3 

By Dave Pehling

The annual "Cabin Fever Break KI" was held, as usual, at the WSU Cooperative Extension office in Everett, WA. on Sunday, Feb. 3.  For a February weekend in Western Washington, the weather was not too bad (at least it wasn't raining!)

I forgot to count heads but there must have been at least 20 folks braving the cloudy day to sit under the overhang, drink gallons of coffee and make buckets-full of obsidian gravel.  I think I even saw a few nice points made by our regular “artists”.  Dave Rauschenberg divided his time between breaking rock and making the rounds, gathering e-mail addresses from those wishing to receive E-Spalls.

Most of our “regulars” made it and we even picked up a couple new members.  As usual, several knappers brought some of their nicer work to show off and make the rest of us feel inadequate.

Finally, Mick Hill showed off his modified percussion technique, “side-Micking”, using a variety of experimental percussers and shared some nice pieces of solid aluminum bar-stock

Lots of other stuff went on throughout the day but my poor ol’ memory just isn’t working too well.  Next year I’ll take notes!  See you next February!

Glass Butte Gathering, Glass Butte, Oregon, March 23 Thru 31 

By Michael Hill

This is an old gathering that Jim Riggs started 17 years ago.  There's about a 100 of us "regulars " that have can claim over a dozen years attendance and never seem to miss a year - in fact many years can be marked by the absence of the handful that didn't make it for some reason that particular year. As usual there were a number of new faces (many I didn't get a chance to meet). Jake from Colorado introduced a
lot of us NorthWest "glass smackers" to the wonders/colors of materials from other parts of the world. (thanks Jake)

This year's gathering began as many of us almost expected – with horizontal snow/rain/hail. Little did we suspect that what we were experiencing was the only bad weather that we were to get at all! After that first day it soon turned sunny, got clearer, got warmer, got calmer, and got warmer, and was almost hot by weeks end. (honest! ask anybody that was there!) The really weirdness of this is that this is the third year in a row of mostly beautiful weather at this event.... 

A few evenings featured a couple massive bonfires (read: trees) furnished by "The Coon Squad". This year seemed to mark the return of the musical instruments to the evening fires: fiddle, guitar, whistles, drums, a couple types of bagpipes, and even a gaelic songster.  One lively evening featured a very large "blanket trade" in
which the crowds circled around a large blanket area and each trader in the circle took turns laying out trade items and interested party's would in turn lay out what they would trade for it. Lots(!) of interesting items went "up on the block". It was very much like an
aboriginal version of Wall Street....( ..."hey Jim!...it's your broker on the line....he says hammerstones are "soft"......")

One other organized event was this "Scotch Tasting" party. The less said about it the better.... It was composed of about 12 eager interested participants (read: 12 casualties). I just remember a lot of sampling, lively debates, kilts, lively votings, bagpipes, noise, more samplings, and not much else. 

An archery contest was held on Thursday (a "no wheelies" abo archery contest - naturally).  Maybe a couple dozen participants with a really wide variety of interesting bow types.  Another evening featured a spontaneous group effort to compose and write the ultimate treatise on "You Might Be An Abo If.." This lasted for hours and much of it was actually written down between fits of giggling.  My favorite was "you might be an abo if your garments have more brains than you do." (read: brain tanning)  This year didn't have any military fighters or dogfight shows in the skies above camp at any time (someone best summed up this years no-show as...."they're busy"...). 

Anyway, while all this was going on, the primary focus was of course was a lot of flintknapping and a lot of rock digging - all the roads were open and the saturated ground made the digging easier than it was ever going to get.  One good site to view pictures of this event will be at Roadkill's page at http://www.neoanderthal.com. It might be a week or two before he gets all the pictures posted from this years knapin - look in later. (be sure to check out the jaw-dropping mega-fluted pieces that Emory Coons was cranking out.)  As for me - Goode Jones turned me on to a pit of REALLY ugly dacite/crystalline riddled/sheen stuff - so I went away rock happy.

Later........Mick

East Wenatchee Knap-In, Wenatchee, Washington, April 5 Thru 7 

By Donald Rothfuss, Report

By Ed Thomas, Photos

I (Donald) have now been to four knap-ins in the past 6 months so I am far from being an expert.  This report is written from my knothole, a rank novice.

This was a good event, approximately 30 plus knappers attended.  The weather held, for the most part, and there were only a couple of periods of rain sprinkles. It was a good weekend to break the stone and share an age-old technology with a group of like- minded folks.

My wife, Anne and I arrived late Thursday evening, after having called Cole previously to ask directions.  Pretty much as described we found the signs to Hurst Landing along the Columbia River.  We then drove down a dark road trying to remember Cole's instructions.  We managed to find a large gravel parking area with another camper already parked there.  Shortly, a flashlight appeared along with Jim Smith, a familiar face from two previous events.  Jim assured us that we had indeed found the right place so after chatting a bit we turned in for the night and got a good night's sleep in spite of the road noise a couple of hundred yards away.  There was lots of room for camping with tents, motor homes and campers all around.  Water was readily available and Cole had thoughtfully provided a Porta Potty.

Friday morning came and I walked up to the "shop" where I met Cole Hurst, a very gregarious guy with a big smile.  He showed me around and the knappers began to filter in.  They would continue to arrive throughout the day and throughout the weekend.  I estimated the biggest turnout was on Saturday with a number of folks showing up for just one day’s knapping.  At least half the knappers were there for Friday through Sunday.

There were bonfires Friday and Saturday night and fresh oysters that were grilled on the fire and popped into the hands of anyone wanting to taste these delicacies.  My thanks to whoever brought them. Saturday morning Jim Smith was up bright and early and cooking hash browns, eggs and venison sausage for all takers until the supply ran out.  Jim's efforts appeared to be well appreciated.  There was lots of good food Saturday night, including beaver kabobs and salmon.

I am still new to knapping and had brought along the spoils from a recent trip to Glass Buttes.  I needed help in spalling a few larger chunks and had much willing help.  Special thanks to Greg Gonsalvez and Mike Pickett who gave much of their time to help explain the fine art of spalling.  I quickly found that I had been lucky and unlucky at the Buttes as one large piece spalled beautifully while the other wouldn't fracture worth a darn.  Next time I will be more selective of the rocks I bring home. I did end up with some good spalls and enough courage to try it myself, next time.

There was much good work being done around me.  Stuart Murdock made some nice big bifaces while taking the time to explain what he was trying to accomplish.  From what I saw, his results were pretty darn close to what he said he wanted.  Ken Kurfurst seemed to be making more points than anyone else around him, each one a beautiful small work of art with exquisite detail.  I don't know how he can see things that small, let alone keep from breaking them.  Greg Greger had several pistol grip pressure flakers that he found to be easy on his wrists, one of which he graciously gave to me. I'm looking forward to trying this new tool. . Greg also brought some pieces of man made obsidian from Hanford.  Dave Graves had a supply of twisted copper wire for pressure flakers which he was giving to any who wanted some.  Sean Niswonger had a pail full of very unorthodox knapping tools that were very interesting to me from a manufacturing viewpoint.  Some of the parts had been assembled using space age technologies like explosion forming to weld dissimilar metals together by creating a plasma layer.  Believe me, if you have to ask, you couldn't afford them!

Several folks had brought examples of their work and had displays for sale.  Webb Hammond had some beautiful pieces including one knife knapped from Hubble Telescope glass.   Cole Hurst and Ken Kurfurst had an assortment of their points displayed and some others did also. Tom and El Hill brought a couple of beautiful wood carved flutes.  One of the displays was some beautiful stone knives that had been hafted to animal jaws, bear, and others.  I wish I knew where to give the credit. Next time I will put my camera to collecting the work along with the artists.  This was a fun event and I am looking forward to next year already.  Thanks, Cole!

.Ed Thomas took pictures at the East Wenatchee Knap-In.  I (Ed) didn't get everyone's picture but here's what I have!  It's easy to view my new photo album. Just go to the web page below. http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?m=83474409303&n=2082988409">http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?m=83474409303&n=2082988409</a>

Mick’s Sliding Percussion Technique

By Michael Hill

Before starting look at the picture of the different billets: file Mickingbillets2.jpg.  It is an attachment to this e-mail message.

For fun and grins, here's a photo and over lengthy description of those "micking" billets that you guys were interested in at the PSK Everett Knap-in.  These billet types have been an evolving works-in-progress for a couple years now.  So here's an effort to share with the group (as is the custom of PSK) of what I think I've found and to provide "fodder" for others to experiment with.

Anyway, here's FAR more information than anybody wanted. It's not like there's "anything new under the sun", (especially with a craft that's as old as flintknapping!). Those of you who were there, saw that this "side hitting" was only a slight modification of the "soft hammerstone technique" - using the tools from the "billeting technique" - with a 90 degree "twist".......kinda... Anyway, here goes.....

The representative billets are arranged in a kind of evolutionary order with the newest on the right end. The billet heads all range from 1" to 1 3/4" diameter and typically have been 1" up to 1 1/4" long with an overall length usually around 4".

The three billets on the right are the closest to "best" thus far (for me). All are made from solid round copper stock. #13 & #11 are wonderous creations of our new guy (and machinist) Donald Rothfuss. #12 is one I built with a 1/4" carriage bolt through the whole thing (took 1 1/2 hours to cut with a DULL weeny hacksaw...). #12 & #13 are for "the big stuff" (blocks of rock/obsidian 4 lbs +). #13 is new with a shiny new surface that will need to be "battered" up quite a bit before it's surface develops the necessary "grab" for it to work well. #10 & #9 are aluminum, which has a WONDERFUL "grab" to it.  Aluminum being softer has a better, yet kinder gentler "bite" than copper. (more effective and more forgiving) It's also cheaper and more readily available. The downside being it is a MUCH lighter material with a lot less mass to do the job and it will wear out much faster. #10 is a solid aluminum bar that has worked well except I occasionally tended to use too much "billet speed" to make up for it's light mass. #9 is a thick-walled aluminum pipe with a 1" long lead slug hot glued inside the billet end - it's still one of my favorites. #8 is a large copper plumbing cap entirely filled with lead with a large lag bolt holding on the handle. The domed end is basically untouched and the sides of the cap have caved in quite a bit from use.  Has been very effective on the "big ones", but don't know how to strengthen the cap to make it last any appreciable amount of time.
#7 is an early example of a promising experiment using antler - hollowed the "marrow" out and epoxied a fat 1" slug of lead in the end. UNBEATABLE "grab" to it, but generally was too light/mass to pull the size flakes that I wanted. Will soon try other versions of this using larger diameter antler/more lead. Has the advantage of being able to get many(!) billet tools from an antler instead of just one. AND you can go entirely abbo with this - using heavy rocks(?) wedged/stuck inside with tar/pitch/wood wedges/whatever (experimenting is half the fun here!)  #6 & #5 are thick walled copper plumbing adapters/fittings created  in an effort to make longer lasting tools out of really readily available parts. Worked ok, but lacked the effective mass of the usual lead-filled copper cap tools. (even though #5 has some lead weight hot-glued in it.) Hot glue has worked well in a lot of these experiments, mostly because it's forgiving. You can very easily adjust/remove/change weights and even "field repair" with a campfire or heat gun. It also feels like it has some shock absorber qualities as opposed to a rigid epoxy.
#4,3,2 are some common lead weighted copper caps that got worn out on the sides. These types are still a "fav", but watch out for when the head/lead finally flies off(!). #1 is over 10 years old and early on could never quite get the hang of it or why I built it(?). But now within the last few years it's finally finding use in this technique. It's a solid copper end/antler handle.

One of the biggest advantage for me that I have found is the improvement in my "aim". Whereas before I was notorious at taking MANY bruising swings before eventually striking rock somewhere with the end of the billet. Now, by using the side of the billet, contact happens very nearly always. Instead of trying to make contact with a tiny point at the end of the billet, now there's an inch long strip of copper to make up for this. Another biggie is that this also imparts a lot less overall "average" shock impact to the piece you're working on. There's been a lot less blade snapage in this.

Disclaimer: the above represents only my journey/experiments and what I think I'm seeing. Whatever and however and if ever of any of this is up to the curiosity of the experimenter/flintknapper to find out what really works........ and here's another experiment that I'd like to try; using sections of various rock "drill cores" as these tools now if we just coerce some geologist we know into scrounging some ............( hint, hint, Jim Miller? )

And, hey, who was it who kept asking that bloody question why I painted the handles red? (...oh?, a wise guy, eh?..)

Later.....Mick

Need Inputs from the PSK Members

This is your newsletter.  We need some feedback and information to add to this newsletter.  Send inputs to: richurata@cybernet1.com , or snail-mail to Rich Urata, P.O. Box 1089, Hamilton, Montana 59840.

Maybe of Interest:

Ishi Website

Information on Ishi website has changed.  This is the current website.  http://hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu/ishi/ishihome.htm .

TARP

There is a flint forum where knappers can participate by posting and reading messages and/or going into the chatroom.  It may be of interest as knapping information is passed back and forth via messages.  It is called TARP – you know, the thing you put on the ground to collect the debitage.     http://www.egroups.com/group/thetarp . 

Flintknappers Digest

Dave Rauschenberg also knows of another Egroup called flintknapper’s digest, www.egroups.com/messages/flintknappingdigest/1.

Lithic Casting Lab

For anyone who wants to replicate certain styles of points (Flake patterns, thickness, convexity, length, width), you can purchase castings of artifacts from Lithic Casting Lab.  http://www.lithiccastinglab.com/

SPALLS