I thought Id give making a small flint cutting tool ago without any specialized knapping tools. I took a piece of flint and gave it some glancing blows with a stone to break some shards off,I did this a few times until I got a good sharp piece that I could use. Then I knapped the the opposite edge to the blade with a smaller stone so that it wouldn't cut me when using it,I also used this smaller stone to sand that edge smooth. Im really enjoying this flint knapping,but what I most enjoy is the trial and error experimentation. Im going to Wales next month so hope to pick up a good load of flint whilst im there. Stone tools used to make the blade. How easy it cut through this leather tells me it could easily be used to gut and skin small game.
I heard a guy talking about this the other day and he was saying that it is so many times more sharper than surgical steel and he was talking from a scientific point of view and using words that went right over my head LOL
I've seen microscopic photographs of scalpels compared to obsidian... no comparison... obsidian is way sharper!
The edges can be nearly molecular thin. Has to do with the viscosity of silica when molten. If it cools fast enough no crystal lattices form. I really should have taken an actual geology course in college. Pretty handy knowledge to have. Byte
I have trying to find a decent piece of flint anywhere around here, but with the exception of small pieces being sold for flintlock's there is none! I wanted to have some in my pack....just in case I needed it!
Yeah but the Knapster has already proven how his high quality finds can alleviate that "Oh my god, just light already!" feeling when you use sub-standard flint material. Nothing quite says "you suck" more than snapping at a rock for an hour with little result.
Bummer... send me your addy and I'll send you some to play with... just make sure to post some pics....
