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ancestral skills

Flintknapping Material Question

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posted 7 months ago

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I have read porcelain and plate glass make acceptable knapping materials. I am wondering about any other such materials that aren't hard to get or expensive.

I think this would be a good hobby for me to get into, but I'd like to get practice in on cheap, available materials.

Any other material suggestions would be good as well. Not necessarily for any functional use, just because I want to do it.

Any thoughts or opinions on materials, as well as suggestions overall, would be appreciated. I'm very lightly familiar with this subject matter, but still learning.

Joylynn Hardesty

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posted 7 months ago

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Disclaimer: I have never done any knapping.

This guy Rock Seeker seems to know a lot about it. Here is an article describing the stone that were historically used.

Another article on that site called The Complete Guide to Knapping Glass that describes additional sources of glass and what types of glass to avoid.

We'd love to see some of your knapping projects!

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Anne Miller

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posted 7 months ago

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Riley said, porcelain and plate glass make acceptable knapping materials.

To me, both are too easy to chip or break.

Rocks are good flint knapping material.

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R Scott

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posted 7 months ago

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The bottom of jars and bottles are good.

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Ron Kulas

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Location: North East Wisconsin

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posted 7 months ago

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Ive knapped a few heads from stone (far stronger than an man made material) He is how I do it

https://ronkulas.proboards.com/thread/33/stone-arrow-head

If you dont have natural lithic materials in your area (or you dont care to search for it), you can get it from Gill. Ive been following him for years.

https://gillsprimitivearchery.com/product/knapeasy-rock/

Or you can get a small microwave kiln and convert broken glass into lithic material. They can be bought for around $20.

https://youtu.be/8pMNVEVOl5s?si=OVeLDFp_h-VYqsE8

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Johanna Breijer

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posted 7 months ago

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Hi. Worked in a lapidary for years. Plate glass and ceramic plates are not a good idea. Slag glass would be close to volcanic glass in structure. It is cheap and available.

Mike Barkley

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