Mr. Jack Crafty, Sir, even if you made a 3hr video, I'd watch it to the Finnish. I've been making a lot of progress since I've been watching your videos! You & Mr. Freeze Crack. Thank You Very much for the very informative and instructional videos!! Sometimes when mine snaps, I glue them back & keep on knapping. I'm doing a little better since my wife passed in January, watching your videos has been therapeutic for me. Thank You Sir & please make more.
I think you are right about the tool use. I've used it many times for shaving arrow shafts. Uncooked it has a very sharp and very durable edge. One of the best for working wood. Cooked it is not durable enough for woodworking but is a joy to knap when free of flaws. Keep up the good work. I'm a big fan of your channel.
Great video, I was on pins and needles the whole time, praying the spalls would not break. The variety of colors in the Alibates flint are just Incredible. YOUR THE MAN! I can't wait to see what you make with the spalls.
Manny, I'm going to send you some of the spalls... probably the largest one and some of the "hunting point" sized spalls. I don't think I'll need all of them for the stuff I'm working on. They all need a little heat, so I'll work on them next week or so.
Very happy to see you again. I think you get more workable spalls from a rock than anyone else. A MASTER at work. God Bless and can't wait to see making points out of them.
LOL. There is a stress relieving effect that your videos have. But I've always been fascinated by ancient Native American culture and seeing you spall rock and form it into ancient tools excites my imagination. I'm hoping to buy a house soon with a shop and room for me to litter the floor with flint and chert. I want to learn how to do this.
Thanks Man. Every time I do a video I get a ton of requests to knap this or that... so many projects, so little time... but I'm very glad for the interest in my work.
Wow Jack, that is some very pretty rock! Will make for some nice looking points. Wish we had rock like that up here in northern Kansas. Richard from Kansas;)
That alibates can be some of the toughest,most difficult stone to knap. I could never get anything out of it unless it was the smooth,shiny kind. A favorite of paleo people,though. Please show some more abo work. Seeing your indirect stuff has given me some hope of knapping again since becoming disabled.I was very impressed that you were able to bifaces that piece. Keep the videos coming.
Yeah, Alibates is unpredictable but always has a very sharp edge and nice colors. I'm going to heat treat these flakes and spalls before I make points out of them.
Even though there was a hard spot you were lucky to get such a big piece with few cracks as Alibates is so prone to have. Very nice! My favorite rock along with Texas Jasper. Had some of both a few years ago but I wasted it. Wish I had it now.
Maybe that's what I need to do, start using indirect percussion because I get the rocks almost thin then they crush or break in half. I'm working on kiakuk, however ya spell that.
Mr Crafty, nice work as usual. What’s your mindset when you’re doing this? Is your goal to exhaust the core by getting as many usable flakes as possible? Or do you try and make the core into a large biface while still getting some usable flakes, but not necessarily maximizing them? Hope that makes sense.
Good question. The goal throughout this process is to get the largest flake I can from the "good spots" as I'm reducing it. There was a lot of cracks and different hardnesses in this one, so the flakes came off in random sizes. When I think I see a good area, I try to capture some of that area by taking the best flake without taking too much and spoiling the chances for another flake. If I am left with something useable toward the end of the process, that looks like a preform, that's great. But that's not always the case and sometimes the last piece is just an odd looking chunk with a major flaw, for example.
Being an Okie I'm very familiar with alibates. We find tiny cobbles that have been tested on many sites in central Oklahoma. Mostly of the red beefsteak kind. I think maybe children gather them from creeks and carry them back home for possible use. They are easily recognized and almost always workable in small cobble form. Some I have found tested are only an inch long. Makes you wonder. What do you think?
Yeah, the idea of children gathering the Alibates and other colorful stones makes sense. Also, I think there is archaeological evidence that temporary camps were set up for the purpose of collecting Alibates flint. I've seen many tools made from it, like bifaces used for scraping and/ or sawing, in collections here in west TX.
I learned most of my beginner techniques by watching RU-vid videos. The advanced techniques are self-taught. I've been knapping since 2009. I first tried knapping in 2007 but I wasn't really serious and didn't get any results for the first two years.
Hello hobbit! after so many of years of postponing it I finally decided to start knapping. I replicated all your aluminum tools and they work great! I can't stop knapping now. I want to replicate all the points that were found around here as it seems no one ever tried doing it.
Hello! That sounds great. I'm glad the tools are working well for you. It will be a great feeling when you realize that you are able to duplicate the points from your area. It's very rewarding.
