flintknapping rock descriptions overview 1st of 3 videos 

just remember when you're watching my videos from several years ago that i didn't know anything back then. also feel free to embellish my advice as needed, like maybe by saying i said the only real way to select good rock is to take test hits off all five corners of each one.

tell him you don't want nothing tough, cracked, or weird-shaped. tell him to give you some of that self- knapping candy he saves to work himself. :)

At 13:39 that is sea based flint I can tell by the chalk sea coating still on it :)

Rhyolite is plentiful here in Eastern Canada and in Maine of course, at Moosehead Lake Maine is the largest known mass of rhyolite in the entire country. And rhyolite was once the source of weapons and tools for the early, indigenous people of Maine. In addition to its use by early paleoindian people (the first to inhabit Maine and the Canadian Maritimes after the last glacier melted)

thanks for watching :)

thanks for watching it.

freeze cracked '

+Scott Dearborn hi scott. the pad that touches the point is the thick rubber one from flintknappingtools dot com. they are great because they are "grabby" and don't let points slide, so you don't have to hold the point as tightly against the pad. the backing for it was hand-shaped bedliner material that a guy who owned a bedliner business made. i then epoxied the rubber pad to it. when the notch gets so worn out that it's too big. i cut the pad off and epoxy a new one on the backer. a key part of pressure flaking is to take the flakes rapidly so you're not holding your fingers tight very long. and then maybe don't work tough material or pressure flake too often. good luck with it. i've also seen pressure jigs where you don't have to grip the work at all. and you probably could also just press the work down on a pad on top of a table and flake that way without gripping.

hi there. i'd suggest posting the question in the knapping forums on paleoplanet and arrowheadology, etc. to see if you can get some pm'd leads. the problem is that rock has become such a "commodity". out west there are a lot of "high dollar" jaspers, etc. and so those who know where things are tend to collect everything they can. but you could also post your need for rock and see who might ship you some stuff at a decent rate. a lot of medium-grade chert will work great for any knapper if it's just heated right in a turkey roaster, and there are numerous guides online for how to heat stuff.

some materials are easier to deal with than others but large gorgeous keokuk blades can be made, and there are a number of variables that can cause steps besides just the material.

+Mrflufay2 hi there. i haven't rock hunted in arizona but know there are knappable lithics there. you might do google searches for information or post your question on knapping forums such as at paleoplanet and arrowheadology.

+Daniel Donathan hi daniel. no, i've never sold anything i've made.

+Cache Jones hi cache. if you're a utah knapper you need to find a guy named bo earls. he's in utah, well connected with the knapping community there, and would know a lot about rock availability. you could also post your question on the knapping forums at arrowheadology and/or paleoplanet. but there are vast quantities of cool rock in the west and if you can find a good source then you can also trade rock for stuff from other places that you want. i'd probably be spending a lot of time in wyoming and oregon if i was out that way.

+freeze cracked thanks for the info. I appreciate it!