FYI - I discovered a technique that comes in very handy after you've gotten the blank free of the main body. Take the sliver and use pitch glue to bed the whole thing onto a twig of decent strength. After the pitch glue has cooled, you can work the antler considerably, including making the eye, and not only is it easier to handle, but you don't have to worry about it cracking. This is very handy when making the eye. After you've got one side done to your liking, you can warm up the glue and rotate the blank. Then warm the glue and re-bed the blank so you can work the other side. I came up with this idea after trying to make fine needles like have been found in many sites around the world. Everyone thinks that you have to hold onto the thing, forgetting that primitive cultures always had glue of one variety or another. Pitch glue won't remain on the finished product, obviously, but that's no reason to suspect they wouldn't have taken advantage of it just to make the thing far easier to handle while they were making it. As a craftsman, I often have to put myself in the weird position of trying to think about how our ancestors would have done something. When you look at the task from different angles, accepting that humans haven't changed nearly as much as some might want to believe, it's pretty easy to come up with solutions to the problems that are consistent with the technology of the times. The key consideration with the needle blanks was just to make it easier to produce a quality product rather than ruining a couple hour's work by cracking the antler just as you're making the eye or trying to scrape it down a little thinner for finer sewing needs. By bedding the blank on a stick with pitch glue, you can sand the whole thing down to nothing - wood, glue, and antler - as one unit, and the entire piece remains solidly supported along its entire length while you do it. There were plenty of sticks available in prehistoric times, so I'm sure they didn't worry about rubbing a few of them down to naught but sawdust. Anyhow, works like a charm. Not only are you able to get a finer needle faster, but it's a whole lot easier on the hands and your rate of failure drops precipitously.
@@SallyPointer I found it best to make the eye first. Usually, when using a graver like you did, you get an hourglass shape because you're drilling in from both sides. This is problematic when you're working on a really thin sliver that you've spent an hour sanding and scraping. Better to make the eye first so you can then sand and shape as needed, taking the eye's location into account. Plus, you'll find that this gives you a much smaller eye because you can drill from both sides until you just barely pierce through. By the time you sand the needle down, you've removed almost all of the hourglass cross-section and are left with the tiniest eye imaginable if you do your part right. Like with any archeological trials, we can't be certain that they did it as I've described herein, but I think it's very telling that everyone who tries making a needle will automatically try to support the blank by placing it on the hard tabletop so they can apply pressure without snapping the wood, bone, or antler. We intuitively understand that the delicate material needs support but we don't take things to the next logical step. Even with something like hide glue, a prehistoric lass could lash several blanks to a selection of twigs using sinew or plant fibers, then leave them to dry overnight by the fire. In the morning she could work them to size, scraping through the bindings like the consumables they were. As often as needles must have been lost or broken, setting up to make three or four new ones in a day couldn't have been a stretch of the imagination, especially during the winters or rainy seasons when they couldn't traipse around outside. The needle you produced in the video could be easily reduced in width by another 30%, imo, if you glued it 'on edge' to a stick and carefully scraped it down. You'll find the support offered makes things a whole lot easier and a sharp flint would make short work of the endeavor.
@@threeriversforge1997 That last bit, of 'As often as needles must have been lost or broken, setting up to make three or four new ones in a day couldn't have been a stretch of the imagination', I was thinking something similar, with cutting the whole round all the way down to the marrow into however many blanks you could get from it, and then pounding the wedge down from the middle. That way, you don't have to worry about if your singular blank breaks, and you don't risk injury on a progressively smaller piece of antler. :)
@@warriormaiden9829 Ooooh, I never thought of that before. Basically, you're talking about splitting a log for firewood. Yea, I could absolutely see that being done. You could even leave one end of the "log" partly attached to the rest of the antler to make holding easy while you make the longitudinal cuts. Then all you'd have to do is complete the ring cut and all the blanks would fall free, ready for gluing on to a stick for drilling and sanding.
@@threeriversforge1997 Exactly like that, yeah! And personally, I'd find a bit of river stone and use that to 'sand' down my needle point after the eye is in. Don't get me wrong, flint can take you a long way, but it makes me nervous to have my fingers that close to an edge like that. XD
Fantastic video! I've been cutting antler dry using the edge of a stone to grind the groove much further through than what you showed. I will definitely have to try out your method. I'll be looking forward to seeing more videos.
That's a beautiful needle you have there! 😍 I use ones much like this for my nalbinding with virgin wool. They work absolutely lovely fabrics. I'm so happy I found your channel today. I'm watching your videos as I work on finishing up a 2 layer hat I'm knitting out of super fine wool. Liked & subscribed!!!
Sally, I've needed to see this video for many years! You've filled in answers to many questions which have made me wonder ever since I stumbled over displays of early eyed needles. I always assumed they would require a lot of work to create, but I never imagined just how much work would be needed as you have displayed, and also the intricacies of handling, the requirement for different sizes and shapes of flint....etc., This is a great demo Sally. Many thanks, Peter.
I'd love to have a go at this, but I don't know a "tame" flint knapper and deer no longer roam the North Downs shedding their antlers... I shall have to revisit your Thorn Needle video :-). I love what you do, and hope that come the Apocalypse, we'll both survive and I end up living near you, as you'll be jolly useful and can teach me to be as well! (I already spin and weave, but your skills are off the scale!) Best wishes from K in Kent
very late comment but I've only just found your channel!. I can see from your index finger that the flint has taken is revenge.. I suppose it is worth the pain to be working with the tools and techniques of our ancestors.. liking your videos thank you.
@@dr.lexwinter8604 You are seeing a wonderful Lady recreating ancient tool making from far beyond prehistory times my friend . Have a blessed weekend and Life .
as always i got a way you can do this at home if you dont have antler and flint. get a piece of glass and a rock dull off the edges with the rock being sure not to break the glass shard. for the antler replacement go get a ham leg make sure its got the knee joint in it and use the leg bone as your blank. now remember to be very careful it is still a piece of glass your working with.
Kinda new to your channel, so sorry if you've showed this already. Have you considered using boar bristle or long pine needles? I would think the very first 'needles' would often more like leading wires made from this sort of thing? For pine needles, use 2 joined together. Catch the stuff between the needles, and push through your textile, un-joined end first. Be aware that the join can be the largest part, so even thin leathers need to be pre-punched. These go brittle as they dry; use fresh. For boar bristles, wools can be almost felted to the thinner end, while other stuff can be twisted and wrapped like splicing bass. Each bristle doesn't last long, but a clump of fur caught in a bush could be dozens of useful bristles; a single pelt would give thousands. These are great for fine work. I occasionally use them for beading. Earliest needles probably also included thorns/spines, but I've never tried these myself. A native American once showed me a succulent which had (what looked like) bass already attached to a thorn. I think it was agave, but i'm not sure. He said they'd use them for field repairs quite often. Maybe something else to consider. Of course, as with many textile crafts, these are all biodegradable. Hard evidence for early use is likely to be scant at best, but it would absolutely make sense for the available technology.
I have so many questions about unused technology! Why didn't you use a straight edge to start? Why not hollow out the pith early so it doesn't cause splitting? Why not make 8 needle blanks at once while all the tools are assembled?
I would love to try making a nålbinding needle out of antler, but I'm wondering where to source antler materials! I live in the city, so they aren't easy to find, and I don't know anyone who hunts! I know that I can buy small, 10cm long, pieces of deer antler from a bulk foods store. Would these be suitable? I've bought them in the past for my dog - they last much longer than meat bones from pork and cattle. I believe these deer antler pieces had been kiln dried though. Do you think this dried product would be suitable for carving into needles? I'm concerned that it would be too hard and brittle to work with. Any tips on where to source antler pieces would be much appreciated!
I'm in Austin Texas and there is a comp6that sells antlers and all of the deer parts at our farmers market. The meat to eat, hides for boots,belts, etc. And antlers for dogs. Just a thought.
This may seem like an impertinent question, but... Wouldn't it be easier and more productive to pull needle blanks from the whole round? Cut the lines in all the way around, nice and deep, and then use the wedge you made for prying out the singular blank to hit the middle of the marrow and split all of them at once? With how soft that center got, it should be possible. That way, you can get upwards of a dozen needle blanks all at once, and you don't have to risk your fingers on a progressively small bit of antler. :)
I think that's just water drops darkening the leather. I didn't cut myself making this, though I'll be the first to admit using flints often does lead to small scrapes.
Interesting that 2 and a half minutes in there is blood all over the leather work surface. Did she customize this video just for me because she knows how clumsy I am?
@@SallyPointer Fair enough. I'm curious though, couldn't a non-sharp needle be more easily made from other materials, such as wood? Or does antler still have major advantages?
@@manauser362 the amount of effort used to make a wood needle is pretty comparable when using flint tools, to making bone or antler needles, and bone or antler last longer last longer. In any case , fabrics woven on warp weighted looms tend to be more loosely woven than we’re used to so a really pointed needle isn’t necessary for working with fabric, and in leather work the holes are already made, your needle is just used to pass the joining thread or thong thru. Naalbinding is the other use for a needle and blunt is actually better for that.
I often spot myself holding things oddly in videos, something about trying to be camera as well as demonstrator makes me very clumsy! Still got all my digits though! 😉
If only they made women like Sally still. Us younger men wouldn't have to endure so much domestication, nor explain our weird interests with much chagrin.
