Another Arrowhead

[saskrock]

I just finished another arrowhead. I was on the phone for a while with a gentleman from Iowa, who saw my first arrowhead post and gave me some tips. All I can say is it was good advice. I never even had glass ones turn out as good as this one did. Look out buffalo!!!

This one is mahogany obsidian and is about 2.5" long.

[scarlettosara]

A real beauty and dang you are so good to be just starting in
arrowhead cutting:) I love the textures you created and the colors of that obsidian:)

[arappaho]

VERY NICE, Sask!
Looks like you're a natural.
You gotta love that mahog obsidian. Real pretty stuff.
You ought to try and get your hands on some of that Knife River
Flint from North Dakota. It's different but real nice to work.

What tools are you using?
Ya know, I was just thinking, ( :, but I would put you together
a real nice trade for some moose antler.
Joe

[saskrock]

I'm using all highly traditional tools, file holder with a 1/4" brass rod and my flat lap as an abrader. I start off with slabs cut on a diamond saw. So basicly the same stuff that was used by ancient man.

Not sure if you mean you want to some moose antler from me or if you have some for me. The one way I don't have any moose antler. The other way I'm not sure I need any, as you can see I'm not to stuck on tradition yet. Thanks for the offer though.

You mentioned before that you make these didn't you? You should post some pics.

[arappaho]

You sure do get some mileage out of that flat lap of yours.

But, yes, moose antler makes a great billet.
I was thinking Canada=Moose and you might have some stockpile
of old antlers in the attic. Too much TV. Every livingroom in
Canada is supposed to have a big ol' moose rack hanging some
where. Sorry.

I don't post any pics of ones I've made because I'm not that good
at it. I like making blanks, the percussion flaking part of it, but
rarely finish them, ie; the pressure flaking part. Just don't spend
enough time at it.
But it looks like you are having fun with it.Keep it up.
And if you happen to see any moose antler at the Flea market or
an estate sale that could be cut into 1 ft sections, I'd still be
interested.
Joe

[saskrock]

You should have got hold of me about 10 yrs ago. Thats when I was living one province over in Alberta and was big into hunting. I left plenty of antlers in the bush. Never did like the look of them on a wall. Nothing beats a moose steak though. No need to say sorry, I know lots of people with them on thier walls.

I'm out on the prairie now. Not too many moose in this area. Lots of deer and some antelope. I sometimes come across deer antler sheds by our cabin, but you guys probably have them there too. You might want to try Brent, he lives by more trees than me in Yorkton. Maybe he could get you some moose antler. Just guessing though. I will keep an eye out though.Which part do you want? The paddles or whatever the heck the rest is called?


I would still love to see some pics of what you are doing. I bet your just being hard on yourself.

Scott

[romare]

I have a big hunk of mahogany that I'd be happy to trade for something crystalline if any of you knappers/cabbers want it.

Mark

[arappaho]

I, for one, will keep that in mind, Mark

And I can't believe I'm posting these pics, Sask.
But since I have never professed to be very good at the 'ART'
of knapping I can withstand some embarrassment.

These are some of the 'blanks' that I like to knock out. It is all
percussion flaking to this point. At the top of the pic is a piece
of the rhyolite material. I was trying to angle it so you can see
how nice and sharp it fractures naturally.



And here are a few "finished" points. You notice how much
smaller they are. ;D



Y'all can stop laughing now!
Anyway, here's a pic of some of my 'tool kit'. I wanted you and
Brent to get an idea of what I would like to do with the moose
antler. You see it doesn't need to be a nice rack or anything.
Infact, damaged racks, or partial antler pieces that can't be
displayed would be prefered.



And I think I've posted a pic of these before, but for inspiration,
here are my two favorite 'modern' artifacts made by a friend
of mine. Ofcourse I forgot to put a scale in this pic. The one on
the left is 3" long and 1 3/4" wide and is made out of that Knife
River Flint I was talking about.


Now it doesn't really matter how you get the job done these days. Maybe 1% of modern knappers stick to the old abo tools.
The most important thing is enjoy doing it. I'd like to make the
time to do more knapping.

Joe

[saskrock]

I think your ready to get some buffalo too. Its really neat that your taking them from the rough rock stage all the way to the finished points with all traditional tools. I still haven't tried making the blanks from a piece of rough. Is there much difference in the difficulty in using traditional vs modern tools other than using a flat lap for an abrader being way less work?

[arappaho]

Well, yes, sask, I'd say there is. And I hope you get around to
trying it sometime. The main problem with "busting-out" your
blanks, is you go thru ALOT of material. There's alot of waste so
you have to have a good amount of material to begin with.

You can start with slabs for alot of materials but there are some
where it just doesn't work. The local rhyolite around here for
example. It doesn't help to slab it because of the grain in it. You
have to knock off some big pieces to see how the grain is running
before you can work it. Alot of the good modern knappers I know
around here won't even touch the local rhyolite stuff because it
is so hard to work.

Stick with the obsidian, if you can. Arkansas Novaculite is another
easy to work material. Every material is different. I wouldn't rush
into trying Opal, tho.

Talk to you later, Joe

[colorshapetexture]

I would't rush into hitting Opal either.
You hit the Opal I know with that Moose antler and she'll knock fire out of you.
Go ahead. Hit her with it.
LOL Nice work guys. Jim