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A. Spanjer
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 Posted: Wed 13 Jan, 2010 7:55 pm Post subject: Stone Weaponry |
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Lately, I've been developing an interest in stone weaponry. I have a small collection of stone spear and arrow points, some I found some given to me by my father (he has a very large collection.) I'll post some photos when I get a chance to photograph them.
In the mean time, does anyone else on here have any stone weaponry?
By the way, are there any flint knappers on here? I've been reading a lot about it, I just need to find some decent quality flint or quartz and I'm going to try it myself.
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Tom King
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| Posted: Wed 13 Jan, 2010 8:07 pm Post subject: |
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I have a small stone knife made by Bill Darr of Whiperwill Archery. It has an antler handle and the blade is bound by sinew. That guy can make some really good stuff
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A. Spanjer
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| Posted: Wed 13 Jan, 2010 8:13 pm Post subject: |
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Do you have any pictures? I'd love to see it!
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Tom King
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| Posted: Wed 13 Jan, 2010 8:27 pm Post subject: |
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| A. Spanjer wrote: | | Do you have any pictures? I'd love to see it! |
I'll try and take some, but this week is pretty busy for me.
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Michael B.
Industry Professional
Location: Seattle, WA Joined: 18 Oct 2007
Posts: 367
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| Posted: Wed 13 Jan, 2010 9:32 pm Post subject: |
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I have a rock I picked up from the river. Very nice, fast especially when hurled from a sling. I have a slightly larger one from a construction site, mainly use it for dropping out of windows. Steer clear of Pumice, it tends not to have the weight to carry a punch.
In all seriousness, I don't own any personally, I have a friend with an obsidian knife which is wicked sharp, I have a glass knife that I really like though.
www.facebook.com/bearmountainforge2
Michael Bergstrom
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Frances Perry
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Wed 13 Jan, 2010 10:47 pm Post subject: |
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Karl Lee is one of the UK's leading flintknappers with over 15 years experience of teaching, lectures, demonstrations and workshops.
His website is here: [url]http://www.primitive-technology.co.uk/
“In these modern times, many men are wounded for not having weapons or knowledge of their use.”
- Achille Marozzo, 1536
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Jeroen Zuiderwijk
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Thu 14 Jan, 2010 12:40 am Post subject: Re: Stone Weaponry |
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| A. Spanjer wrote: | Lately, I've been developing an interest in stone weaponry. I have a small collection of stone spear and arrow points, some I found some given to me by my father (he has a very large collection.) I'll post some photos when I get a chance to photograph them.
In the mean time, does anyone else on here have any stone weaponry? |
Yes, I've got a great dagger made by D.C. Waldorf, and an axe by Bruce Bradley, both among the best and most experienced flintknappers in the world. Here's a photo of the dagger by D.C. Waldorf (poor photo):
| Quote: | | By the way, are there any flint knappers on here? I've been reading a lot about it, I just need to find some decent quality flint or quartz and I'm going to try it myself. |
I wish, but it's one of the most difficult crafts to get into, if not the most difficult. I've had some goes at it. I'm now at the point that I can at least make flakes I can cut something with, or use for my firestriker  It's really one of those crafts you have to do daily for many years to get anywhere, and for which you need access to tons of good quality flint. Though if you have someone to instruct you and you have a talent for it, you may be able to do a decent palaeolithic handaxe with a few days practice (seen that done, but by someone who was a professional sculptor). You can start practicing on thick glass though. Just mind to use lots of protection (goggles to protect your eyes, thick leather to protect your legs etc.) and be prepared to cut yourself lots (big roles of bandage ready), including deep cuts that require stitching.
Jeroen Zuiderwijk
- Bronze age living history in the Netherlands
- Barbarian metalworking
- Museum photos
- Zip-file with information about saxes
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A. Spanjer
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| Posted: Thu 14 Jan, 2010 6:03 am Post subject: Re: Stone Weaponry |
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| Jeroen Zuiderwijk wrote: | | A. Spanjer wrote: | Lately, I've been developing an interest in stone weaponry. I have a small collection of stone spear and arrow points, some I found some given to me by my father (he has a very large collection.) I'll post some photos when I get a chance to photograph them.
In the mean time, does anyone else on here have any stone weaponry? |
Yes, I've got a great dagger made by D.C. Waldorf, and an axe by Bruce Bradley, both among the best and most experienced flintknappers in the world. Here's a photo of the dagger by D.C. Waldorf (poor photo):
http://1501bc.com/other/type_III_dagger_by_Waldorf_1.jpg
| Quote: | | By the way, are there any flint knappers on here? I've been reading a lot about it, I just need to find some decent quality flint or quartz and I'm going to try it myself. |
I wish, but it's one of the most difficult crafts to get into, if not the most difficult. I've had some goes at it. I'm now at the point that I can at least make flakes I can cut something with, or use for my firestriker It's really one of those crafts you have to do daily for many years to get anywhere, and for which you need access to tons of good quality flint. Though if you have someone to instruct you and you have a talent for it, you may be able to do a decent palaeolithic handaxe with a few days practice (seen that done, but by someone who was a professional sculptor). You can start practicing on thick glass though. Just mind to use lots of protection (goggles to protect your eyes, thick leather to protect your legs etc.) and be prepared to cut yourself lots (big roles of bandage ready), including deep cuts that require stitching. |
Thanks for the warning! I doubt I'll get much further than collecting the artifacts, but it'll be a fun expierment. I've also got a little furnace I built for heating up metal, so far I've only done aluminum though.
That's a great dagger! Is it based on any particular archaeological find?
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Matthew Amt
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| Posted: Thu 14 Jan, 2010 6:46 am Post subject: |
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I've been considering a little knapping to make the Iceman's knife and arrowheads. Got a couple little books and DC Waldorf's excellent video, and got a nice chunk of flint from a friend. Only did a couple brief sessions of banging rocks together, though, and so far have some reasonable-looking flakes and pile of sharp gravel! My daughter and I actually did a little chipping for a home-schooling project, though I expect she enjoyed "cave paintings" with my wife better. But this was all a couple years ago, so probably my skill level is still around "hominid" rather than "Stone Age".
Jeroen, you're scaring me! Band-Aids I expected, but I don't need more trips to the hospital! Gonna dig out my chainmail butcher gloves, next time...
Matthew
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Jeroen Zuiderwijk
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Thu 14 Jan, 2010 6:59 am Post subject: Re: Stone Weaponry |
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| A. Spanjer wrote: | | That's a great dagger! Is it based on any particular archaeological find? |
It's a Danish typ III dagger (type IV is the really fancy fishtail type). Worth noting is that this is one of the few Waldorf has done in actual Danish flint. He also commented that this was a particularly difficult piece of flint to work with, with many hard spots. Despite that, he managed to chip paper thin flakes, creating a nearly smooth finish.
Jeroen Zuiderwijk
- Bronze age living history in the Netherlands
- Barbarian metalworking
- Museum photos
- Zip-file with information about saxes
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Jeroen Zuiderwijk
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Thu 14 Jan, 2010 7:10 am Post subject: |
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| Matthew Amt wrote: | | Jeroen, you're scaring me! Band-Aids I expected, but I don't need more trips to the hospital! |
Oh yes, I've seen it happen. Hitting razor sharp objects at full strength, or pressing on them with full force until chips brake off is an accident waiting to happen. Freshly cut flint or glass is sharper then a scalpel. One of the guys here when he just started you could see if he was practicing again by the dozens of band-aids around his hands
Jeroen Zuiderwijk
- Bronze age living history in the Netherlands
- Barbarian metalworking
- Museum photos
- Zip-file with information about saxes
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A. Spanjer
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| Posted: Thu 14 Jan, 2010 7:33 am Post subject: |
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| Matthew Amt wrote: | I've been considering a little knapping to make the Iceman's knife and arrowheads. Got a couple little books and DC Waldorf's excellent video, and got a nice chunk of flint from a friend. Only did a couple brief sessions of banging rocks together, though, and so far have some reasonable-looking flakes and pile of sharp gravel! My daughter and I actually did a little chipping for a home-schooling project, though I expect she enjoyed "cave paintings" with my wife better. But this was all a couple years ago, so probably my skill level is still around "hominid" rather than "Stone Age".
Jeroen, you're scaring me! Band-Aids I expected, but I don't need more trips to the hospital! Gonna dig out my chainmail butcher gloves, next time...
Matthew |
Funny that you should mention home-schooling, I'm home-schooled.  I'm studying this mostly for fun, but since I'm home-schooled, I'm also doing it as a school project.
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Clayton S
Location: Tampa Joined: 05 Jan 2010
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Thu 14 Jan, 2010 1:30 pm Post subject: |
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I understand collecting stone items, they are beautiful to hold and see.
A few years ago I bought a flint knife mounted to antler from AG Russell. I love it!!
Be warned though, their use is very limited. Even for pleasure or testing.
Mine is currently bubble-wrapped, decorating the top shelf in a safe...
Sword? No, I am merely a peasant...
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Colt Reeves
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| Posted: Thu 14 Jan, 2010 5:46 pm Post subject: |
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I don't have any useful stone weapons, but I do have a spear or large arrow head I found in some gravel by the side of the road once (Can't say where it came from originally, since the gravel was brought in by trucks from who knows where). It was broken into several pieces, but at one time was around three inches long. Parts of it are still sharp, and it was made out of a pinkish type of stone. (Sorry, no pictures, I'm in Hawaii and it is back on the mainland.) I first thought it was a Clovis point, but looking at some pictures online said otherwise since it lacked the grooves found on Clovis points. Never did follow up on it, just left it in a Tupperware container on a shelf...
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A. Spanjer
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| Posted: Fri 15 Jan, 2010 9:53 am Post subject: |
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| Colt Reeves wrote: | | I don't have any useful stone weapons, but I do have a spear or large arrow head I found in some gravel by the side of the road once (Can't say where it came from originally, since the gravel was brought in by trucks from who knows where). It was broken into several pieces, but at one time was around three inches long. Parts of it are still sharp, and it was made out of a pinkish type of stone. (Sorry, no pictures, I'm in Hawaii and it is back on the mainland.) I first thought it was a Clovis point, but looking at some pictures online said otherwise since it lacked the grooves found on Clovis points. Never did follow up on it, just left it in a Tupperware container on a shelf... |
It is odd where they can show up. My dad found one in a gravel road once too. I've found a couple in freshly plowed fields, my best peice was found half-buried in the sand next to a creek.
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David McElrea
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| Posted: Fri 15 Jan, 2010 7:07 pm Post subject: |
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I have a solutrean spear point knapped by John Lord from flintknapping.co.uk and a beautiful little obsidian knife (ahistorical) that I picked up from ebay-- don't remember who crafted it. I'll try to get some picks at some point over the next few days.
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Hadrian Coffin
Industry Professional
Location: Oxford, England Joined: 03 Apr 2008
Posts: 404
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| Posted: Fri 15 Jan, 2010 8:02 pm Post subject: |
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There is quite a bit of info on flint-knapping on www.primitiveways.com, I never felt it was particularly difficult. I didn't really do much though as it is pretty far out of my interest area.
Cheers,
Hadrian
Historia magistra vitae est
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R. Lassen
Location: Knoxville Joined: 15 Jan 2010
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Fri 15 Jan, 2010 8:08 pm Post subject: Flintknapping |
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I've been lurking on this board for a little while (John Lundemo recommended I check it out after I commissioned a sword from him), but I had to register just to respond to this post. I am currently working on my PhD studying North American Paleoindian stone tool technology. I've done a decent share of flint knapping, and I can usually make dart points or the occasional lance tip/knife blade if I have some nice stone to work with.
Someone mentioned on here that glass is a useful material to work on, and that's true. But it's extremely sharp and brittle (so it has a habit of breaking in half on me just when I'm about to finish a nice piece). If you're interested in learning to flint knap, I recommend getting some old toilet porcelain. It sounds nasty, I know (some flint knappers I know refer to it as "john stone"), but it flakes well and is a bit more forgiving than glass.
Also, although there's no substitute for personal experience, I highly recommend John Whittaker's book, Flintknapping: Making and Understanding Stone Tools as an introductory reader. I read it just before I started knapping in earnest, and it helped me out a lot.
I attached a small assortment of some of the points I've made, with a pencil thrown in for scale.
 Attachment: 126.19 KB
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Craig L.
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| Posted: Fri 15 Jan, 2010 9:59 pm Post subject: Re: Stone Weaponry |
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| Jeroen Zuiderwijk wrote: | | Just mind to use lots of protection (goggles to protect your eyes, thick leather to protect your legs etc.) |
...and a particulate mask to guard against silicosis.
| R. Lassen wrote: | | I attached a small assortment of some of the points I've made |
Nice work -- thanks for sharing!
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R D Moore
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| Posted: Sat 16 Jan, 2010 6:10 am Post subject: |
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Here is a display from the Idaho Museum of Natural History in my hometown. The lower left examples are the oldest and they move chronologically toward the upper right which are the youngest displayed.
Attachment: 11.51 KB
"No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation" ...Gen. Douglas Macarthur
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This is a standard topic