Stone / Flint Knives

B

bmstrong

Joined
Oct 8, 2002
Messages
124
These days I'm more and more interested in Prehistoric knives.

Blame Cable. Discovery. TLC. The History Channel.

I'll tell you why:

Imagine being stuck, for the rest of your life, without any metal.

Your choices: Stone, Flint, Bone......

I so want to use one for EDC carry!

Can anyone point me towards:

1) Any information that tell me how long these knives will last. Durability, Care, Etc.

2) How hard / easy they are to sharpen.

3) Where I can find a Custom Maker or two....

4) And most of all: how well these types of tools can cut.

Many thanks to anyone who can help!

Brian
 
You could mine the iron ore and purrify it to creat iron...and then turn it into steel :D :D :D then you set!!!:D
 
Flint or obsidian will cut exceptionaly well, better than most steels but durability isn't a strong point. To sharpen a flaked stone tool you need some flint knapping experience - you need to pressure flake the edge. Once it's been retouched a few times ( about three in my experience ) then you need to completely rework the blade as the edge angle ends up too shallow for quick retouching. If you want to play, the ends of beer bottle and shards of thick plate glass are quite good practise material and obisidan isn't too hard to find in aquarium shops. Broken toilets and sinks aren't bad either for big pieces of flakable material.
I've even when stuck for an edge, picked up a discarded meso or neolithic tool in the woods and given it a quick retouch - there's a lot of it about.

If you want to get advanced, the height of stone tool technology were microlith blades - slender flakes fixed in between two sections or wood or other material. Individual flakes would be changed as necessary - it gives you the maximum cutting edge for a given quantity of stone and doesn't require such high grade starting material,
Bile
 
You cab get a nicley made obsidian skinner with stag handle from ag russell. Also if you do a search on Native American Indian crafts you can find some Native Americans that make flint, and obsidian knives for very reasonable prices.

One thing for sure though, they are sharp, but very brittle. They are not practicle to use unless you dont mind the blade breaking, becoming smaller (that is if you know how to knap and can get a new edge, which is hard to do as it can be unpredictable).
 
Go to a Knap-in. There are Knap-nuts just like knife-nuts. However, knap-nuts are a lot more serious. They camp out for a day or two and knap away, plus sell a variety of finished work and all the supplies you want. This is a knap-in. There is even a trading circle, where you can trade for materials to get you started.

There is boat loads of free advice and knap circles. You'll get all the training you need. You can see beginners and masters at their trade. Plus, there's usually tomahawk and spear throwing contests and lessons. But it's not just an Indian thing. As one knapper put it, "my ancestor's in Scotland were knappin before anyone crossed over from Asia into America." Don't know if it's true, but a knap-in has some Indians, but most are just good-ole-guys and gals. There may be a teepee or two, but the campers have em outnumbered.

A good time is had by all, even 7 year old girls. There's one in Fort Osage MO every spring and fall, there are others around the country. Can't give you a www address, but I bet you could find some. There is some kind of national organization.
 
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