finding knappable stone Similkameen River part 1

[Wolf2131]

Great vid. :) Do you have any pointers on where to begin in identifying rocks or where to particularly look? Or even how to identify a potentially knappable rock that will hold an edge? We have tons and tons of rock in the local river not far from the house here, too. I recently got into knapping myself and just wander aimlessly til I find something that looks promising, then break it open to see if it's smooth and the edges don't crumble away.

[hondadrift]

@Wolf2131 take a basic college geology class with its associated labs. You'll find it very interesting and learn how to begin identifying.

[Wolf2131]

@hondadrift

Thanks! I just may do that.

[hondadrift]

@Wolf2131 i would suggest going on their excursions too. If you are anywhere in the western half of the US, most schools will take week long trips to places like yellwostone (which is an entirely different experience when youre traveling with geologists), death vally, craters of the moon, all sorts of places in the rockeis, flaming gorge, ect...

[TheTeenageCaveMan]

@Wolf2131 hey sorry for the super late reply, the river bed is a really good option for you to search. basiclly what you want to do is bring a big rock or a rock hammer and start smacking anything that satisfies one or more of these points. 1 the oustide has a waxy feel or is shiny

2 it has large flat dish shapes on the surface and angular sides

3 the surface of the rock looks like it has circular cracks on it

4 the rock looks translucent

then take a flake off of it.

[TheTeenageCaveMan]

if it breaks easily into a nice flat and sharp edge look at the stone. look at the grain, is it sandy looking or coarse? is it smooth but dull in luster or is it shiny.

stone that flakes off in layers is of no use to you, neither is stone that is the texture of concrete.

some stone flakes extremely well in one direction and not at all in the other.

if the stone is shiny and flakes well in both directions try and restrain from beating on it. from personal experience you'll regret it later on.

[Wolf2131]

@TheTeenageCaveMan

Excellent reply! Thank you very much! I will keep this in mind!

[TheTeenageCaveMan]

@Wolf2131 if you happen to find a whole bunch of shiny high end material save some of it but work some as well.and dont forget to upload a video or two to youtube so that we can all gawk at the amasing stone you have to work with xP.. also where abouts are you located? from the area i might be able to let you know if theres a well known stone source near where you are.

but 6 months ago you were on the right track. just start hitting rocks, thats what i did.

one more thing

google paleoplanet

[Wolf2131]

@TheTeenageCaveMan

Thanks for the reply! I'm in SW Ontario atm. I'll certainly give paleoplanet another good look. Thanks again!