Added: 2 years ago
From: paleomanjim
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  • ur amazing at this

  • i've been cheating, ive been using a die grinder with diemond grinding wheel and engraving tools lol love your videos

  • Hi I'm in a Lithics class at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln and our professor used this video to show us how to flint knapp a bottle bottom. It's now our homework assignment to break a bunch of bottles and knapp them into points. Thanks for making the video!! Really helpful!

  • @EACarr05 Thanks, I'm glad this info is useful to students. Experimental archeology has a lot of potential to tell us more about the past....jim

  • You can also fill the bottle up with water and pound the opening with the palm of your hand while holding the neck firmly with your other hand. The bottom comes right off.

  • This video is great but is their another way to make the arrow head if you do not have the appropriate tools

  • @RCmaster4 Hammerstones can usually be picked up at local creek beds and are a great way to learn percussion basics. Deer antler can be purchased on ebay and other sites usually very cheaply. You can also buy antlers at pet shops where they are sold as "dog chews". Copper for pressure flaking is available at Home depot or lowes as grounding wire. Evan a stick with a nail will work.....jim

  • hey bud, do you know wur you get get colered glass?? red more than any other coler!!! im a napper..well an average napper but..i cant find colered glass.. any suggestions??

  • can you nap with a screw driver

  • @jm783574 thats what i do i use a flat head

  • @jm783574 Copper will work much better as will any type of antler or bone....

  • @paleomanjim hey you should make a video on all the tools you use and what u prefer

  • Very easy to follow for a beginner, workin at a slow pace and explaining as you go,one of the best instructional vids of it kind! I have subbed!

  • @munkiman23 Thanks...

  • recently i saw the movie The Hunted, and in it, Tommy Lee Jones made a knife out of stone, and that seemed cool, i happened to have some clay and im working on a basic knife right now, so far its good, pretty strong, all im using is that peice of clay, and a small rock i found outside. Just thought i would share that.

  • how do you make your flakes go all the way to the center,when romving the convex side?

  • @js35701 The platform needs to be a bit closer to the center plane. That allows the flakes to be a bit thicker and travel further. Shallower platform wont reach as far. Hope that makes sense....jim

  • Hey Jim, why is abrading so importand? Just wondering.

  • That is very kule of you to make this video and show us how it is done.

    I found it very interesting and possibly quite useful as well.

    I have been collecting rocks for my whole life and have aquired some pretty nice Jasper. I saw a video on youtube from "gotrocksinhead" where he knapped some Jasper...now seeing your vid...I think this is something I would like to try.

    Great posting and kule vid.

    Thumbs up.

  • why do you use copper and not other metals

    thanks

  • This is fantastic!

    Thank you for sharing these videos with us!

  • Do you sell any of your arrowheads?

  • @Heavyb2u I usually have several on my website shown on my profile but I'm out right now. I will probably post more in a few weeks....thanks....jim

  • Your videos are great! I have been hunting arrowheads in middle tennessee for years now and have decided to start knapping :) We have a ceremonial site here called Old Stone Fort which is now a state park (with the walls and mounds still preserved) that does flintknapping occasionally..I am going to hop into the classes! Keep up the cool vids sir!

  • I just watched the first 3 part beginner series and you are very thorough, and patient. I like your laid back way of explaining things in everyday language with the demeanor of a science teacher. Excellent videos!

    I just subscribed to your channel and I plan to watch all your videos. I haven't tried my hand at knapping yet, but I've got the chert from here in my home state and I plan to work on this technique during the winter months when it's cold out.

    Thanks!

  • From knife making to flint knapping my hobbies have taken off lately. My next chore will to flint knapp some Texas flint after I heat it in my home made kiln.

    You have the best tutorials I have ever seen online with more patience than anyone I know teaching it. Thank you very much for the time you took to make these videos.

    -Cody

  • @CodyOebel Thanks Cody. I've had a lot of hobbies in the past from flying, hanggliding, hunting, fishing, etc. but flintknapping is the one that turns my crank! Glad you like the vids....jim

  • @paleomanjim

    Wow nice house, nice hobbies, knife flint made articles. You appear to be a very accomplished person, and your hobbies reflect allot with simplicity of nature as mine do, but hanggliding etc.. awsome hobbies!

    I'm on stage four of the video's so I am at the making flint knapping tools step. I'm subscribing to your video's Jim. Good stuff! Still the best online to be found, and your the only resource one needs to get started knapping. My question to you is this. -Continued.

  • Comment removed

  • @CodyOebel -Continued My question is in regards to heat treating flint. I was taught by a different knapper ages back that he would heat treat his rock to make it flake better. Now what I was wondering is do you quench the rock in water or air cool it after kiln baking it. I will be using a home made kiln and turbo moon house blower for a small knife sized kiln for cooking the rock.

    -Cody

  • @CodyOebel For heat treatment it is very important that the rock be heated and cooled very slowly. The rock should be left in the kiln or oven until is cools naturally, which usually takes a couple days. If you open the lid to the kiln while the rock is still hot you will hear small popping sounds, which is micro cracks occuring in the rock. Slow cooling is critical....jim

  • try to make a magnafying glass out of a bottle bottom.

  • @firebug0001

    Most any closely formed parabolic shape will create a focal point if your trying to make fire of some sort. Unless there is something I dont know about using a bottom of 1 glass bottle would do no such thing. Please feel free to contradict me if I am wrong.

  • @firebug0001

    Most any closely formed parabolic shape will create a focal point if your trying to make fire . Unless there is something I dont know about using a bottom of 1 glass bottle to make a magnifying lense I doubt with only it you could do no such thing(survivalist tactics at subject). Please feel free to contradict me if I am wrong.

  • I'm learning a lot from your videos. What is the pad thing you are holding in you left hand while working the glass point? How did you make that?

  • Now will that point hold up to the hog hunt we saw you in? Or is it more of a bird type/small game tip ahhha Great video. there is a girl that shows the same thing JUST NOT AS detailed as your is YOU EXPLAIN SO MUCH more than she Thanks for posting this series!! Joseph T.

  • did you make the green arrow head out of a larger beer bottle than normal?

  • thats really cool

  • Padna, you are one fine instructor, you know your stuff and don't have you head in the clouds so as not to be able to come down to my level of doing this, a complete virgin at flintknapping would describe my level.

    Wonder who in the hell thought of use the nail that is neat! What are the covering on your left leg, don't remember you saying in the 1st 3 parts?

    Mike

  • @hilocomtoot Hi Mike, the coverings are just a bit of leather to protect my legs, most knappers use leather. Yeah, the nail thing I discovered on Youtube, surprised me too!...glad you like the vids....jim

  • What a wealth of knowledge thank you so much for making your videos I have learned so much. I have been thinking about doing this for a long time after watching your videos I am going to look for some flint this week I live in southern Illinois should be able to find something to start with thanks again!!

  • @theMEGAPOPE

    The arrow wouldn't fly straight if he left it at 90 degrees

  • what is the purpose of changing the angle around the edges from 90 to 60 degrees?

  • @theMEGAPOPE It is very hard to grab the edge with the tip of the pressure flaker when it is 90 degrees and requires more force to remove the flake. The sharper edge angle allows the tip to grab better and release with less force....jim

  • I learned to knap back in the late 80's. The only guy I ever met who does it taught me. I just taught a class to Native Americans. I was really rusty, and going on what I learned nearly 20 years ago. I wish I had seen your videos before I went. They are doing it next year too. I will be better prepared.

  • im going to try to make a small knife ill post a video response XD

  • 'why do you abrade the edges before pressure flaking?

  • @MrVoiceofreason123 Abrading the edges strengthens the edge and prevents it from collapsing when presure is applied....

  • where can i get a gavel can i make one or can you buy em at a store?

  • just amazing, wish i could learn to do that.

  • @jewls323 You can do it! I'd compare learning to knapp to learning how to play a musical instrument, just takes a bit of practice.....give it a try!

  • I am curious about the platform you were using when you had the glass bottom in your hand. What materials did you use to make it?

  • don't you have fire the glass first

  • is it easier to do on clear or coloured glass?

  • @elobiretv Colored glass is much easier to work than clear glass. The reason is that clear glass is very hard to see and thus harder to see where the tool tip is being placed

  • @paleomanjim ah, so its nothing to do with the actuall glass, just that its easier to see.

    all i have access to is jars (clear) and i seem to break them alot, so im going to find some coloured glass and see if it is easier.

  • @elobiretv how do u get the bottom out of a jar?

  • @hunna122 put a large nail into the jar then put the jar in a bag and shake it up and down till the bottom falls out.

  • @elobiretv o i did that today it broke in half

  • @hunna122 that does happen. it takes a while sometimes to get one that is whole.

  • @elobiretv yea but i broke it when i was trying to make a small arrow head

    

  • eww copper is a curse word

  • Awesome, thanks!!

  • hey jim quick question is it fine to use a nail or some other kind of metal for the ishi stick or does it have to be copper

  • Yes, a nail will work OK, I believe that is what Ishi used and it worked great for him. However, steel is much harder than copper and will tend to slip off the platform so I prefer the copper. ...jim

  • is there a video that addresses what "supporting a flake" means? specifically when it is necessary, how to do it and why?

  • That term is covered in several videos, cant remember which ones. It refers to the hand holding the biface where the fingers sometimes make contact with the flake, usually to keep the biface from tilting to allow more force to detach the flake....jim

  • jim what size bottle did you use i've tried to do it with 12oz and cant get the curve out of it

  • It was the larger bottle of Budweiser, I think around 1 liter size. I also tried the 12 oz and found them a bit too small also. I looked for wine bottles, but they all seem to be highly dented on the bottom, another way to screw the consumer I guess!

  • hey thanks jim your right about the wine bottles can you tell me how you make your ishi sticks im sick of buying a new one very year

  • My Ishi stick is a hardwood dowel cut 18" and drilled out on one end with 1/4 or 5/16drill as deep as drill will go. Cut copper to length and hammer on one end to a square point. Insert copper into hole, might need to press or hammer it in. When copper dulls pull it out with pliers or vise and rehammer it. Insert a bit of sand into hole to take up the free space. Wrap the end of Ishi stick with epoxy and carbon fibre or fiberglass to keep end of stick from splitting....Will last a lifetime!

  • I like 5/16" diameter copper on my Ishi stick, this allows lots of force without bending the copper tip. My hand flakers use 1/4" on the larger one, and 3/16" on the smaller one for finer finish work....jim

  • Thanks for the great series of vids for beginners. I am very new to this and your vids are a true help. I am trying the bottle bottoms first before trying my small collection of obsidian. I am having a hard time holding my points as they get smaller and my flakes go short making for a thick point. How can I better hold my points to continue getting longer flakes? .....Kivajim

  • Yes, holding tiny points can be very difficult. The trick is to support the back edge and not press down on the center part. Pressing down on the center part will often result in a broken point, but if you support the back edge either with your finger or pressing down behind the back edge you can apply force with the tip of your pressure flaker toward the back edge and not create the bending forces that often result in breakage. Good luck and happy knapping....jim

  • could i use a acrew driver as a pressure flaker im only 12 and dont have all the utencils and i have some obsidian and bottles to use so plz respawn above

  • The screw driver will not work well, the steel is too hard. I suggest just taking a nail and nailing it into a long stick to use as an Ishi stick. Then file the nail head to round it out. Copper wire will work better than the nail, but the nail will do the job and that is what Ishi used.....hope this helps you....jim

  • thanx man

    im using grey obsidian and i alomost have the basic arrow head shape thanx to you your great

  • This is like The Joy of Painting With Bob Ross......Only with knapping.

  • hello jim ever done danish daggers with stitching wanting to learn how

  • Sorry, that Dagger stitching is something I have never tried. ....jim

  • right on man, thanks again for ur time and making these vids they are very helpful...

    this one was great, there is an old glass dump near my house and ive been gathering glass and working on it, since good material is kinda scarce around here in s. NM..or atleast i dont know where to find it lol...but the glass is great for those of us just getting started, cheap and available...

  • Cool, glass is great stuff to practice on and makes nice looking points!....jim

  • Jim,

    When you support the back edge do you ever shoot a flake into your finger. I have seen guys use a little finger protector. I just wonder if it matters.

    Alan...

  • Yes, on large pieces I've had a couple flakes penetrate my finger tip, not a big deal though. On the smaller gem points I have never had that happen, the flakes seem to small and light to penetrate anythig and just bounce off.

  • AWESOME JOB BUDDY!!!!

  • thanks!

  • That is an awsome point, I will be refering my student to this series, cant wait to see some postings on my channel from you. A True Master of the craft!

  • He is indeed and he's been on TV! lol

    If it's easier dave, just refer them to my play list of this series. All four in order. Hope you don't mind Jim.

  • Great series Jim, keep up the good work! Thank you!

  • This is an interesting series Jim. I spend most of my time trying to make small points and although I have an Ishi stick, I have not tried it on small stuff.  That might be the key to solving the thinning problem I seem to have on small points.

    Ray

  • Thanks Ray, I like to use the Ishi stick even on small points until the I get down to the last couple passes, then switch over to the hand flaker which gives a bit better control.....jim

  • You are a great craftsman.

    Thanks again for sharing.

  • Thanks for your videos. Keeping traditions alive.

  • Thanks for doing this. Combined with a used copy of "Old Tools, New Eyes" and this, I should be knapping in no time.

  • great videp!! i definately have to try this... thanks for posting

  • Nice point Jim! You're one of the best! Jimmy

  • i can never get the flakes to run that far across, .... tried everything, abraiding, grinding... angles.. just cant seem to get em to run that far across, do you NEED an ishi stick to get em to run across like that?

  • No, but an Ishi Stick allows more force to be applied and more force can allow flakes to travel longer. Also important is the direction of force and platform depth. hope this helps....jim

  • Thank you, this is great help.

  • Thank you for sharing this!

    Came out real nice too!

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