Flintknapping, collecting Texas flint

[AwakenedBuddhist]

Hey Jim how long and what temp do you cook your pedernales?

[paleomanjim]

@AwakenedBuddhist Most Pedernales chert is very good quality and can be knapped raw. There are several types however. The more transluscent ones are best raw. If you heat these the best temp is 375 or so, too high and they will blow or get weak. Some Pedernales is white or sandy in color and sometimes occures in large flat plates over 12" in size. This stuff needs more heat, the whiter and more grainy the more heat needed. The larger flat plate stuff I heat at 500 and get incredible improvement.

[AwakenedBuddhist]

@paleomanjim Its ranges from light grey to almost black,Its pretty good raw,but Ive been experimenting with heat treating and want to cook it.Some pieces are four or so inches thick should I spall it first?

[paleomanjim]

@AwakenedBuddhist Yes, it should be spalled before heat treating. Anything thicker than 1" or so will expand too much from the heat and may crack or pot lid. All rock is best spalled before heat treating....

[solicore]

is there any in Santa Barbara county?

[paleomanjim]

@solicore Yes, there is some knappable rock in the creek beds that feed Lake Cachuma. The best of it is a type of green chert, but it is extremely rare. There is quite a bit of red jasper but much of it is cracked. You can make small points out of the stuff. Up near Lompoc there is a black type of oil chert that knaps very well and was used locally....

[TenBproductions]

How can u see if its flint

[TenBproductions]

Im from belgium,it sucks here,but still,at the french side there can be find flint.

[Oxidized181]

it sounds just like your tapping 2 glass bottles together

[Teckfall15]

NIce looking material. We really don't have anything like that here in Missouri, usually it's just the real tough chert, and the occasional Mozarkite stuff. I've been having a real tough time finding material lately. I've had to resort to sugarquartz which I've discovered is not very fun to work with.

[kennygtexas]

R u in Texas Jim?

[paleomanjim]

@kennygtexas I'm in California but we travel to Austin to visit family every couple years, great opportunity to collect!

[toapyrite245425]

Is Ohio okay for finding some????

[paleomanjim]

@toapyrite245425 Flint Ridge in Ohio is famous for its colorful cherts. Some owners allow collecting for a fee. There are other locations as well but I am not very familiar with Ohio rock resources...

[archeryman5000]

@toapyrite245425 flint ridge state park, you can not collect there but on labor day weekend they have knapp-in with people selling flint from all over the country as well as local flints. You can look in creeks in some parts of Ohio there is lots of excellent flint in Ohio

[paleomanjim]

I got mine at rock hound stores years ago. You can probably find them on line these days....

[proskillz89]

Where could I get these rock hound books? Just recreation stores?

[proskillz89]

where can i find some in utah? in a sage filled area with few bridges and paved roads

[paleomanjim]

@proskillz89 Utah has lots of agate and jasper and I have collected there in the past. Some chert around Moab as well. Find a rock hound book on Utah, that will give you good leads on where to search....jim

[hillcountrydigger]

great video i live about half a mile from the pedernales so this gives me a great idea of what to look for and how to quickly test the quality thanks for the post

[farkinmunkeepoop]

thats sum nice flint wish i could find some here in missouri i would buy it but college eats my money

[paleomanjim]

@farkinmunkeepoop Missouri is loaded with good quality chert. May need to drive a bit but well worth it....jim

[mokipocher1]

I used to live near lake Powell. I got hook on Flintknapping after finding some real points in the desert near my home. Now I live in Maricopa AZ . I would like to find some rock to work with here. I have had no luck. Do you have any tips for me?I have been watching your videos for some time now & I need some practice.What kinds of rock can I hope to find?

[paleomanjim]

@mokipocher1 There is knappable rock in Arizona. A good way to find it is to pick up a book on rock hounding for Arizona. They will show locations for all types of collectible rocks. Look for locations that show obsidian, jasper, agate etc. Rock hounds polish these types or rock and most of them are knappable.....hope this helps...jim

[mokipocher1]

I used to live near lake Powell. I got hook on Flintknapping after finding some real points in the desert near my home. Now I live in Maricopa AZ . I would like to find some rock to work with here. I have had no luck. Do you have any tips for me?I have been watching your videos for some time now & I need some practice.What kinds of rock can I hope to find.

[wecman2662]

ur sofricken lucky i love in philadelphia soi have to order everything when you can just goout and have fun lookingfor ur stuff

[Linkinitn]

grt vid

[pringals]

Hey Jim... just digging through some of your older vids. Do you take the time to heat treat these pieces before working with them?

[pringals]

@pringals nevermind... just seen the answer to another comment below.

[ashnbrandon1]

wat is the copper thing and where u get it?

[pringals]

@ashnbrandon1 The copper thing is called a "bopper". Jim has another video showing how he makes his.

[LAREDOSK8]

hey do u know if there is any flint hear in the deep south texas

[paleomanjim]

@LAREDOSK8 Texas is a huge state and has abundant flint in the hill country around San Antonio and the pan-handle but I'm not familiar with the other parts. Best bet is to head down to the local creeks and walk the gravel bars, if there is flint nearby it will usually show up on the gravel bars....jim

[LAREDOSK8]

@paleomanjim its cuz am a biginer at this dont really now how to tell if its flint

[meatpuppet29]

Haha yes jim , i had someone say that to me before.

[meatpuppet29]

So have anyone ever acused you of raping mother earth , just to make a profit ?

[paleomanjim]

@meatpuppet29 Are you serious? Your joking right? ...

[ka1bbg]

Hi, this is a wonderful video, being from NH there is almost nothing knappable in NH.... i know a lot of texas flint/chert is found basically on the surface, any idea how far into the ground this flint layer goes? brian f.

[paleomanjim]

Brian, along I-10 near Mountain Home the flint layers can bee seen along the road cuts, some 20 or 30' below the surface. I'm sure the flint layers extend far lower than this, perhaps thousands of feet deep.....We only see the stuff that has weathed out to the surface or found its way to creek beds....jim

[2694wr]

hi i live in houston texas and was wondering if you would send me some flint / churt because i have nowere to go to find flint and or churt

[combatcommand]

Hello mr. Flintknapper sir, I would like to inquire, how might I identify a piece of flint from any other rock? I'm looking in local streams. (Maryland-east coast)

[paleomanjim]

Not all streams have chert in them and I've never heard of flint from Maryland but there could be some. Chert usually has a smooth surface, but not always. The only way to tell for sure is to crack the rock open with a rock hammer or another rock to check the inside. If it flake is smooth and fine grained and the fracture is concoidal if may be knappable. ,,,jim

[paleomanjim]

Thanks, I usually dont heat Pedernales nods, they work well enough raw. Heating them to 380 degrees seems about best, just enough to get feather terminations on the flakes and not enough to weaken the stone too much. I like your method of heating in the ground, thats the way the old boys did it, very cool!....jim

[riley553]

man u should hunt for arrowheads there

[flipwiggins]

I bet you felt like a "kid in a candy store" just being there. I never find a whole lot personally, but I do find that one of my favorite aspects of flintknapping, is being out in the wilds looking for it.

[TheSessionMen]

Thanks for sharing this - its really nice to see these locations where material is coming from being made available at Flintknapping shows that I just may never get to see first hand ....For a moment there thought this was going to turn into a fishing video!

[1425cat]

that tabular Pedernales is sweet stuff. you made a real good haul there..course coming from calif you deserved to!! that really thin tab, with light color, close to ther cortex is sweet stuff. -scalpy

[JJan58]

Texas is mighty hot isn't it Jim. I like yours and Martys videos the best for tips and instruction. I too get my flint from the Perdanales River. I get the tabs that are about 1/4" to 1" thick and about 3" to 6" round, that way I just have to remove the cortex. I'm not as good as you or Marty and I use copper at this time and I'm trying to get better at abo tools. Keep up the good work and videos. Jim from San Antonio, Texas.

[paleomanjim]

Jim, Texas is mighty hot this time of year but the awesome rock makes up for it! And its hard to find country more beautiful the the Texas hill country, especially around the Pedernales river. Sure would like to own a ranch there....jim

[Wertak68]

Just a few comments Jim, I have watched your videos over and over and it has really helped with my progress. Percussion is so much easier than pressure flaking in terms of energy and wear on oneself. I think I understand why caches of performs were found, when you are in the zone you don't want to stop and do finishing work. We collect our flint last March and it was hot then, June really?

[paleomanjim]

Glad you like the vids. Making bifaces is just plain fun, and I admit that I usually dont finish them so I have a huge cache of bifaces growing in the backyard!....jim

[Wertak68]

We have collected flint or chert in the Fort Hood area( cousin's ranch). Very interesting material, we found many small spiral shells within the gray chert. One neat feature was quartz crystals were typically found inside the shells. The black flint often had crystals of fools gold (iron disulfide) which after baking to 600F would smell terrible if you flaked through a patch of crystals. Nevertheless Texas flint is some of the best flint knapping material.

[paleomanjim]

Texas flnt rocks! some of the best rock in the US and ove of my favorites....jim

[paleomangary]

Did you also hunt arrowheads while there?

[paleomanjim]

Flint is deposited in Limestone sedimentary rock, so check river beds that flow through sedimentary areas. Best areas are central Texas, Missouri, Ark, Ok, and Wyo, but most states have knappable rock of some type. Check local rock hound books....

[elobiretv]

how can i identify places like this?

5 stars

[hackneysaregreat]

Why don't you find an old yoke to carry those buckets?

Love what you are doing.

[FlintknapperJimmy]

I'm green with envy. I really like the high grade texas. I saw Dan Thues working some of the stuff a few weeks ago at the Buttes. Really nice!

[iromazz]

avete distrutto una bella  riproduzione di un coniglio a (402)

[achc86]

Good haul! I wish I could go out there one day. They tell me that some places in Texas you can't even walk without tripping over flint.