Arrow head knives

[The Hungry Hunter]

I want to make arrow head knives. I have seen flint arrow heads attached to deer antler. They are attached either by real sinew or man made. What is put on the sinew to keep it from unraveling?

 

[LRB]

Hide glue, or basically a hide glue base with pitch added to it for water resistance.
Obsidian rather than flint will be much sharper, but more brittle. A thin fine obsidian flake is sharper than razor.

 

[The Hungry Hunter]

Thanks

 

[LRB]

LaBonte,Chuck Burrows, could give you a workable formula.

 

[BillinOregon]

Hunter: The pitch is often mixed with a bit of charcoal and plant fiber for strength and flexibility; pure pine pitch is nearly as easy to fracture as obsidian. A favorite source of said plant fiber is deer, elk or moose droppings, and I'm not kidding. A far superior adhesive at least in terms of flexibility, is birch tar. Great stuff if you live in birch country.
http://www.practicalprimitive.com/skillofthemonth/birchtar.html

Don't know if it is important to you, but the vast majority of flint or obsidian knives I see at rock shows, etc., have little basis in reality, so do you homework if you want something that a Bronze Age European or a First Nations hunter would recognize.
http://www.americangrouch.com/2012/07/otzi.html

 

[Woodyrock]

I am active with the Puget Sound Knappers. Look up our web site, and you can find tutorials on every aspect of knapping, and how to's. There is also a pretty good gallery of our work. Most stone knives today are made for collectors. In years past most stone knives were short, and stubby as opposed to long and thin. Long and thin in days past were usually prestige gifts, or ceremonial use. Anyhow, hre is photo of some of my work. The short bladed is a Basketmaker style of a 1000 years back.
Woody

 

[BillinOregon]

Woody, that Basketmaker blade is really, really nice. Hafted with yucca for the handle? Where did you get your mahogany blade stock? I am just a couple of hours from Glass Buttes.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I would be proud to have any one of those in my collection. Mighty fine. :thumbsup:
There used to be a knife maker who sold a steel casting of a knapped blade. They looked good and were not brittle like real flint. Could never find the extra $$$ for one.

 

[Woodyrock]

Bill:
All this obsidian came from Glass Buttes, or Davis Creek. Then, since I never answered the question, here is what I do. If using artificial sinew, I pull the end under the wrap by wrapping over a loop of sinew, then pulling it through. You should be able to find a good illustration of this in a knot book.Once this is done, just twist the wrap between you fingers to melt the wax coating.

If you use real sinew, or gut, a simple tuck will hold it tight after it drys.

The early method was to set the blade in a pitch,asphalt, or a combination completely covering the sinew, or fibre wrap.
Here are a couple of pre white man knives. The larger hafted knife in the first one has a five inch blade.
Woody

 

[Woodyrock]

The lacy looking hafts are Cholla cactus. Very strong, light, and have a good grip when skinning.
Woody

 

[BillinOregon]

Woody, now here's an irony for you. The year I went to the Knap-in at Glass Buttes was the same year I met my future wife, recently widowed in Modoc County. On our first date, we got to talking about this and that and I mentioned primitive skills and obsidian -- and that a pal and I had just made a run to Davis Creek. She said, well now that's interesting, seeing as how we had a 240-acre ranch on Davis Creek.

 

[Woodyrock]

That would have put me in heaven, even if Modoc is in California.