Extending flint life

[Don Steele]

Thanks to all for the advice. I'm going to be "on a mission" today to pick up a diamond file and give it a try.
Pressure flaking as well will get a good look. I have some small antler sets around here that I took off spike bucks. A sharpened piece off one of those ought to work well.
All these tricks and techniques are valuable to me as I'm not good enough with my flintlock to be able to "hold through" poor ignition like some folks do. When I have a good target going or am taking a critical shot in a shootoff I've found that a little last-minute dressing up of my flint always helps, even if it's not too bad in the first place. Might be all in my head...but wherever it's coming from, the results are there. Additionally, it's been my observation that really good flints are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain, are significantly more expensive and aren't likely to get any cheaper. SRV's idea of adding a dab of JB weld sounds like an intriguing plan for "Humpy" flints and I'll be keeping it in mind.
Thank you.

 

[Renegade Dan]

I'll have to try that sometime. Thanks for sharing

 

[M. De Land]

Thanks to all for the advice. I'm going to be "on a mission" today to pick up a diamond file and give it a try.
Pressure flaking as well will get a good look. I have some small antler sets around here that I took off spike bucks. A sharpened piece off one of those ought to work well.
All these tricks and techniques are valuable to me as I'm not good enough with my flintlock to be able to "hold through" poor ignition like some folks do. When I have a good target going or am taking a critical shot in a shootoff I've found that a little last-minute dressing up of my flint always helps, even if it's not too bad in the first place. Might be all in my head...but wherever it's coming from, the results are there. Additionally, it's been my observation that really good flints are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain, are significantly more expensive and aren't likely to get any cheaper. SRV's idea of adding a dab of JB weld sounds like an intriguing plan for "Humpy" flints and I'll be keeping it in mind.
Thank you.

I actually prefer the ones I'm able to make to any I have bought. The odd part was that I was told by the folks that sold me my knapping flint that heat treated chert was no good for gun flints. Glad I didn't buy into that one as it proved to be pure fiction.
It appears to me , in practice, that the chert is actually tougher than black English gun flints I've purchased as the later seems to edge crush before the chert does.
Also heat treated chert generally flakes easier and more predictably than does the dark raw flint.

 

[Rifleman1776]

M. De, don't get pulled into that 'chert vs. flint' nonsense. Chert is flint. No difference except how it is found in the earth in different locations. Quality of all chert and flint can vary widely depending on location. Generally speaking chert is flint found in large rock formations, like hills and mountains. Some flint, often better quality, is located in chalk deposits, like the white cliffs of Dover, England, and is often in the form of large nodules which are handy for knappers to make into our gunflints. As to heat treating. I have little knowledge if this really benefits anything and have read/heard arguments on both sides. Personally, I believe it is of no benefit at all.

 

[Rockvillerich]

Once upon a time, I would shoot a new flint until until it became dulled and failed to make sparks, then replace it with a new one. Re-touching the edge with the heel of the frizzen works as a field expedient but the effect doesn't last very long for me. If much shooting is done, it doesn't take long to go though quite a few new flints.

Nowadays I remove the flint after 12 - 15 shots and reestablish a sharp uniform edge across the entire width of the flint using a flint knapping pressure flaking tool. This lets me remove tiny flakes precisely where needed, the flint never gets dull to the point of failure and its use life is greatly extended.

The pressure flaking tool can be made from an antler tine or there are commercially available copper flakers available.

I've been doing something similar, only using a green wheel to resharpen a bunch of flints I've removed before they've gotten really dull. The trick is to keep them cool, taking one light cut each on several before starting over until they're nice and sharp. Seems to work, and saves a ton of money on replacement flints, even though 5 to 10% of them break while being resurfaced.

 

[M. De Land]

M. De, don't get pulled into that 'chert vs. flint' nonsense. Chert is flint. No difference except how it is found in the earth in different locations. Quality of all chert and flint can vary widely depending on location. Generally speaking chert is flint found in large rock formations, like hills and mountains. Some flint, often better quality, is located in chalk deposits, like the white cliffs of Dover, England, and is often in the form of large nodules which are handy for knappers to make into our gunflints. As to heat treating. I have little knowledge if this really benefits anything and have read/heard arguments on both sides. Personally, I believe it is of no benefit at all.

Various Indian tribes believed in heat treating as it was common practice among them with flint that did not flake well in the raw state.
Modern knappers who regularly heat treat the chert nodules they dig up, test knap before and after heat treating and find it will often make ornery chert responsive. Some chert spauls respond better to heat treating than others but it does make a difference in some deposits and is provable.
I have read , as you mentioned, that one difference between chert and flint is how it is formed and that the dark color is from iron impurities present in the silica.
Apparently all flint is chert but not all chert is flint. A case in point is the flint from the Kansas flint hills, because of where it was formed. I have also read that there is a difference in silica content between the two and the chert tends to have more impuritives.
My home made flint testing seems to indicate, to this point , that the dark flints I have bought and made from chips, edge crush more easily than does those made of heat treated Keokuk chert.
This finding does make some sense in my mind just as annealed metal is less likely to crack than is very hard metal not stress relieved.
I have given free flints to several of my friends in an effort to get their assessment of how they compare. As of now, only one has responded and said he prefers the heat treated flints to the TOTW dark flints. The other two have not yet given their opinion.

 

[Rifleman1776]

SlixShot nipples

I have read , as you mentioned, that one difference between chert and flint is how it is formed

Apparently all flint is chert but not all chert is flint.

Not "one difference". The only difference. Chert is flint but not all flint is chert.

I once got into a heated debate on a now extinct ml discussion forum with the owner about this point. I wrote to several state departments of geology and several universities with geology departments. All gave the same response. I'm convinced this is not a debatable issue. The confusion might come because so much chert is low quality flint by our standards. All chert is flint but not all flint is chert. Another myth concerning flint is the (supposed) benefit of keeping gunflints in liquid such as water or kerosene. My nemesis on the other forum swore keeping flints in kerosene was beneficial. The experts I consulted said flint kept in water or kerosene might absorb to a depth of one micron after 500 years. All storing flints in kero will do is give you oily, stinky flints.

 

[RonT]

Harbor Freight, ~$13.
Cheers,
R

 

[M. De Land]

Not "one difference". The only difference. Chert is flint but not all flint is chert.

I once got into a heated debate on a now extinct ml discussion forum with the owner about this point. I wrote to several state departments of geology and several universities with geology departments. All gave the same response. I'm convinced this is not a debatable issue. The confusion might come because so much chert is low quality flint by our standards. All chert is flint but not all flint is chert. Another myth concerning flint is the (supposed) benefit of keeping gunflints in liquid such as water or kerosene. My nemesis on the other forum swore keeping flints in kerosene was beneficial. The experts I consulted said flint kept in water or kerosene might absorb to a depth of one micron after 500 years. All storing flints in kero will do is give you oily, stinky flints.

I think that actually working different chert types and experiencing how they respond to heat, pressure and impact gives pause to some of the intellectual observations that seem contrary.

 

[Eterry]

Im glad i decided to search on here before posting how to knapp my Flint's.
Great information Guys

 

[F.G. Ford]

RonT,
Now that is high tech.
I should be able to figure that one out.
Thanks!
Fred

 

[Eterry]

I've been told if you're not worried about being HC, you can use a nail.

What else do you guys use to knapp a flint other than what's already mentioned?

Im new to this rock on steel kind of rifle. Getting my feet wet.
Thanks

 

[Grenadier1758]

I use a 16 penney nail. I flattened the tip then filled a notch to catch the edge of the flint. The nail is soft steel which won't draw a spark as I knap the edge.

 

[shane a gress]

I use a 16 penney nail. I flattened the tip then filled a notch to catch the edge of the flint. The nail is soft steel which won't draw a spark as I knap the edge.

Could you post a photo, I think I understand what it looks like.

 

[AlanG]

I use a 16 penney nail. I flattened the tip then filled a notch to catch the edge of the flint.

Even better is a cut nail with such a notch. You wind up having the wide side for knapping all the way across, the narrower edge for general knapping, and you can use the corner for 'point' knapping when it's just one spot on the flint that needs it.

 

[tenngun]

It’s interesting that we fish as many shots as we can from a flint. Feel cheated if we don’t get forty, fifty or sixty shots from a flint. La Loop posted list from F&I that showed one flint per no more then sixteen shots per flint, maybe less. Thirty six flint for six pounds of powder, eighteen flint for three pounds of powder. Seventy grain per shot would be a hundred shots to the pound. Should it be fifty shot per pound that’s eight shots per flint.
My larger sized fusil flintlocks last more then smaller sized locks.
The test for a musketman for the British was one shot every fifteen seconds for three and three quarters min, fifteen shots.
I wonder if that fifteen shot line was picked as the life of a flint(?).

 

[SDSmlf]

Could you post a photo, I think I understand what it looks like.

Here is a photo I have posted before of nails I have made into knapping tools.

 

[stewart.leach]

I made up a combo tool about six inches long that sits nicely in the bottom of my bag. One end is a vent pick with about an inch and a half of music wire exposed, the wire filed to a taper so the tip reaches into the charge area. The other end has an inch or so of heavy nail exposed, with two steps- one quite shallow, the other deeper- filed in for redoing the flint edge. I was taught to back the cock with my thumb when edging the flint.

NB: I learned the sharp way to take care when nibbling with this tool...….

 

[shane a gress]

Here is a photo I have posted before of nails I have made into knapping tools. View attachment 9969

Thank you, that helps. I have all the old flints from the past hunting seasons waiting to be sharpened. Only way to learn is to just do it.

 

[dave_person]

Hi, A properly made and tuned flintlock is all you need.
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/experiments-with-a-properly-tuned-flintlock.114855/

dave