Black Hand said:
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Flint dressing tool?
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Cruzatte
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Add me to the list, LD :thumbsup:Loyalist Dave said:
Rick Boylan
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Pete G
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I just lower the flint and frizzen both until they make contact. A little pressure on each and any small high spots are flaked off.
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That method is not really very good as it does not last very long , puts additional unnecessary wear on the frizzen face and is hard on both the cock and frizzen levers.
What you want on a flint is a level edge with serration ridges in it for strength.
As the ridges fracture back they keep exposing a fresh sharp surface in between them from the flake scares.
Pressure flaking reproduces these scares and ridges.
What you want on a flint is a level edge with serration ridges in it for strength.
As the ridges fracture back they keep exposing a fresh sharp surface in between them from the flake scares.
Pressure flaking reproduces these scares and ridges.
Agreed. I have done that on occasion but wouldn't do that regularly with an unbridled frizzen.
As I recall the technique is called "Hammering the Frizzen" even though it is a smooth "push" to flake off just the edge.
As I recall the technique is called "Hammering the Frizzen" even though it is a smooth "push" to flake off just the edge.
I kind of hate to keep repeating myself, but if you put the flint in the cock so that it strikes the frizzen at a 55° to 60° angle, it will be self knapping and you almost never have the problem. A bigger problem is getting residue build up on the underside of the flint when you fire a lot of shots.
At some of the reenactments I attended when I lived in Virginia, I would shoot 80-100 shots or more (all blanks of course) over a weekend. Never had to knap my flint and the flint itself seemed to last almost forever. If I got a misfire due to lack of sparks, I typically just wiped the frizzen and the underside of the flint clean and kept on shooting. I'm using a L&R Queen Anne lock on my Early Lancaster rifle and its an extremely reliable shooter. That angle makes all the difference in the world.
Twisted_1in66 :thumbsup:
Dan
At some of the reenactments I attended when I lived in Virginia, I would shoot 80-100 shots or more (all blanks of course) over a weekend. Never had to knap my flint and the flint itself seemed to last almost forever. If I got a misfire due to lack of sparks, I typically just wiped the frizzen and the underside of the flint clean and kept on shooting. I'm using a L&R Queen Anne lock on my Early Lancaster rifle and its an extremely reliable shooter. That angle makes all the difference in the world.
Twisted_1in66 :thumbsup:
Dan
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An other advantage I have noticed with pressure flaking is the ability to move the edge up and down slightly without flipping the flint over in the cock jaws. This allows edge sharpening with minute ridges and flake scares much increasing it's life.
It also allows the more even wear of the frizzen face rather than cutting two grooves at the two different impact points of the flipped flint necessitated by the hump on it's back.
I make my flints now without the hump that comes on most production flints.
This allows better jaw purchase and less angle change to the striking point on the frizzen.
The 60 degree impact angle of flint to frizzen does seem to be the most practical but the hump changes this dramatically when the flint is flipped.
It must also be remembered that we are dealing with two arc angles,( arc of the cock down and forward and arc of the frizzen up and backward.
The flatter the flint ( no hump) the less the contact angle is changed as it rotates through it's arc travel and as a consequence the more uniform is it's spark producing efficiency and longevity.
The hump-less flint does not need to be flipped when pressure flaking is employed as the edge can be sharpened as well as raised and lowered.
It also allows the more even wear of the frizzen face rather than cutting two grooves at the two different impact points of the flipped flint necessitated by the hump on it's back.
I make my flints now without the hump that comes on most production flints.
This allows better jaw purchase and less angle change to the striking point on the frizzen.
The 60 degree impact angle of flint to frizzen does seem to be the most practical but the hump changes this dramatically when the flint is flipped.
It must also be remembered that we are dealing with two arc angles,( arc of the cock down and forward and arc of the frizzen up and backward.
The flatter the flint ( no hump) the less the contact angle is changed as it rotates through it's arc travel and as a consequence the more uniform is it's spark producing efficiency and longevity.
The hump-less flint does not need to be flipped when pressure flaking is employed as the edge can be sharpened as well as raised and lowered.
