Flint Knapping

[6thtexas]

Anyone do any flint knapping? How does one get started? We literally have a hillside full of good Texas flint. I have watched a video or two of people making arrowheads and it looks like something even I could do. If I could make flints it would give me an excuse to get a flintlock!

 

[Erwan]

That a good idea, but difficult to do...
I'm born in a country with a good reputation for the flints, I tried, tried and tried again and you know what : I buy all my flints made by a knapper : when I do that by myself, I have more waste than good blades, and it's a pity : it's the same excellent flint as the English black flint.
To cut good blades and then to cut them correctly is long to learn and there is a lot of waste...
Good luck to you.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

To make gunflints one starts with a core. Blades are struck from the core and flints of the desired size then snapped from the blades. There are several youtube videos showing this process. Better still you may be able to find a knapin in your area where you can learn first hand.

 

[1942farmall]

I used to do allot of it but only used obsidian which is available in my area.

 

[JBrandon]

As previous posters imply, the 'proper' gunflints made mostly in Britain and France and used all over the world were made by skilled craftsmen by the millions, striking long blades and breaking them into regular little gunflint pieces. That skill takes a long time to learn, and good material.
BUT if you just want to make usable gunflints, they do not have to be made that way. Any fool can quickly learn to make flakes with sharp edges and shape them to fit a lock.
There are plenty of resources for learning basic knapping. A lot are oriented to making 'arrowheads' but the basic principles are the same.
Youtube is full of videos, some specifically for gunflints.
Books include Whittaker - Making and Understanding Stone Tools. Best explanation with lots of illustrations. Also Waldorf - Art of Flintknapping.
Will Lord's webpage Will Lord of the Stone Age includes some basics and a pretty good vid of traditional gunflint techniques. You can also find historic videos on youtube.

 

[Surfinator58]

Saw a video where they used old porcelain toilets ,,,if you have a unlimited source of flint go for it,,,I started talking to a knapper and then just going for it

 

[rich pierce]

I’d be happy to trade some good Texas flint for work or gun parts or leather or whatever.
I’ve made thousands of gun flints. I learned by reading books but YouTube is a great resource. Search for gun flints, flint spalling, flint blades, and so on.

When you collect flint make sure it’s not freeze cracked. If your flint is covered with chalky limestone you’ll need to pop that off. If the stuff is like flat plates it needs to be at least an inch to an inch and a half thick. If more irregular and large you can prepare a traditional cone-shaped core.

 

[Ricochet]

I have made quite a few points, its fun and rewarding when things start working right for you. It doesn't take long to get into the swing of things and get passable points but does take some time to get good at it. You will break a bunch and some will break on their own, just the nature of it. Just like anything else, it won't be long and you will have made most of the tools that you will be using. Watch Jack Crafty on YouTube. He uses a lot of indirect flaking where he places a delrin rod with a copper point in the bend of his leg while sitting and hits it with a heavy delrin billet. You can get real precise flakes with this method. Be prepared to bleed, especially with obsidian, that stuff is rough on you.

 

[bldtrailer]

If you're willing it can be fun (but waistfull almost 80% at first) good safty glasses, gloves and badaids

Take a flake of your flint(chert) and a file flat and see if it sparks . My son sent me 2 typies of texas flint the grey called georgetown and a more amber(called texas river) that is glassier less sparky, but should make very fine arrow points.

 

[deerstalkert]

OP, be careful. Knapping is addictive.
i knap points and blades, then sort my debitage for possible flints. wife can bury the cans full of flints with me.

 

[bldtrailer]

the big chert is the georgetown (good flints) the smaller is the river chert very glassy both from texas

 

[Auldjin]

I am remembering a story told to me more than sixty years ago about an old timer in Suffolk who would knap flints while you waited. He sourced the raw material (best black English flint) from a pit from under his pub and would then make whatever you wanted.

 

[ord sgt]

There are several Forum members who knap their own. Chert is a popular medium. I am currently testing some chert that was knapped by a forum member. Good results, so far.

 

[deerstalkert]

i Knap all my own flints. i figure with having to buy the chert, my time invested, the stitches needed every so often, they only cost me around 12.50 each!
but it's fun!

 

[Tom A Hawk]

Some of my arrowheads. The bowdrill cordage is dogbane.

 

[toot]

OP, be careful. Knapping is addictive.
i knap points and blades, then sort my debitage for possible flints. wife can bury the cans full of flints with me.

at a RONDEAVOU, I attended I saw a guy make them out of beer bottles & broken toilets, he called the toilet ones JOHNSTONE. I am talking about arrow heads. has any one else seen this done?

 

[Bnewberry]

at a RONDEAVOU, I attended I saw a guy make them out of beer bottles & broken toilets, he called the toilet ones JOHNSTONE. I am talking about arrow heads. has any one else seen this done?

Yes, the first time I saw someone make an arrow point he used a bottle. I have since made a number of points and exactly one flint for my rifle. I don’t have access to nodules but have bought flint bits and parts. Among them was a nice long flake suitable for this. It was rewarding to shoot a match with it!

 

[Codger Craig Wilcox]

Young friend on another ML forum said he was going to start learning how to make flints - sent him a large box of bandaids.
Tried knapping a few times - best for me is to buy nice black, already formed flints. Easy enough to nip off the front edge to keep them sharp.

 

[cynthialee]

I am too scared of messing up the flint, cutting myself or getting a chip in my eye.

I just buy them

 

[deerstalkert]

after the month in hospital with covid pneumonia, they had me on blood thinner to clear clots out of my lungs.
the wife hid all my knapping tools and actually growled at me when i used a antler as substitute.
i did get one flint knapped just to keep from getting rusty. stayed away from obsidian.
only bled a little from a tiny little shard of georgetown.

just roughed, still need sharpened