Flint knapping?

[JDBraddy]

I was told the land our muzzleloading club is on, was called flint hill before they bought it. It's scattered with agate not flint. But was thinking that I would at least like to learn how to Knapp my own flints, not that I nessisarrily would all the time, but would like to at least know I could if I needed to. Where would one look to learn this?

 

[Don Steele]

Mr. Brady,
Has anyone tried using a properly shaped piece of your local Agate in a flintlock ? Thompson Center sold cut Agate rocks for use in their locks, back in the day. I’ve been told there are German Agate “ flints” that perform very well. I believe Agate must be shaped using something like a diamond wheel.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

I was told the land our muzzleloading club is on, was called flint hill before they bought it. It's scattered with agate not flint. But was thinking that I would at least like to learn how to Knapp my own flints, not that I nessisarrily would all the time, but would like to at least know I could if I needed to. Where would one look to learn this?

Have you collected any agate pieces and what size are we discussing?

Gun flints are made from blades which are struck for cores. This video does a good job in showing the process.

 

[Eric Krewson]

There are a number of gun flint knapping videos on YouTube, the old Brandon England knappers are interesting, one guy has a couple of modern videos with a lot of how-to information.

Brandon knapper;



Modern guy;

 

[Rifleman1776]

Mr. Brady,
Has anyone tried using a properly shaped piece of your local Agate in a flintlock ? Thompson Center sold cut Agate rocks for use in their locks, back in the day. I’ve been told there are German Agate “ flints” that perform very well. I believe Agate must be shaped using something like a diamond wheel.

I have used German sawn agate flints for decades. They spark generously and last a very long time. They are still available from the Gunter Stifter website but are exorbitantly expensive and the mostly German language site is almost impossible to negotiate. Also, keep in mind, like everything in nature there are agates with varying qualities. But, if you can find some good stuff and learn to knap you might have something unique.

 

[JDBraddy]

Mr. Brady,
Has anyone tried using a properly shaped piece of your local Agate in a flintlock ? Thompson Center sold cut Agate rocks for use in their locks, back in the day. I’ve been told there are German Agate “ flints” that perform very well. I believe Agate must be shaped using something like a diamond wheel.

Initially the short answer was no. So I went to the range today, picked up several shards from the berm, that had been split by bullet impacts.
I found one that was a bit small, but looked usable.

I chucked it up in my .45 T/C Hawken and.....
It worked, don't know how to upload a video here, but took one of it sparking, and then loaded and fired the rifle.

 

[bldtrailer]

1st see if you can scratch glass with it flint hardness 7 glass 5 diamonds 10
2nd see if it will spark use the flat of a file
3rd try to flake it/cleave it into usable shapes gun flint size
4th put it in a lock and with safety glasses on fire it to see if it shatters (try several times)

I use texas goergetown chert( USA Flint) all flint is chert not all chert is flint

safety glasses and cut resistant gloves are suggested

 

[bldtrailer]

some of your rock look ok some with freeze cracks the middle one should flake a blade down it's ridge line some might make blade cores use copper or brass hammers not steal ( it will shatter the rock) antler and hammer stones soft to hard

expect low return mostly waist

can be fun and addicting

 

[JDBraddy]

I'm in LaCoste just southwest of San Antonio, seems to spark well, continued to use it all afternoon, fired about 40 shots, and it looks like it still has some life left.

 

[JDBraddy]

All my stones look much smaller than what you guys are using, will have to dig up some bigger rocks to play with.

How are you removing the outer casing to get to the cores?

 

[sportster73hp]

My blades from a core are always thin… never produce thick flints like store bought ones. Kinda ugly but always work.

 

[bldtrailer]

ishie stick blades are thinner , antler punch blades can be thicker by moving point away from edge. or use a larger bonker

 

[JDBraddy]

Went to the range today and found some bigger rocks to play with

Perhaps it's just because I don't know what I am doing, but this stuff seems a lot harder to work than what they where using in the videos. Here's a few I managed to rough out, not as pretty or consistent as you guys are making.

 

[sportster73hp]

Those are some nice rocks.
Goes to show why the traditions locks are smaller, to use up all the flint shards.

 

[bldtrailer]

https://www.youtube.com/user/Flintknappingtips
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtMmFSuRMHQxn5mpg_ABJWg


watch these it might help

 

[M. De Land]

I was told the land our muzzleloading club is on, was called flint hill before they bought it. It's scattered with agate not flint. But was thinking that I would at least like to learn how to Knapp my own flints, not that I nessisarrily would all the time, but would like to at least know I could if I needed to. Where would one look to learn this?

I learned largely by bringing up point knapping videos on line plus a couple of books I came across. I knapp all my gun flints from left over chips from point making. I really like the Keokuk chert out of Oklahoma and George Towne works well also. I've found the Novaculite to be a bit brittle but it still sparks well so make gun flints of it as well instead of pitching the left over chips big enough to make them.
I was told early on that heat treated chert did not make good gun flints but experimentation on my own proved that to be horse pucky as my own flints work as well as the ones I was buying !
You'll notice there are no humps on my gun flints and that is because I use flakes instead of blades spawled off from cores like most production gun flints come from. Flake gun flints are much easier for the **** jaws to grip and as a consequence spark better and last longer in my experience.
Also learning to pressure flake rather than whacking with little hammers, knife spline and knawing/ knipping tools that are advertised, which is a far better way to preserve flint and keep the edge sharper.
Most folks destroy half their flint life with percussor sharpeners (little hammers, nippers and notchers) rather than the use of pressure flaking awls (pictures two and three).

 

[bldtrailer]

I make gun flints from both blades and flakes both work , just make sure your flake isn't too thin (some rock does not want to make blade cores)

 

[JDBraddy]

I have no idea what pressure flaking is or how to do it. Sounds interesting though. Right now, am just busting rock with brute force. I hear you on the flakes being too thin, have tried several, that where super thin and sharp, but shattered in the first couple shots, conversely many of my big nice flakes are too thick, barely fit in the **** jaws, but try to thin them or knock some off of them, and they shatter into rubble. Some are also, not the right consistency, spark great, but have almost a sandstone like texture, and ends up chipping, erroding, and/or crumbling too quickly. Some of my best flints just get too dull after a while (40-80 shots), the edges look smooth and or rounded, almost polished, busted one rock open, and it turned out to be some sort of (probably quartz) crystal.

 

[TCMonts]

40 to 80 shots ain't bad at all, but a pressure flaker will bring those flints back to life. Just about any knapping book or video will cover the making and use of a pressure flaker.

 

[M. De Land]

I have no idea what pressure flaking is or how to do it. Sounds interesting though. Right now, am just busting rock with brute force. I hear you on the flakes being too thin, have tried several, that where super thin and sharp, but shattered in the first couple shots, conversely many of my big nice flakes are too thick, barely fit in the **** jaws, but try to thin them or knock some off of them, and they shatter into rubble. Some are also, not the right consistency, spark great, but have almost a sandstone like texture, and ends up chipping, erroding, and/or crumbling too quickly. Some of my best flints just get too dull after a while (40-80 shots), the edges look smooth and or rounded, almost polished, busted one rock open, and it turned out to be some sort of (probably quartz) crystal.

Indirect percussion was a big break through for me in flint knapping as it allows one to thin the material into usable gun flint thickness much easier without the hump that always accompanies blade struck gun flint.
I actually wound up grinding all the humps off the last production flints I purchased some years back.