Can someone explain using the frizzen to knap in greater detail?
-
Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.
We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.
Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103
How to Nap A Flint
- Thread starter starman
- Start date
Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:
Lift your frizzen up about half way until you can lower the **** and flint to just tuck the flint edge under the front of the frizzen bottom. Apply downward pressure on the frizzen pressure flaking the entire front edge of the flint. I pull back on the **** when i do this. it will sharpen the edge. done wrong and you break off the edge.
Very cool, that’s one to put in the mental toolbox. Thanks.
hanshi
Cannon
Something I learned when I first started knapping flints being held in the **** was that holding a finger tightly under the front edge of a flint helps keep chunks from breaking off. When carefully done a little line of tiny flakes will be visible; they will (correctly) come off the bottom of the flint edge. Often simply wiping the flint or scraping with a knife blade will give a few more shots lengthening the time before knapping is needed.
I've also gotten extra shots by turning the flint to bevel down and even turning it and using the back edge of the flint. There are other tricks for extending flint life; putting a matchstick, leather, etc, behind the behind the flint so it can be moved forward as it wears is just one example. Guessing at the average I believe I get from 25 to 35 shots from a flint before ANYTHING needs to be done to it. Using these "tricks", including knapping, often double the number of shots. And flint quality can be all over the map. I've had flints that gave only 4 or 5 shots regardless of what I tried. Then there were those where I stopped counting (with nothing needed) at 90 or 100 shots. One fine flint gave well over 100 shots and I just kept moving it forward in the jaws until it literally would not stay in. Some great flints kept self-knapping with each shot giving scores of shots with nothing needing to be done to them; but these are rare and highly regarded. A new flint is always installed for hunting season with the old one returned to duty later in the year to be used until it gives out.
I've also gotten extra shots by turning the flint to bevel down and even turning it and using the back edge of the flint. There are other tricks for extending flint life; putting a matchstick, leather, etc, behind the behind the flint so it can be moved forward as it wears is just one example. Guessing at the average I believe I get from 25 to 35 shots from a flint before ANYTHING needs to be done to it. Using these "tricks", including knapping, often double the number of shots. And flint quality can be all over the map. I've had flints that gave only 4 or 5 shots regardless of what I tried. Then there were those where I stopped counting (with nothing needed) at 90 or 100 shots. One fine flint gave well over 100 shots and I just kept moving it forward in the jaws until it literally would not stay in. Some great flints kept self-knapping with each shot giving scores of shots with nothing needing to be done to them; but these are rare and highly regarded. A new flint is always installed for hunting season with the old one returned to duty later in the year to be used until it gives out.
Newtire
32 Cal.
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2009
- Messages
- 635
- Reaction score
- 498
You mean you just tap on the frizzen and knock it up against the flint. Sorry, I’m just not following.
Ben Meyer
40 Cal
My problem with flint is, my lock takes a 5/8×3/4 flint. I'll get 25 ish shots out of one before it needs attention. Snapping, flaking, whatever removes flint, thus shortening it. I may get 5-8 more shots after. But after THAT, knapping/flaking shortens it to the point where the jaws cant grab it right.
My sons gun holds a 7/8" flint. They seem to outlast mine 3:1 or better.
My sons gun holds a 7/8" flint. They seem to outlast mine 3:1 or better.
No, you don't "tap it".
The right angle of the bottom of the frizzen is placed above the leading edge of the flint. You apple downward pressure with the frizzen and upward pressure with the flint simultaneously, flaking off a new leading edge.
Feel the flint sharpness with your thumb, before and after, you will notice the difference.
It's a quick fix, not a substitute for proper knapping.
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2011
- Messages
- 9,374
- Reaction score
- 4,552
After reading that Novaculite makes good flints I went out to the shop and found some good size flakes in my the debris dish , knapped out three rife and one pistol to give a try. The pistol was handy and the flints are smaller so used that as a test gun. My does that stuff spark like crazy. Wonder how long it will last compared to the Keokuk chert I've been using but it sure makes a good first impression ! I prefer flakes as they make really nice flat gun flints that are easy to sharpen and don't seem to break up any faster than the fat ones with the hunch backs do.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2011
- Messages
- 9,374
- Reaction score
- 4,552
That is my cheap little 20.00 Kentucky pistol made by Miruku that shoots very well and is really reliable. Who says good guns have to cost lots of dough!
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2010
- Messages
- 5,346
- Reaction score
- 5,100
Bob, not stirring the pot, but at the last shoot i went to, in Electra, a guy about 3 shooters down from me was having klatches, so he took his knife and while the rifle was pointed down range he started knapping the flint.
Im pretty new to flintlocks so I wanted to watch him knapp it.
About the 5th time he hit the flint the rifle discharged. Hell I thought he had pulled the trigger.
Two relays later I started getting the dreaded klatch. The line officer told me to try knapping my flint. Being the Noob I asked for help.
He pulled his bandana, placed it over the pan, and used my knife to get a new edge. I got about 5-6 more shots then changed flints.
He said always put something over the pan, or I'd be like the other shooter.
It was my first match with my flint rifle, I need more practice.
Bob McBride
54 Cal.
No pot stirred. Like I said in my post, if you’re using steel and it’s not mild steel, cover your touch hole.
....know what you’re using. Brass or bronze is always safest.
Last edited:
What size balls would you recommend?
I’ve always used a notched piece of soft steel to refresh a flint’s edge. I typically use a 16 d nail with notches filed into the end.
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2011
- Messages
- 9,374
- Reaction score
- 4,552
Yeah, that would work fine as it's just another form of pressure flaker!
Respectfully, it is not a form pressure flaking. It is more a form of grozing. Continued application of the technique will result in a nice flat edge.
Flinty Scot
40 Cal
That trick hasn't worked well for me, so I added small knapping tool with a copper bit made from a scrap of grounding wire to my flint/tool pack. Still awkward, but it works better for me.
One variation of using the frizzen that I was told of and tried involved slightly opening the frizzen so the flint would strike it squarely near the base of the frizzen. You held the frizzen in place with one hand while you pulled the trigger. Theory was, when the flint hit the frizzen square it would create a fresh edge on the flint. Tried it once. Still quicker and easier, at least for me, to use a tool (similar to photograph I put in post #34 above) to refresh my flint.
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2019
- Messages
- 828
- Reaction score
- 915
C6, thank you for sharing the Brandon Flint Knappers films. I'm speechless.
