Making gun flints

[ColonialRifleSmith]

I have made them before and the best stone I found was novaculite, or white chert. They were not shaped very well but they worked.

I like the white chert flints. Soft enough where they are easy on my frizzen, hard enough to throw a shower of sparks. The fella' I was getting them from stopped making them. Getting low on my supply. Semper Fi.

 

[buckleymarka56]

I wondered how sawing them with a lapidary saw would work, but wasn't sure how sharp I could make them. It would certainly save material.

I got a few pieces of bull gravel from a landscaping company free for the asking because the stones had been busted open from handling/dumping. The material actually knapped okay raw and made functional flints.

That's what I did

 

[smoothshooter]

I tried to sharpen a flint once. On the second or third tap with a small hammer a small flake made a bee line for the corner of right eye and hit my skin.

Put down the hammer, jumped on the TOTW website and bought flints. Happily paying the delivery fee and taxes.

I ain't no flintologist, but I'd assume a shard of flint would cut a fluid filled eyeball open in a flash.

No thank you, Sir.

I would not even think about chipping any kind of rock without wearing some sort of eye protection.

 

[BoomStick]

If you are able to come to Kemptons gun makers fair, I'm showing/teaching how I make my gun flints from USA Chert friday sat and sunday this week

Caught your class on Saturday, and thanks for sharing how you how you make gun flints.

I appreciated your comments about whacking the edge of a flint while in the cock jaw. I agree this is generally a bad idea, but see it at least once at any weekend shoot. I have offered guys an extra flint, but each time they decline and tap the edge at half-cock. Not my gun...but my practice of replacing has left me with a box full of dull flints. After watching your demonstration I think I have some idea of the technique of freshening up their edge. Thanks!

 

[Daryl Crawford]

Caught your class on Saturday, and thanks for sharing how you how you make gun flints.

I appreciated your comments about whacking the edge of a flint while in the cock jaw. I agree this is generally a bad idea, but see it at least once at any weekend shoot. I have offered guys an extra flint, but each time they decline and tap the edge at half-cock. Not my gun...but my practice of replacing has left me with a box full of dull flints. After watching your demonstration I think I have some idea of the technique of freshening up their edge. Thanks!

I caught the noon class as well. Have to agree the info on not hammering flints at half cock was good, as well as the leather and wood pad for pressure flaking the edge.

 

[Tenring]

I just started my journey with flintlocks this year but it didn't take me long to become frustrated with excessively thick Fuller flints and the relatively thin supply in general of this subset of an already niche market, not to mention expense and shipping costs. I'm fortunate to live where there is an abundance of chert, albeit pretty poor quality for the most part. The local chert does, however, make excellent gun flints after a fashion. There isn't much information on the internet about how flints are made but a couple of short youtube videos and a small book surfaced after a long search and I sort of figured out the process. My local rock is of a large variety of types, mostly comes from the river and, is in small pieces about potato sized on average. The blade spalling techniques used on good, commercial flint don't work very well on this stuff so I've been working out different methods of spalling flakes and blades from my local material. I've made around a thousand so far and am finally getting the hang of it, sort of. At least I can make exactly what I need to fit the different locks I have and optimize the shape to best interact with the frizzens. This chert is tougher on average than either English or French flint and lasts a lot longer on the softer L&R frizzens that tend to bite and shred the edges of the commercial flints to the point of having to be resharpened in only 8-12 shots.

View attachment 230965

View attachment 230966Does anyone here knap their own flints? If so? Would you mind sharing any tips you may have?

They look dam fine to me, I do believe you got the hang of it. I’ll buy a few if your in the market.

 

[Rifleman1776]

is called river chert it's brittle and I found not good for gun flints

That, as a general statement is misleading. Some chert from some locations in some rivers might be unsuitable, but other rivers and other samples of chert might be very good.

 

[reddogge]

Seems flint knapping is similar to decoy carving. I leave my DNA on just about every decoy I carve.

 

[Dismount]

Wow you have no need of help those are perfectly made. You sir are a wizard

 

[Gun Tramp]

Got permission to scout a local gravel pit for chert and did so this morning.

We're in a glacial drift zone that rarely yields knappable material. Top specimen is a fine-grained quartzite, others not sure; a conchoidal fracture is possible but none are suitable for gun flints. Nonetheless, I always enjoy looking. Leaverites. (Leave 'er right there)

 

[DixieTexian]

Thanks, I'm still learning the rock. If I have a bad flake that either is too thick or the sharp edge flaked off curved instead of straight, I still try to make something out of it even if it's down to 5/8" square just for practice. Not all of those will go in the keeper box but all will work in a pinch, I was just showing my first effort.

I have enough confidence now that I might spend some money on Georgetown chert, but this is such a low-yield operation that I may only get 30-50 flints out of a $50 box of rocks. Still looking for a public place to scrounge better Texas rock like Pedernales or Georgetown.

Those smaller flints are great for a lot of the smaller Pedersoli locks like on their Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Scout rifles. If you find yourself with an excess of them, I'd be happy to help you clear out some storage space for larger ones.

 

[DixieTexian]

My only experience making flints was one I made from some flakes I found on the ground around my FIL's place where he grew up in Central Mexico last summer. There were a few flakes scattered about that were milky grey translucent that I held on to for their potential to make flints. I wasn't able to find any large chunks of it, even venturing up into the hill above his property, but I saved one and was able to make a usable flint out of it last fall while sighting my rifle in and working up a load for it after the flint that was in it got too worn out to spark. Here is a picture of it in a very dirty lock after spending most of the day shooting.

 

[IanH]

Those smaller flints are great for a lot of the smaller Pedersoli locks like on their Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Scout rifles. If you find yourself with an excess of them, I'd be happy to help you clear out some storage space for larger ones.

I'm getting ready to list some of my excess flints in the selling forum, keep an eye out. Got quite a few extra at the moment and another load of river rock to work through.

 

[DixieTexian]

And with a little luck and a bit more practice, you might manage to make minimum wage for your efforts!

 

[IanH]

I'd starve to death in a week! Counting time poking around the creeks and rivers for useable rock and gas money, I'm not sure it's even a break-even proposition. I enjoy making them though and already have far more than I have use for and a bunch in sizes I don't need, so with the current seasonal shortage I figure we can all benefit from me putting a few dozen up for sale.

Anyone know what size the Bess and Charley take? I got a few in the humongous size, like 1" or a little wider x 1-1/8 to 1/1/4" long.

 

[DixieTexian]

I guess if you figure the amount of time it takes to make some of your scrap into smaller flints, it might offset the time cost of making flints you use enough to make it a little less of a loss and allow you to pursue the things that interest you more. Just make sure to spend the money you make from selling them quick enough that the wife doesn't think it should go into her shoe fund. And you're helping fellow muzzleloaders by selling them off, so you gain a sense of community as well.
That's probably mostly BS, but maybe it makes you feel better, lol?

 

[IanH]

The truth is that busting up rocks for an hour or two after the kids go to bed is a fantastic de-compression exercise for dealing with work stress, as is stealing a little time from the family once in a while to bum around the river beds. Boxing and shipping isn't much fun but that's where I would make money, the rest is just a write off. A fella has to do SOMETHING to keep himself outta bars, might as well do productive stuff like build muzzleloaders and bop rocks.

 

[BillinOregon]

Just make sure you leave a little money put by in your Band-Aid fund.
Don't ask me how I know ...

 

[springfield art]

I read an article on making flints, that mentioned it's best to wear a mask while knapping; there are tiny chips coming off the work that you don't really notice, but are inhaled nevertheless. These are like microscopic particles of glass, which will cause problems in future as they slice away at tissue. Please wear a mask!

 

[deerstalkert]

i do agree if you are in a still air condition wear a mask.
i always try to knap with a breeze to my back.