# another new one



## sneakygroundbuzzard (Nov 1, 2012)

well i had the day off today

so i got a little bored and decided i need to drag my butt off of the couch and do something

so i went down stairs to my little shop off horrrors and poked around to see what i could find to occupy my time

i found a knife blade that i made while i was turkey hunting this spring and decided to make a handle for it

i still need to put a finish on the handle and make a stand for the knife but i already like the looks of it

the blade is made from a man made material known as gold stone,the handle is paduak

total length is 9 13/16ths inches

heres a pic

( as always,ignore the date on the pic as i am still too damn lazy to fix it in my camera lol )









thanks for looking

tim


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## huntertibbs (Feb 15, 2013)

Awesome work, I like the look of that knife


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## youngdon (Mar 10, 2010)

That's a beauty Tim !


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## fr3db3ar (Aug 6, 2011)

Very nice. :thumbup:

Sent from somewhere in the space time continuum.


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## jimmy shutt (Jun 2, 2013)

very cool..... did you use an antler to flake that man made stone into shape?


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## hassell (Feb 9, 2010)

Well done.


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## catcapper (Feb 11, 2010)

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

awprint:


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## sneakygroundbuzzard (Nov 1, 2012)

thanks for the kind words guys

your making me blush

jimmy, on this one i didnt use antler i used copper tools

i will see what i have for spalled rock and make my next one using all ABO tools

i will warn you though, with abo tools they dont turn out as nice for me as they do with copper tools

but they still look fairly good


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## jimmy shutt (Jun 2, 2013)

Sneaky, I have "rock" hunted in Illinois a few times mostly found pieces parts of arrowheads, knifes, scrapers in my buddies fields. It's truly and art to shape a rock into something for getting food or just keeping you alive, I'm quite sure I'd be 30 lbs. lighter if I had to rely on chipping arrow heads all day to hunt dinner.

Keep on keepin on..... nice work with the copper!


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## glenway (Mar 27, 2011)

Unique, for sure. Is it designed for show only or can it cut stuff? - not that it's necessary or anything. Just asking.


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## sneakygroundbuzzard (Nov 1, 2012)

glen, that is just a display piece

it has a slight edge to it,but i didnt make it real sharp as it just a show piece

i do have a couple of slabs of raw texas georgetown that are cut into knife preforms

raw rock holds an edge much better than heat treated rock

how ever it is much much harder to work raw texas rock

so i will be heat treating those preforms before i work them

they will still hold a good edge and make usable stone knives,they just wont hold an edge as well as raw material would

after two shoulder surgeries,and arthritis i just cant work raw texas rock with out my hands,wrists,elbows and shoulders paying the

price for a couple of weeks after

i hope to be heat treating them in the next week or two,then next month when i go to a knapp in in southern minnesota i plane on working them

when i get one or both finished i will let you know

if i could figure out how to do i video i would show ya just how well they can cut

jimmy, i found my first ever artifact on the 4th of july

two of my knapping buddies and i went out looking for some local quartz (like the indians here would have used)

we found some small cobbles and flakes in an area that was a settlement way back in the old days

one friend found a nice corner nothc point that had the tip busted off

and i found this as we were leaving the corn file that we were walking/looking in

this is the first year out of the last six that this field was plowed and planted









it is made of qaurtzite,the tip is busted off and shows signs of an impact fracture

according to my point id book it could be a "logan creek" style point and is from the early archaic period

and dates back to between 5000-7000 years ago

i literlay got goose bumps when i touched it

to think i was the first person in 5000 years to have touched that point,it was like shaking hands with the person whom made it

it is now one of my prized possesions


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## Fitz (Jul 12, 2012)

I like that a lot man! I've attempted to make points from obsidian. They turned out the right shape but were very dull. I couldn't figure out how to get consistent flakes to come off. What's your secret???

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## sneakygroundbuzzard (Nov 1, 2012)

Fitz said:


> I like that a lot man! I've attempted to make points from obsidian. They turned out the right shape but were very dull. I couldn't figure out how to get consistent flakes to come off. What's your secret???
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


practice practice practice 

ask any knapper and they will tell "flint knapping is a hobby of tonnage,you gotta breal alot of rock just to figure it out.and a whole lot more to get decent,and then even more to get good."

it takes years to get to what we consider a master level.

i know some of the best knappers in the country(if not the world)

most of them have been at it for 20+ years

unfortunatley we lost one of the best ever recently

this guy could make a danish dagger in and hours time

not many knappers ever get good enough to make them,let alone that fast and to the same level of perfection that Phil could

i know others that make them,and they claim it takes nearly 100 hours of time to do it

but not Phil, he could sit down and have a perfect full size danish dager in an hours time

god rest his soul, he will forever be missed in the flint knapper world

i am proud to have been able to call him my friend


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## Fitz (Jul 12, 2012)

That's always sad to hear! 
Yeah I know it takes a long time to make simple stuff. I can't imagine how long it would take to make something fancy and sharp!

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## sneakygroundbuzzard (Nov 1, 2012)

it takes time to learn how to do it

but once you get the basics down, most folks can knock out a knife blade in and hour or so,and arrow head about half an hour

making a sharp edge is one of the skills that has to be learned

most all knappers have their own idea as to how to make a sharp edge

my self, to get a good sharp usable edge i like to take very small flakes from only one side of the edge

as you resharpen it,taking flakes from the same side again

this will create a beveled edge which adds to the strength of the edge,and to the sharpness of the edge

in my first year of knapping i spent atleast two hours every day knapping

weekends i would spend atleast one entire day just knapping

but in the long run i feel it was worth the time spent

the best way to shorten the learning curve is to to a knapp in and find some one that makes nice stuff and just ask if you can sit with them and get some pointers

i dont know any knapper that would say "no"

we realy enjoy teaching others a skill that is part of every culture in the world


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## Fitz (Jul 12, 2012)

I need to find somewhere to get some good obsidian. There are places here that have mountains and large flows from volcanos. I think where I'll be hunting next month has it so I'm gonna try to bring home a bunch. I'd love to knap some points to use for hunting! It would be gratifying to take a deer or a hog with one!!!

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## youngdon (Mar 10, 2010)

I'll check when I get home, I had some obsidian, if it didn't get lost or thrown out in the last move.


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## Fitz (Jul 12, 2012)

From what I've been told the blacker it is the smoother the grain and easier it is to work because it is purer. When it's grey or clear it has more impurities and flakes erratically. I'm gonna do a little research and find out where the lava flows are that produce it.

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