I'm an archaeologist working up in the Appalachian mountains. I have found lots of quarts debitage in the sites up here; in fact almost exclusively quartz. The limestone up here seems to have large amounts of material eroding from it. If you are up on top if a hill and manage to find a large cobble to break open you can find decent toolstone. Picked some up a while ago and plan on working it soon. Thanks for the inspiration!

This came out way better than I had hoped it would, I had no idea if I would be able to chip quartz with the same methods that I use to knap everything else. You're right, picking up a stone fresh off a gravel bar and turning it into a point is what it is all about and how it was done back then when these tools were used for everyday survival.

Nice work. This is what I'll be learning since my area is overrun with quartz.

I'm glad I watched your previous videos on th basics of flintknapping....the platforms and notching. Where I live, quartz is pretty much all I have to work with. So...just knowing it can be knapped is a big help. I've made a few strikers(in place of flint), but a point?....Have to try. What a way to learn flintknapping! I have several great samples of quartz, and reading the stone...like you said...instinct. The quartz I find here is a bit harder than the average quartz, so I think I'll manage just fine. It flakes pretty good, and am able to get a good sharp edge. I made a pressure flaker out of a small piece of bull horn glued into a piece of bamboo which works great. hammer stones, abrasive stones....a dime a dozen(so to speak)...wish me luck! lol

I've been searching for a local material...... Quartz!! there is a lot of quartz here.... Thanks, man!!!

@Paleoman52

9 жыл бұрын

chucky mcgun Good Luck with quartz, I think it makes beautiful points and once you find some nice material it really doesn't knap all that bad.

@jerrybruckhart9134

5 жыл бұрын

Quartz is common, the problem is little of it is of acceptable/workable quality.

@weserberglandsondler1871

4 жыл бұрын

@@jerrybruckhart9134 Near my house, there is a dump filled with tons and tons of building material. I can just go and grab some old tiles, works just great ;)

You rock Ken! That is spectacular! "not the best quartz point" he says, "but it is my first time knapping quartz"!!! That's the best quartz point I've ever seen! Will have to try to get you some rhyolite to whack at. Thanks for showing us.

Ha....I'm sure it's just a matter of time before you master knappin' quartz.....just like you've mastered all other lithics!!Lol... Hope you and your family have a great holiday season my friend!

This video gives me a little hope for the materials that are local to me. Here in maryland there's not much in the way of knappable material, but we do have a lot of quarts and quartzite. It was also apparently was used here by the old guys. Thanks again for the videos and that point is gorgeous.

@Paleoman52

8 жыл бұрын

+seth lima Thanks Seth, I wish I still had that point but I gave it to a young lady that just had to have it. Quartz and quartzite were used by many native peoples over the years and they did some nice work with it. One thing about quartz that I didn't like was that I found I had to leave the finished point a little thicker than I normally do. The ancients also did this. The quality of these materials varies too, so try lots of different types until you find some material that works for you.

@sethlima6471

8 жыл бұрын

I am definitely not at a point yet where I could work quartz but its nice to know its possible. One of the only points that I've personally found here in Maryland was quarts and I can say yours was definitely thinner and way more detailed.

Hada, thanks for the comments, I was glad I had success with the quartz material, it is its own animal for sure but can be knapped the same as flint once you figure out how to set the platforms and how much abrading is needed to get good clean flakes. Tears of joy is right! I was grateful for everyone of those flakes that came off. Elvis has left the building! haha!

Congratulations! Fifteen rounds with a kwartz spall and you didn't bleed to death! Mighty fine work Ken. I'm going to a clear cut over in Clevelend County next weekend and I hope to pick up some really good vein kwartz for you and Rob!

I am impressed...I have pounded on a few chunks of quarts in the past and only managed to create pretty gravel. Am tempted to try it again now that I have seen your point completed..Thankyou for showing your work..

Thanks Billie, so far the only thing I haven't been able to knap is that rock Elvis sent to me, I feel bad for the Natives that lived in his area and had to work that stuff. Quartz actually is kind of soft and brittle but it likes percussion as long as you have a stiff platform to strike. I hit it pretty hard a couple of times and I was surprised at the nice big flake that would come off.

Super cool Ken!! I'm blown away at the fact you could get such thin flakes to come off of that stuff!! Sweet lookin' point my man....resembles a MacCorkle for sure.....

In my area of Mountainous Colorado, I can get buckets full of this kind of quartz just laying on the surface in a 5-yard area. I didn't think it was 'knappable'. I'll give it some practice. Plenty to work without fear of failing. Thanks for sharing your success.

@Paleoman52

5 жыл бұрын

Good Luck and Thanks so much for watching!

@timothius50

5 жыл бұрын

@@Paleoman52 I really enjoy watching your vids. For almost 30 years, I wanted to 'knap' but never had an instructor. I collected flint and obsidian but not enough to be willing to fail. KZread has changed that. It seems like the time is ripe to finally start knapping just about anything knappable. I'll post here what comes from the quartz. I call it milky quartz. Not sure if that's what it actually is. I'm 95% sure. I live next to an ancient volcanic dome and I think once I start looking, I may find all sorts of knappable materials. I am also a long time enthusiast of Atlatl making and found local materials for darts that (in my opinion) has superior qualities to river cane.

@jerrybruckhart9134

5 жыл бұрын

@@timothius50 if you are concerned about wasting good rock, do some practice on porcalan (sp). Any plumber can get you more than you could possibly use.

That stuff is deceivingly sharp. I didn't know right off that I was cut so I was surprised to see blood. This was a fun experiment and I have been wanting to give quartz a shot for a long time. I'm sure I'll be working more of this stuff sometime in the near future.

Man you could knapp a cinder block into a smoker!!! Didnt expect anything less than awesome!!! Love that style!!!

Arkansas has some of the most flawless quartz I've seen. I mistook some for glass once.

don't know how I missed this one and you did a fantastic job for your first time with a piece of quartz but that doesn't surprise me none you are the master knapper

Really needed to see you through the whole process

Truly impressive, especially for your first. I learned to knap with quartz because it's the only thing locally available and it's free. I still haven't made anything as large as yours but I have made a few that I'm fond of. Now that I'm working some quality heat treated material, I am thankful for the inexpensive tutorials I got from smacking the heck out of all that quartz. Good experience.

Oooooh - nice pull! Lol! Wow! A bucket full of "pail-eo" chips too! I'd like to find something like that here in Pa.! You really did an excellent job on that piece - gotta put a little blood into it on occasion! Can't wait to see the next one!

This was a whole new experience for me because I am so used to thinning flint/chert points down much thinner. I had to figure out when to stop thinning before it would break, so this is much thicker than what I am used to. This seems to be the case with many of the old original pieces too.

Thanks Tim, It was a learning experience. I'm anxious to give it another go soon. I'm hoping that it wasn't just beginners luck on that piece. I wasn't too aggressive with it, but the next one I'll test the stone a little more and see what it can take. Merry Christmas to you and your family Tim!

and a very Merry Christmas to You and your family too Kenny !

Nice job on that quartz point. I have tried quartz and it is tough to get thin at least for me.You are truly amazing as a flint knapper my friend and I enjoy watching your videos. Richard

Thanks for watching my videos Richard, I certainly appreciate it and all the nice comments you leave! Merry Christmas!

nice point Paleo man you did a super great job. havent ever seen a quartz point look that good. thanks for putting up a vid kind sir.

That's actually a very beautiful Point.Good job Mr Wallace.

@Paleoman52

5 жыл бұрын

Thanks Cameron, I was pretty happy that it came out that good.

awsome point! I thought you may end up with a smaller point, but looks like you worked it down to a good preform pretty quick with alot left. thanks for the show, always enjoyable.

That was gorgeous I brought a lot of quartz home with me from my vacation in Georgia I tried made a couple birdies but it hard to work I can't believe how nice yours came out looked like you been working it for years

That was the secret to success. I wasn't sure if it would thin down before it shrunk down. I had a couple of pretty good flake removals that kept the size to it. My next attempt will be more aggressive because I want to see if I can get the point a little thinner.

Thanks! I'm looking forward to trying another piece soon.

Thanks, surprisingly, at least for me, that quartz has a pretty sharp edge and can be flaked just like flint. You can do just about anything you want with it as far as notching, serrations, needle tips, etc. I'd like to try to thin the next one a little more. I needed to make this point without breaking it to get a little confidence for working this material, so I left it a little thicker than I normally would have.

Thanks hunterofstoneorbone! I might eventually take you up on your offer. I probably won't do a whole lot of knapping until Spring because I really prefe to knap outdoors in fresh air and good light, but I do sometimes fire up my woodstove and knap near that in my mancave. A Sedalia or Etley made out of quartz would look awesome! That would require a pretty big piece for sure. Thanks for watching!

It amazing how quartz seems to be everywhere but its workability is not the same from one place to another. Mine seems to be stress cracked and breaks into chunks when struck, possibly from being frozen numerous times.

The stuff I find, is stuff like this, napped quartz. Cool Jasper,, they had to be magical to the owners. I have Rose quartz as well as clear quartz points, and some translucent knifes. Must be some smoky quartz. Also I live in the high desert, so the material is not local. Its local to colorado, but not the san luis valley. So knapping was just not done here. Although, I find that the knife they used to dismember their kills. Are left as well as the broken point, in what was a gut pile cleaning site. Knives seem to have been knapped out as needed. But the arrowheads are from at least 20 miles away.

I'm glad you got a nice one out of that piece Ken ! I tried it before and what resulted was the crudest of crudes, but of course nowhere near you with skills ....LOL It made me so mad I brought home another piece when I was out with Joe....so just maybe this time....LOL Absolutely beautiful job and much more than I expected to see ! I don't know why cause You are Da Man !!!!!

i have that piece, thanks old man i hope to see you at the knap in in january

Thanks, I would love to walk up on a point like this one, but unfortunately those are not found around my area, so that's why I have to make them, LOL. I had thoughts of leaving the blood on the stone when I was done but the quartz is so pretty I wiped it all off. Thanks for the comments!

Very informative video. Quartz is what all of the points that I find in my area of the upstate SC are made from. I'd like to see you actually working the stone. Thanks

@Paleoman52

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching James. I will be sure to show how I do it the next time I work with quartz. This was my first time and I was pretty sure I was going to fail so I didn't video as much of the process as I should have.

Paleoman you have Supernatural powers over stone. That Bucket of chips must be just tears of joy. Thanks 4 Sharing the vid.

Wowwee! That's some awesome knapping there Paleoman! What an amazing point you manged to make out of that tough stuff. The quartz that I have worked was brought from Massachusetts where my Dad grew up. They use to have giant boulders of the stuff that they would actually drop their broken machinery onto to break up for the scrap yard. I Think it might be what they call sugar quartz and it seems to be just full of cracks going every which way. Thanks for showing your beautiful point! Take careBen

Knapping quartz was a little different and the funny thing about it is that it really is kind of soft and delicate and platform is a must for decent flake removals. If you don't abrade then the edge rounds off quickly. I'll be trying a few little points soon. I'd like to see what you made out of that Georgia quartz. Thanks for watching and commenting Ray!

Yep, I always seem to give a little blood when I knap, haha! It was challenging at first to find what I could do with quartz but it wasn't long before I got the hang of it and was able to percussion and pressure flake it. Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Thanks Tim, the same to you and yours, Merry Christmas!

It did work surprisingly well. It is a lot different than the quartz I have around my area. That piece came from Georgia. Brian give what you have a try and see if it flakes when you strike it with a hammerstone or a billet.

wow ken, that turned out great. you can knapp anything. glad you had a good time at it. better get some meds for those cuts,lol

Thats beautiful Ken!

Another awesome point from you Ken. Bet you could make something out of a rubber ball

I am more than ready for a cave visit from you Roger, and guess what?, the roof don't leak anymore, haha! Knapping this quartz point was not the nightmare I had anticipated and if you have the right quartz you get good results. Thanks for the comments my barley brewing friend! Hey any good things brewing lately? Your last batch was killer! See you soon hopefully!

Real cool Kenny. I'm certain most of use would have destroyed that rock in 5 strokes or less. I've been watching over the last couple of months. Hate to wish it all away but I'm looking forward to an early spring cave visit. Regards Mammut

Haha, I'm not sure I totally have the hang of working this stuff but I really liked trying. I was quite surprised how hard I could hit it with that moose billet and not shatter it. There is something so special about quartz points, when you hold one like this one in your hand, it has such a unique feel to it, kind of a silky smooth texture.

Yes sir Mr. Ken your first attempt turned out to be a mighty fine one but I knew that it would be awesome. Thanks for showing and I guess we will have to come up with something else to give you a challenge . Billie thetnrelichunter

I'm looking very forward to that kwartzkrazee, this was not a bad experience at all and I now have a whole new appreciation for quartz points. Thanks!

Great job knapping that point. It's a great eye opener for someone who has lots of quartz points. I've found points that looked like all three stages of your work and somehow never put it together that the first two examples were probably just unfinished pieces. If you'd like more quartz to knap just contact me and i'll send you all you want. I'd love to see what a quartz sedalia or etley or any midwest monster point would look like. Most points down here in S.C. are small in comparison.

Is this stone heat treated? We have often wondered how the old guys worked this stone since we have found quite a few quartz points.

Great point man, i have done alil quartz knapping. I can make crude items, tho i have broke a few already lol. Great job bud.

Id say you did extremely well ken.it takes me a half a bucket of a material to get the feel for it!very nice Kirk..Ive got some stuff gathered for you but Im not done yet(lol)You like to knap stuff thats diff and oh well we shall see..i get no greater kick that just picking something off a gravel bar and making a killer out of it

Thanks Richard. I might have worked some Reed Springs when Timo sent a bunch of rock to me. I'm not positive. That gray beard used to be red not too many years ago, but when my daughter went through her teenage years, she inspired the change to gray, haha!

Well heck yeah! That's one cool looking quartzie! I can say that you really know your stuff! For someone who has never tried their hand at quartz, you really did an awesome job! I'm really glad we sent that to you I would have wasted it! Lol Ga. Rob & Terrie

This last spring I was so low on my rock supply I almost considered knapping a cement block, haha! I worked some Onondaga that was as tough as a cinder block before. Thanks for watching!

Very nice!

Thanks for watching, Hold that thought until the warmer weather gets here. My shop is pretty cold in the winter months and I rarely get out there. Once spring gets here, I practically live out there and would love the challenge then, although I can't guarantee I would be successful, you never know!

That's one stone I have never tried to work, I see that it can be ground and chipped, is that correct?

This is one of those experiments that had a happy ending fortunately. I was getting a little confidence toward the end of making that point but I still have a lot to learn about quartz.It does look like a MacCorkle doesn't it. Thanks for the comments Rick and Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Best Quartz point I ever saw! I knew you could do it. Sometime, please video the process if you would. Thanks,

That looks really nice ... I would have loved to have seen some of the process

@Paleoman52

4 жыл бұрын

I feel bad that I didn't include more of the process. It was my first time working quartz and I wasn't sure just how it would go, so I didn't record much of the thinning and shaping process. Once I was getting some good flake removals I didn't want to stop and record as I was afraid I would mess it up, sorry.

Well done! That is hard stuff to knap ! Its nice to see that you bleed red like the rest of us :-) Have a Merry Christmas.

I believe that quartz was never heated, but I could be wrong. I think it is almost always worked raw as found. This piece was definitely raw quartz, and as you saw in the video, it didn't work too bad. I would have liked to have gotten it thinner but it was my first attempt and I didn't want to push it too far and break it.

Thanks, I have very little experience with quartz but I really like the way it looks when you make something out of it.

@bill605able

5 жыл бұрын

I never imagined jumbly old quartz grain could be knapped.

@jerrybruckhart9134

5 жыл бұрын

@@bill605able That is the hardest part, finding quartz that is not jumbly grained.

Thanks BushMania4, you're right quartz can be really challenging and it would not be my first choice of a rock to knap if there was other flint around! I do like the way it looks though when it is finished.

I'll be ready to do some trading in the spring when I can get more time to chip out a few more things, so spring will be here soon and we can strike up a good barter then!

Let's do it, I'd love to see if I can get anything out of rhyolite. I've seen some pretty nice points made out of it so some of it must be pretty decent to work with. Thanks for the comments!

Elvis this just helps to prove that I was born a few thousand years too late. If I lived back then I would have a very useful skill and I would be in demand, haha! Considering I knapped this outdoors (39degrees) and with fading sunlight, I think I could improve on this. It really made my day to finish this and not break it, I learned a lot during the thinning process, so I'm anxious to try again. Thanks so much for the comments my friend!

I say thats a killer Quartzie.. really top notch. I'll have to get the preforms i found out to you so you can have even more fun..

Thanks Roxymarie17, and Merry Christmas to you too!

Thanks, I'll try to show how I chipped that rock sometime. If you watch my video on making a biface, I use that exact same method with the downward strike.

I agree, that stone is tough and a couple of times I had to hit it pretty hard with that big moose billet. Each time I expected to see a pile of rubble in my hands, but surprisingly a nice big flake came off and the piece remained intact. I wouldn't mind working more of this rock as long as it was of the quality this piece was.

A one shot deal and you carved out a beauty of a bifurcate! I'm not surprised, oh greybearded master of stone! Obviously, it was a very good piece, that Rob and Terrie sent ya. Have you ever worked any Reeds Spring chert from the Ozarks?

I'm surprised too that I have any blood left after all these years, but bleeding is good for you. In the 1800's Doctors used to use an instrument called a phleem. When a person was ill they would take the phleem to cut into you and bleed you to get your body to make new blood which was believed to help you get cured. So knapping is a form of healthy blood letting, haha!

I found an area with big square blocks of quartz just like this. I really want to learn how this is done.

How dose quartz go as a hunting tip

I think quartz would do quite well as a hunting tip. I managed to make a nice thin Madison point on my second attempt and if this was hafted on an arrow shaft and shot I believe it would hold up well. The point I made in this video would serve better as a knife/scraper tool.

Thanks Indychief78, I appreciate your comments!

When I started working that piece I wasn't sure I was gonna be thanking you or cursing you, haha! I'm thanking you a lot for the quality piece of good quartz you sent for me to get my first experience on. I knew that you had a pretty good knowledge of quartz so I had some confidence when I started working this piece. Thanks again, that was fun!

Thanks headhunterlt, it was fun and I'm so glad I didn't break it.

Ken ,those indians in Rob and Terries area could have taken lessons from you its a beautiful point ! You did show proof That knapping is a blood sport. LOL Happy knapping to you.-------Butch

Quartz is some tough stuff!nyou did really good though! There's a reason you don't see quartz points... There hard to make :)

rbeneveds sent a pretty nice spall of quartz for me to try. His area has some very workable quartz. I too want to try this again. Thanks for watching!

Haha! thanks, I probably could but I would eat before I had a chance to knap it, I love Hersey bars, it's a weakness I have.

Did I do all right boss? haha! That was a bit nerve wracking but so rewarding when it was done. I don't have a half hour of time in that piece. I was kind of hurrying because I was sitting out side and it was 39 degrees out and the daylight was fading fast. I think if I could work that stuff under ideal conditions I could do a better job. What this experience gave me was a deeper appreciation for the skills of the ancient knappers that worked this stone!

why did you not show how you started out ... i don't know if you made this or bought it...

@Paleoman52

4 жыл бұрын

This whole video was not what I wanted it to be. I didn't run the camera as much as I should have. I wasn't sure just how this material was going to work as it was my first time trying to work quartz. I have been tempted to delete this video as it really doesn't show all the work I did to get to the final point. Sorry. I do have many other videos in my playlists on my channel that show how I make points from start to finish if you want to check them out.

sounds great and by the way it looks itll be successful! Im pretty sure u have made a few points for my buddy devon wayne.

I dont have a dought so far,Wow thats a killer nice vid

Dang I wish I could do that. The first time I tried I got to the end and when I was finishing the base I hit it on the wrong spot and snapped it in half

@Paleoman52

9 жыл бұрын

That was a challenging stone for me to work and I got lucky on this one. Keep trying you'll get one to hold up eventually! Thanks for watching!

A blood sacrifice was required to appease the knapping Gods to let me have success knapping quartz for the first time, haha! Believe it or not one of my knapper friends got Bandaid to sponsor our knap-in this last year. They sent a huge case of band aids that was distributed among the guys.

sounds great...have u ever worked with hematite stone befor?

Now there is a challenge!, haha Thanks for watching!

that i have no idea i have only found a few chunks of hematite. all the picese i found of it have been workd on ..looks like they grinded it on something..u can see real fine lines all over the rock..once spring hits i was gunna send u a pice and see what u think.

Knapping does require a blood sacrifice and seeing I was trying a new rock, I had to give an offering, haha! Rob and Terrie have some great quartz in their area.