How To Make Your Own Arrowheads ~ Small Point Pressure Flaking ~

I am pleased to make available to you another in our series of publications, a new brochure about making arrowheads: "How To Make Your Own Arrowheads ~ Small Point Pressure Flaking ~ "

This publication was produced in response to a request from several new knappers for guidance on making and thinning small size arrowheads.

So, in creating these instructional materials, while demonstrating methods of careful edge preparation and advanced pressure flaking techniques to make and thin small arrowheads, I asked my step-daughter to work with me to create a number of photographs of each step. All of this information was then used to put together this new brochure.

Here is a link to download the pdf brochure for your use: SMALL POINT PRESSURE FLAKING

This electronic publication is in an 11" x 17" format, with 10 different page layouts. You are welcome to use it as a reference and instruction aid for your personal knapping efforts.

If you want to order a hard copy of this new brochure, for $14.95 plus $1.25 first class postage, simply send me an email and I will return a Paypal request for payment to you and then prepare your copy for mailing. The email address to use is: fscottcrawford@Arrowhead-Maker.com

Thanks for your participation in flint knapping and arrowhead making activities.

F. Scott Crawford
Carrollton, Texas

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You are invited to visit my web site for more background information and photographs related to the making of arrowheads: www.Arrowhead-MakeYourOwn.com

For fully photo-illustrated process information related to the making of an obsidian Gunther style arrowhead, plus photographs of a number of ancient and authentic Gunther type arrowheads, you are invited to visit my other web site: www.Arrowhead-Maker.com

How To Make Your Own Arrowheads ~ Working With Blade Cores ~

I am pleased to make available to you a new brochure about making arrowheads: "How To Make Your Own Arrowheads ~ Working With Blade Cores ~ "

This was produced in response to a request from a primitive archery club in New Zealand.

They asked me to put together a display about the whole process of knapping arrowheads from stone. So, in creating the materials for them, using a "core" technology to make the points, I also shot a number of photographs of each step. All of this information was then used to put together the new brochure, which they could use in their display and for instructional purposes, as well.

Here is a link to download the pdf brochure for your use:
WORKING WITH BLADE CORES

The publication is in an 11" x 17" format, with 10 different page layouts. You are welcome to use it as a reference and instruction aid for your personal knapping efforts.

If you want to order a hard copy of this new brochure, for $7.95 plus $1.25 first class postage, simply send me an email and I will return a Paypal request for payment to you and then prepare your copy for mailing. The email address is: fscottcrawford@Arrowhead-Maker.com


Thanks for your participation in flint knapping and arrowhead making activities.

F. Scott Crawford
Carrollton, Texas



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You are invited to visit my web site for more background information and photographs related to the making of arrowheads: www.Arrowhead-MakeYourOwn.com

For fully photo-illustrated process information related to the making of an obsidian Gunther style arrowhead, plus photographs of a number of ancient and authentic Gunther type arrowheads, you are invited to visit my other web site: www.Arrowhead-Maker.com

Pointing In The Right Direction

Once you select a chip of knappable stone (obsidian, flint, chert, jasper, etc.), a key step will be to choose which end of the piece is to be the point of the arrowhead. When you look at the smooth underside of the chip you will see a bulbous shape, rounded and slightly thicker than most of the flake surface, radiating away from the spot where the stone was struck to knock the chip off the stone. This is called the "bulb of percussion".

Usually arrowheads are made with the pointed end at the bulb of percussion, and the base with its notches is located at the other end of the chip. The secret is to use the portion of the chip which is essentially straight. Chips of stone naturally have some curve, as the chip follows the contour of the original stone surface. Yet, if you look at the chip in profile, from the side along the lengthwise direction of the chip, you can see the natural curve, and you can see what portion of the chip could be used, allowing a straight line to the arrowhead.

Now, you can use an antler tine to trim the chip to the general shape for the arrowhead. Lay the chip on a leather pad on your work bench. Place the smooth surface down. Then use the side of the narrow end of the antler tine to begin pressing at the thin edges, along the length of the chip, in a shearing motion along the edge. Hold the antler tine basically parallel along the edge and press down along the edge with the side of the antler.

Do not overlap the edge except for a tiny distance, and press down along the edge, breaking off small pieces to trim the thin, curved edges into a straighter line leaving a thicker amount of material along the edge. Just press enough to break small pieces off. You will need to hold the flake in place, but do not press down on it too much, as you can break it.

Odds are, you will break some chips; that is why I provide a dozen pieces in my Beginner's Knapping Kit. Each piece will teach you more about the process.

This trimming action can quickly provide a chip in nearly the size and shape of your finished point. You can trim it to straight edges in a triangular shape, or to curved edges in more of an oval configuration. Trim the base to fit your shape.

Next time we will discuss how to begin the pressure flaking to shape and sharpen your arrowhead.

F. Scott Crawford
Carrollton, Texas

You are invited to visit my web site for more background information and photographs related to the making of arrowheads: www.Arrowhead-MakeYourOwn.com

For fully photo-illustrated process information related to the making of an obsidian Gunther style arrowhead, plus photographs of a number of ancient and authentic Gunther type arrowheads, you are invited to visit my other web site: www.Arrowhead-Maker.com

Edge Preparation Gives You The Edge In Pressure Flaking

Since so many of you have requested and downloaded the "How To Make Your Own Arrowhead" instruction book recently from my web site, http://www.arrowhead-maker.com/, I thought you might enjoy this story. The other day I had one of my new arrowhead making students come by the house to pick up his Beginner's Knapping Kit. Mike lives 30 minutes away and took the opportunity to save the shipping cost.

Anyway, when he came by the house, I was working on an obsidian blade. It's made from a spall of transparent black obsidian from eastern Oregon . Originally I used the chunk of obsidian to produce a good number of the middle sized chips which are used in the Beginner's Kit for making arrowheads.

After these chips were removed, I had left what is referred to as a "core". I worked on the core a little more with my percussion tools to end up with a fairly large "pre-form" for a spear point or knife.

Then I began using pressure flaking to remove the rough parts and prepare for finishing the blade. Eventually, I had the piece worked down to the condition where I was ready to finish its form with some careful pressure flaking.

I was about half finished with the final series of pressure flakes when Mike showed up.

So, I took the opportunity to show him how the edge of the blade was set up for that finishing series. Making the edge angles correctly, grinding the edge enough to give the pressure flaking tool a good seat and grip, so that it will not slip off. Plus, retaining enough material mass at the ground edge to have sufficient strength to resist the pressure load until the force is built up enough to drive the desired flake a long way across the face of the blade.

Fortunately, I had good luck with the impromptu demonstration for Mike. The finishing of this blade went well.

So, here it is. It is what is called an Agate Basin blade. This was a Paleo-Indian weapon used for hunting large game at the end of the Ice Age; woolly mammoths, giant buffalo, etc. These were used at the same time and after the Clovis type weapons which are so famous for their uniquely thinned, fluted bases. The Agate Basin point is just not fluted, so it has the lens shaped cross section for the full length of the blade.

F. Scott Crawford
Carrollton, Texas

You are invited to visit my web site for more background information and photographs related to the making of arrowheads: http://www.arrowhead-makeyourown.com/

For fully photo-illustrated process information related to the making of an obsidian Gunther style arrowhead, plus photographs of a number of ancient and authentic Gunther type arrowheads, you are invited to visit my other web site: http://www.arrowhead-maker.com/

Post 3 -- Abo or Neo -- Antler Tine or Copper?

One of the on-going choices which knappers face is the choice of tools to use for pressure flaking, or for that matter, in percussion (hammering) work on larger pieces of stone.

The selection is between stone, bone and antler tools compared to copper and other metal tools. Between what we call paleo or aboriginal (abo) type tools and methods compared to neolithic (neo or new) style tools which may actually be made of soft metal such as copper.

The reason there is even a debate is that in late Stone Age societies in northern Africa, like Egypt, or in northern Europe, like Denmark, the knappers were sometimes using copper tools to work flint.

Most think that in the New World the local folks did not use metals, only stone, bone, antler, even wood tools for working flint and obsidian. Thus, some feel that only these naturally derived materials should be used to authentically work with flint and obsidian in making stone tools and hunting weapons.

However, I would like to point out that, even in North America, there are a number of cultures which used copper tools ... around the copper-rich areas of the Great Lakes, of Arizona, of Mexico, etc.

I have seen ancient rods of native copper in the Field Museum, in Chicago, which are over 2,000 years old. They very likely were used as pressure flaking tools, much as those tools which were used by one of the last native indigenous knappers, "Ishi", when he demonstrated the processes at a university in California back at the beginning of the Twentieth Century.

So, the choice is to be made. You can use copper-tipped pressure flaking tools, or deer antler or bone flaking tools. Both are readily available. And in the Beginner's Knapping Kits which I supply to new knappers, I provide both.

The process of working with the two tools is similar in method, and essentially identical in objective. You want to be able to trim the thin edges of the chip, so that the edge will be strong enough to absorb enough pressure to push off a long flake. This takes some practice to perfect. Actually, it takes a lot of practice. But once you achieve this a few times, you get the hang of it and are ready to harness this capability to shape the stone to your planned design.

Next time, we will talk about edge preparation some more. This is vital to achieving effective pressure flaking.



... Coming Next ... Preparation Gives You The Edge In Pressure Flaking

You are invited to visit my web site for more background information and photographs related to the making of arrowheads: http://www.arrowhead-makeyourown.com/

For fully photo-illustrated process information related to the making of an obsidian Gunther style arrowhead, plus photographs of a number of ancient and authentic Gunther type arrowheads, you are invited to visit my other web site: http://www.arrowhead-maker.com/

Post 2 -- Making A Plan Of Action To Make An Arrowhead

For the beginning knapper (person who makes tools out of stone by breaking stone -- knapping), making an arrowhead usually begins with a flake or chip of stone.

What Kind Of Stone Is Useful For Making An Arrowhead?

Usually we will need to use a type of stone which can break fairly easily, is brittle; yet it is hard enough to be useful and endure as a tool; it usually breaks with a sharp edge, so it can be a cutting tool; and, for any repeated manufacturing benefit, it should be a kind of stone which breaks in a manner which can be controlled and repeated.

Over the millennia, our ancestors learned, by trial and error, that many varieties of the stone material which we call quartz will fit these requirements. They found that particularly fine grained forms such as flint, chert and jasper worked best. These materials brake in a cone-like fracture pattern. They are tough, so they endure as a tool in use. They are hard, so they stay sharp enough to be useful. And they break in a way which can be planned and repeated, so that a skilled knapper can create a new tool according to the plan which he has in mind.

They also found that some kinds of volcanic rock also meet these requirements to make useful, sharp tools. In particular, obsidian and other similar volcanic rock, which is high in silica, are especially useful for knapping purposes. Obsidian is not as hard as quartz type stones like flint and jasper, but it makes up for that with its sharp edges and excellent knapping characteristics.

In the knapping kits which I prepare for new students of making arrowheads, I include both flint type stone and obsidian materials. These make an excellent starting place for a new knapper.

These chip or flake pieces are broken off from a larger chunk of the same material. This can be done by striking a corner or edge of the larger chunk with a hammer stone or a large, heavy piece of a deer antler, from the base or trunk of the antler, called a billet.

Safety First & Safety Always!

Remember always, that when you are working with this kind of stone, it is very sharp. So you must wear leather gloves to protect your hands, wear safety goggles to protect your eyes, and use a leather pad to protect your legs if you are resting the stone on your leg when you knock off small pieces for pressure flaking into arrowheads. Safety practices are always mandatory. In addition, make sure you work in a well ventilated, well lighted area, preferably outside. Also it is a good idea to have a ground or floor cover like a tarp or similar sheet of material to capture the small pieces of stone, so that you can gather them together when you are finished. You do not want your pets or children or any one else to step on the sharp remnants.

What Kind Of Tools Do You Knap With?

The next part of the plan is to select a tool to use to trim the stone piece into the shape of the arrowhead which you want to make. In the next posting we will discuss several types of tools which are useful in making arrowheads.

... coming next ... Selecting And Using The Tools To Break Stone To Create An Arrowhead

You are invited to visit my web site for more background information and photographs related to the making of arrowheads: http://www.arrowhead-makeyourown.com/

For fully photo-illustrated process information related to the making of an obsidian Gunther style arrowhead, plus photographs of a number of ancient and authentic Gunther type arrowheads, you are invited to visit my other web site: http://www.arrowhead-maker.com/

Post 1 -- Thoughts on Making Your Own Arrowhead

How To Make Your Own Arrowhead.

"It's so easy the cavemen did it ... for thousands of years" ... and so can you, with practice.

Actually, ancestors of all of us used stone for hunting weapons for a very long time. The use of metal only replaced sharpened stone, bone and wood in the last few thousands of years. And then, in most of the world, the knowledge of "flint knapping" became a lost art. It wasn't until the Europeans came to the Americas that Old World eyes once again realized the efficiency of stone arrow heads and knife blades.

Making Your Own Stone Arrowhead.

All knapping begins with a piece of stone. Then you break away the parts of the stone which do not fit the idea you have in mind for the final product. This process is called reduction. The thing is, that once you break a piece off of a stone, you can not put it back. Unlike clay or metal, which can be reshaped, a stone tool is not moldable or bendable or malleable. You break it to change its shape.

To break stone you must obey the laws of physics. I think that observant flint knappers were the ones who first codified knowledge of the physical laws which provide order and predictability to the world around us. Much was discovered by trial and error, and then passed on to students from the masters of stone craft.

... coming next ... Step One in the Process of Making Your Own Stone Arrowhead

You are invited to visit my web site for more background information and photographs related to the making of arrowheads: http://www.arrowhead-makeyourown.com/

For fully photo-illustrated process information related to the making of an obsidian Gunther style arrowhead, plus photographs of a number of ancient and authentic Gunther type arrowheads, you are invited to visit my other web site: http://www.arrowhead-maker.com/