Couple new knives finished

[carpsniperg2]

Havent been on much, been trying to get xmas gifts done. Busted finger kinda put knapping on hold for a bit. I am back in the game now Here is a africa inspired knife that i just love! Then just another nice knife with some color to it. I busted about 1" of the tip off and had to re-shape the blade. Tunred out nice for a oops

[biggamehunter]

those are awesome knives. great craftsmanship

[wsucowboy]

They look real good 

[boneaddict]

Looking good.    I picked up a hunk of snowflake that I am going to try to make some heads with.   I haven't mastered the thinning in the middle like you have done.   AWESOME

[Skyvalhunter]

Ok so are these for display otherwise how would you keep an edge on them

[Machias]

Wow they look so cool!

[bucklucky]

Nice job Carp!

[buckhorn2]

What are the blades made from. Nice

[Machias]

The top knife looks lethal at both ends!!

[bearmanric]

Those turned out sweet. You did a fine job on them. Rick

[carpsniperg2]

What are the blades made from. Nice

These are made from midnight lace obsidian. There is lots of very nice types of obsidian. Mahgony and lace are 2 of my faves!

Ok so are these for display otherwise how would you keep an edge on them

Obsidian is one of the sharpest know substances know to man. It is still used in eye surgery and facial surgery as well. You can touch up a edge by removing very small flakes. These can be used for both work or display. These ones are xmas presents.

Looking good.    I picked up a hunk of snowflake that I am going to try to make some heads with.   I haven't mastered the thinning in the middle like you have done.   AWESOME

Another of my fave stones!!! The only problem with that stone is getting a flake to feather nice and not hinge when it hits a flake because it changes texture in the stone. I am still ticked at myself, I have a funky chuck out in the shop. I have tried to get a couple big flakes off for blades and bigger points and I keep getting smaller flakes. I think it has to do with the texture of the stone as well. I can get some killer flakes off of most spalls but some reason this one is giving me crap. I will post a pic of a few flakes that I have taken. Its a funky rock for sure.

[carpsniperg2]

Here is a picture of the flakes from that spall.

[carpsniperg2]

Doug one of the hardest things to do is thin the middle of the stones. It all comes with setting up the right preforms. Starting with a big stone really helps. The bigger the better to be able to thin them down. I figured I would post this up to show some people the process used to remove flakes form spalls for points and knifes.

Pic one here is a nice spall with a big natural preform. The preform is the point in which you strike the stone to be able to release a flake from it. I have marked my target on this stone so you can see where I am trying to harvest the flake from.

Pic 2 is the preform ground with a abrader stone. this is done to stregthen the edge so the flake is stronger and to be able to get it to run better.

Pic 3 is the flake removed from the spall. As you can see I was close to my target and just missed a small edge on the right side. This flake will make a good point, but it will take a lot more work with the outer coretex on it.

Thought some might like to see this.

[Machias]

LOVE the photos and the step by step.  Keep em coming!

[JODakota]

Is that synthetic sinew holding on the blade?

[high country]

Making me want to work a piece a friend gave me....very cool.

[Huntbear]

Damn buddy, did not know you were that talented.   Love the stone knives with horn handles.  They look awesome.   

[carpsniperg2]

Is that synthetic sinew holding on the blade?

Yes that is correct, real sinew is a lot harder to work with when making these knives, the synthetic let's me wrap it tighter and has a better finished look to it.

Thanks for all the compliments guys I am no master of this craft and still have a lot to learn. Plus only doing it in the winter when I have time does not help. I sent some pictures to a knapper known around the world and he said they looked great. He then asked how long I had been knapping. I told him a couple of months out of the last 3 years. So like 6 months total and he was blown away. That was a huge compliment and made me realize I am a little better then I give myself credit for, but not much

[NRA4LIFE]

Matt, those are cool.  You are correct about obsidian.  If I remember correctly from my college work on the subject, obsidian is one of the substances that can form a monomolecular edge.  Basically the sharpest objects possible.

[carpsniperg2]

Yes that is 100% right. I have showed people that did not think it was as Sharp as steel, how Sharp it is. I will take a brand new broadhead and yet to shave with it. Then I will take a piece of obsidianand try to shave with it. The obsidian will always win LOL. One must be very careful when working with it. I have been cut several times, even using gloves. Another thing is I ware a mask when knapping. The silica dust is harmful if to much of it gets into the lungs. So always have ventilation and or a mask.

[JODakota]

Is that synthetic sinew holding on the blade?

Yes that is correct, real sinew is a lot harder to work with when making these knives, the synthetic let's me wrap it tighter and has a better finished look to it.

Yea I know what you mean. I make arrows and I used to use synthetic and still do when the real stuff isn't readily available. But when the real stuff hardens up man its hard like glue. Very hard to beat. But man you have some knapping skills! Beautiful work!

[carpsniperg2]

Thank you very much. I have used the real stuff as well and do agree with you. I will be using the real stuff on some arrows I make this year with my stone points I plan to hunt something with. It will be my arrow with feathers from a couple turkeys I have killed. Along with a stone tip I have made and a long bow a good friend is making for me. It has been a dream of mine since I was old enough to shoot a bow. I am getting proficient in the art of knapping and feel I can make a stone head that will cleanly take any animal I shoot.

[JODakota]

Man that would be such an awesome feeling using your own homemade bow and arrows to take down another animal butcher, process and cook the what you kill. I don't think there could be more satisfaction in a hunt. I need to start doing that again. My life has been going about 900 miles an hour for the past year with getting out of the service, xmas, Wedding(Next week) and starting school. Lol but seeing this thread resparked my interest in this.! Thanks again for sharing.

[carpsniperg2]

No prob! Always happy to share

[bigdave]

Hey Carp.......where do you get your obsidian?

[carpsniperg2]

I buy a lot of my stuff off of ebay. I need to make a trip or 2 down to the glass buttes in oregon and get some. Ebay has some great stuff and very fair prices if you know what you are looking for.