I'm about your age and in about grade 2 Australia switched to the metric system so we relearnt some things. I still talk in feet or inches for general descriptions but you are right the metric millimetre system really is excellent for exact measurements. So much easier than all this 1 and 3/16 stuff I still get confused. I only just realised 3/8 is 10mm.
I feel like Jason Newman is a very good example of how skill can get things really thin. He used indirect in later stages, but he has videos where he does some direct and he can get some bifaces really thin!!
True. His niche is thin pieces. But listen to his discussion and look at the material he works with. He has many failures and mistakes as well as successes. He has probably knapped through literally thousands of pounds of material. This increases his odds of success. This does not mean he doesn't have tremendous skill. He does.
Jason Newman has a video on chasing the Sweetwater Biface. He is a man with a mission. So yes probably tons of the best material similar to that of the actual artifact.
Very cool! The bopper you have is different from the one I bought. I have the regular copper kind I have been using it like a baton I think I will try hammering with it like you do. Thanks for the knowledge you share
i believe luck is essential to have on your side when it comes to flaws in the stone and other things outwith your control in knapping and especially thinning. if you are setting out to thin with direct and after some bad luck/ stone ect you manage to get the result , then when does skill take over ? the luckiest ever man in the world is never gonna make the sweetwater biface first time he picks up some flint is he ? i would say luck is important but your skill honed over years of breaking rock is the main currency in play here... ps , i am on the isle of Arran right now and about to do the pitchstone trail . hopeful i can get some nice pieces. so far all i have found is heavily crazed and cracked . still pretty but not stone to trust your luck to !
Nice video, you are definitely not afraid of a challenge. I have a tendency to not know when to quit. Your video may eventually help me to quit when something is beautiful. If something is beautiful and functional, then I think that it is smart to shape it up and quit. As I write this, I am thinking that since we all have an abundance of chips, surely it is more intelligent to look through them carefully before I start with a big piece and begin a reducement to the ridiculous process. Actually I saw you knock off many chips that appeared to be much better than 5 to 1 AND it happened quickly lol.
Medium quality chert. Central TX. Grainy but not too steppy. Heat treatment would probably make it better. It's the type of chert you find in streams and eroded areas. The Native Americans probably didn't want to mess with it.
@@KnapperJackCrafty we are not all born equal, and I can see old age has really started f*cking with me as well. Not as sharp as I used to be. Too many variables
I don’t believe that a real thin point is the evidence of divine intervention however, I do believe that divine intervention is a very important factor in our lives because, we as human beings make mistakes or commit sin everyday and that causes us to be separated from our creator’God’ and be on the road to an eternity in hell. However God loved is so much that He sent Jesus to die for us and all that we have done wrong so that we can be reunited with the God who made us and spend eternity with Him, salvation. That is surely divine intervention, I am sorry if you don’t believe this however I do and an atheist once said to me “if you really believe what the bible says, how much would you have to hate someone not to tell them the what it says about heaven and hell” I do care about you and pray for you and hope you might think about this seriously anyway God bless and thanks for another amazing video, p.s. I really enjoyed the plate knapping video 👍
As for the made up word LUCK. If it were luck I could do it just like you? All you need is luck.? Surly if luck I could do the same as you. Right? It's you my friend, it's you 100,% nothing else. To dismiss you mastery to a empty word. Bugs me. It's too much your skill. Give yourself the credit. It's all you. And that's my opinion.
True. But even with excellent rock, I don't remember getting better than a 5 to 1 ratio (edit: with direct percussion). I suppose I could try to get as thin as possible on video one of these days when I get a very large batch.😁
It’s surprising to me that you have automatically ascribed luck or Devine intervention to prehistoric knappers. This seems completely unlike you. Knapping is a skill just like all hand skills. The ability to pick good stone and properly use and maintain tools is a skill. The ability to foresee problems and eliminate or overcome them is a skill. You can’t overcome physics but you can overcome odds.
Maybe it appears that way, but I didn't automatically ascribe luck. It's simply a reality. The odds are determined after the fact. If you attempt extreme thinness, you will break more than if you don't attempt it. Even with great skill, knappers who produce extremely thin points will tell you that luck plays an important role. ( edit) To be clear, I do NOT belive in divine intervention. I was speaking about the common mindset of ancient man.
I'm about your age and in about grade 2 Australia switched to the metric system so we relearnt some things. I still talk in feet or inches for general descriptions but you are right the metric millimetre system really is excellent for exact measurements. So much easier than all this 1 and 3/16 stuff I still get confused. I only just realised 3/8 is 10mm.
This video answered a lot of the questions I have unwittingly been asking myself while working a piece. Thank you !
I feel like Jason Newman is a very good example of how skill can get things really thin. He used indirect in later stages, but he has videos where he does some direct and he can get some bifaces really thin!!
True. His niche is thin pieces. But listen to his discussion and look at the material he works with. He has many failures and mistakes as well as successes. He has probably knapped through literally thousands of pounds of material. This increases his odds of success. This does not mean he doesn't have tremendous skill. He does.
Jason Newman has a video on chasing the Sweetwater Biface. He is a man with a mission. So yes probably tons of the best material similar to that of the actual artifact.
Very cool! The bopper you have is different from the one I bought. I have the regular copper kind I have been using it like a baton I think I will try hammering with it like you do. Thanks for the knowledge you share
Beautifully stated, and agreed
I dropped a Dalton today and it snapped in half. Maybe I should chill out on thinning
Yep. That's what hurts the most, I think. I'd much rather break it trying to get it thin than to drop the silly thing. 😁
The philosophy of flintknapping, according to Jack Crafty.
😁
Jack, when you start flintknapping, you find out soon you need a bit of luck if not a lot. They break.
Oh yes
Luck is when Preparation, Skill and Opportunity meet (75% of the time). The other 25% is blessed or “luck”. That’s my theory.
Ah yes, the freeze cracked method.
What is the Freeze Cracked method?
Direct percussion, to go super thin. Big fan of your videos by the way
@@el_pierre thanks!
The steps I find kinda hard to get rid of like you said it's luck nice job .thanks.
No problem 👍
i believe luck is essential to have on your side when it comes to flaws in the stone and other things outwith your control in knapping and especially thinning. if you are setting out to thin with direct and after some bad luck/ stone ect you manage to get the result , then when does skill take over ? the luckiest ever man in the world is never gonna make the sweetwater biface first time he picks up some flint is he ? i would say luck is important but your skill honed over years of breaking rock is the main currency in play here... ps , i am on the isle of Arran right now and about to do the pitchstone trail . hopeful i can get some nice pieces. so far all i have found is heavily crazed and cracked . still pretty but not stone to trust your luck to !
Part of your skill is knowing how much luck is playing a part in your success.
@@KnapperJackCrafty well answered !
Another great video Patrick
Thanks Don.
I am here on out referring to the “odds” as the “gods”
😆
Nice blank great skill like it .
Thanks
Can you use another kind of round rod or needs to be copper
You can use steel, bronze, or aluminum. Brass can be used also but it's more difficult.
Nice video, you are definitely not afraid of a challenge.
I have a tendency to not know when to quit. Your video may eventually help me to quit when something is beautiful.
If something is beautiful and functional, then I think that it is smart to shape it up and quit.
As I write this, I am thinking that since we all have an abundance of chips, surely it is more intelligent to look through them carefully before I start with a big piece and begin a reducement to the ridiculous process.
Actually I saw you knock off many chips that appeared to be much better than 5 to 1 AND it happened quickly lol.
Well done and said!
Thanks Randy
Do you have a link to source for aluminum billets ? Thanks
www.ebay.com/itm/350796121959?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=CWgJSJOzQge&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=1q_3LDvnSFK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
If the link doesnt work, here is the ebay description:
1-1/2" ALUMINUM 6061 ROUND ROD 12" LONG Solid T6511 NEW Extruded Lathe Bar Stock
Thank you sir, got it !
What kind of rock is that? I'm no rock expert, but I don't recognize it right off.
Medium quality chert. Central TX. Grainy but not too steppy. Heat treatment would probably make it better. It's the type of chert you find in streams and eroded areas. The Native Americans probably didn't want to mess with it.
12:39 physics if we could do something about physics we could go back in time and ask the old guys how they did it, or watch them do it. I 🙃
Were you lucky or blessed for your mental capacity? Not all are so lucky. There is such a thing as gifted. What decides?
True. This is something you're born with. But mental capacity can decline quite a bit under stress and/ or malnutrition.
@@KnapperJackCrafty we are not all born equal, and I can see old age has really started f*cking with me as well. Not as sharp as I used to be. Too many variables
I don’t believe that a real thin point is the evidence of divine intervention however, I do believe that divine intervention is a very important factor in our lives because, we as human beings make mistakes or commit sin everyday and that causes us to be separated from our creator’God’ and be on the road to an eternity in hell. However God loved is so much that He sent Jesus to die for us and all that we have done wrong so that we can be reunited with the God who made us and spend eternity with Him, salvation. That is surely divine intervention, I am sorry if you don’t believe this however I do and an atheist once said to me “if you really believe what the bible says, how much would you have to hate someone not to tell them the what it says about heaven and hell” I do care about you and pray for you and hope you might think about this seriously anyway God bless and thanks for another amazing video, p.s. I really enjoyed the plate knapping video 👍
You're welcome
As for the made up word LUCK.
If it were luck I could do it just like you? All you need is luck.? Surly if luck I could do the same as you. Right?
It's you my friend, it's you 100,% nothing else. To dismiss you mastery to a empty word. Bugs me. It's too much your skill.
Give yourself the credit.
It's all you. And that's my opinion.
Better rock you will get thinner
True. But even with excellent rock, I don't remember getting better than a 5 to 1 ratio (edit: with direct percussion). I suppose I could try to get as thin as possible on video one of these days when I get a very large batch.😁
It’s surprising to me that you have automatically ascribed luck or Devine intervention to prehistoric knappers. This seems completely unlike you. Knapping is a skill just like all hand skills. The ability to pick good stone and properly use and maintain tools is a skill. The ability to foresee problems and eliminate or overcome them is a skill. You can’t overcome physics but you can overcome odds.
Maybe it appears that way, but I didn't automatically ascribe luck. It's simply a reality. The odds are determined after the fact. If you attempt extreme thinness, you will break more than if you don't attempt it. Even with great skill, knappers who produce extremely thin points will tell you that luck plays an important role. ( edit) To be clear, I do NOT belive in divine intervention. I was speaking about the common mindset of ancient man.