# knapping quartz



## eman1885 (Jan 26, 2012)

has anybody tried it? i would like to make a point or two out of it, and was wondering if anyone had any experience with it.


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## Nicodemus (Jan 26, 2012)

I`ve knapped it, and don`t like it, personally. I will say this for it though, all those little faceted edges make for a good cuttin` edge for a knife.

Crystal quartz is another thing now, it knaps like a fine obsidian. And cuts like it too. It will cut you faster than you can bleed.


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## chehawknapper (Jan 26, 2012)

Knapping quality quartz is alot rarer than most would believe. The best that I have worked from Georgia is coming from just above the fall line - Milledgeville area. There is a fine quality ortho-quartzite from the Lake Chatuge area that I would love to have a truck load of. In general, quartz and quartzites are quite tough to work. The tougher or stronger the stone, the softer the percussor. I prefer using wooden billets for most quartz. Dogwood, Live oak and Osage have worked well for me. Pressure flaking, for your average quartz, is relegated to retouching the edges to clean up platform remnants. Place the tip of your pressure flaker on top of the platform rather than the edge. You will have less crushing of your platform. Antler is highly preferred over copper for quartz. Just my experience.


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## patriot15joe (Jan 26, 2012)

Most of the points I have found around my house are what we call sugar quarts ( Im sure there is a better name). They are all a solid milky color. I have yet to find any quarts like that in our area, they may have carried it in... It looks like it doesn't have all the stress cracks that most of the quarts rocks in the yard and garden do. Every piece I have tried to knapp shatters into a million pieces on the first strike. 

If I were going to try it, I would try to find that type of quarts.


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## NCHillbilly (Jan 26, 2012)

I like to knap quartz and quartzite, simply because it's the only knappable rock in my area, and it's what the natives here used. As Chehawknapper said, it's not easy compared to good chert-quartzite is man rock.  We have a lot of tough metaquartzite around here and some bulll quartz, and as Ben said, wooden billets are the way to go for primary percussion, antler is ok for secondary thinning. I use dogwood and persimmon for wooden billets, and these are the size of the big end of a baseball bat or bigger. You gotta rare back and hit it like you're trying to kill a snake.


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## TNGIRL (Jan 27, 2012)

NCHillbilly said:


> I like to knap quartz and quartzite, simply because it's the only knappable rock in my area, and it's what the natives here used. As Chehawknapper said, it's not easy compared to good chert-quartzite is man rock.  We have a lot of tough metaquartzite around here and some bulll quartz, and as Ben said, wooden billets are the way to go for primary percussion, antler is ok for secondary thinning. I use dogwood and persimmon for wooden billets, and these are the size of the big end of a baseball bat or bigger. You gotta rare back and hit it like you're trying to kill a snake.



more pretty pics from you Steve.  The only thing is when I rare back and hit....my hand and arm goes numb and I didn't achieve anything!!!!! And I have leather on my knee for protection, but when I miss (I admit to that)my leg gets bruises from the whacking!!!!! LOL!!!!!


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