# help identifing rocks



## Lorren68 (Jun 26, 2008)

I want to try my hand at knapping some arrowheads for hunting can someone post pics and explain how to identify rocks that are good for this I live in North Georgia about 14 miles North of Cartersville


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## Muddyfoots (Jun 26, 2008)

I'm definetly not a pro, but I wouldn't suggest trying to find knappable rock. Unless you can find some that no one has had their hands on. May want to buy some to learn on. Try this site:

http://neolithics.com/index.html

Nic, choctaw and many more, tell me if I'm wrong.


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## Lorren68 (Jun 26, 2008)

well I work for a Brick making company and we have a mine so I should be able to find something around there just don't know what to look for besides buying them kinda takes something away from the experience


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## Nugefan (Jun 27, 2008)

here is a link to pix of " raw flint " but this pix is NOT from Ga ......

http://www.flintknappingtools.com/flint/tx101.jpg

but all flints have an outside called the cortex just like in the pix .......

here is a pix of bolders of chert ...

http://homepages.uni-tuebingen.de/alfred.pawlik/Arub-Pl-IV.jpg

if you can find flint out of a mine it will be better than what you find on top of the ground that will have fractures from freezing ......

if you can whack the lower edge of a rock and it break off smooth you have found flint or chert ...

check out this link to see where and how I was talkin' about to whack it ....

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/BruceMensinger/hintpfr.htm


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## Redbow (Jun 27, 2008)

You can also buy some good knapping rock off ebay! I have found some to be very good and very cheap there!

I tried knapping an old brick I found, but it was just too crumbly!


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## Nicodemus (Jun 27, 2008)

Carry a baseball size hammerstone, or a copper or brass hammer with you when lookin` for stone. A lot of chert will have a limestone cortex coverin` it. Tap it on a corner to remove part of it to see just what you have. If you find nodules that are round, or have no edges to tap, there is a way to get into the stone. This technique is the only time I wear safety goggles when I knap, you might want to as well. Set the round stone down on a sturdy piece of wood. If you hit where you look, hold onto the stone with your free hand. If you look where you hit, don`t try to hold the stone. Use your hammerstone to deliver one strong, smooth downward strike onto the center of the round stone. The force of the strike will run through the stone, absorb into the wood, and split the stone almost perfectly in half. You can then take flakes or spalls off the flat edge that is on each half. Good stone will have a smooth, slick feel to it, almost waxy, in some cases. 

When you are makin` stone points for huntin`, try to make the projectile points as thin as possible, and don`t serrate the edges. Keep the cuttin` edges as smooth and fine as you can get em, for better penetration and cuttin` ability. Use serrated edges for knives.


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## Lorren68 (Jun 27, 2008)

thanks Nugefan, Redbow, and Nicodemus, that helps alot.  Some how I am going to figure this out and make a Long bow arrows and my own broadheads, and when I do I will have all my Woodies brothers and sisters to thank.


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## Nugefan (Jun 27, 2008)

Lorren68 said:


> thanks Nugefan, Redbow, and Nicodemus, that helps alot.  Some how I am going to figure this out and make a Long bow arrows and my own broadheads, and when I do I will have all my Woodies brothers and sisters to thank.



now you know if ya find a big ole mess of flint you have to give us a call .....


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## Lorren68 (Jun 27, 2008)

I'll try Nugefan, I hope to get the chance to sniff around the Mine at work this weekend.


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## Redbow (Jun 29, 2008)

Lorren, if you are figuring on making a longbow I hope you have some wood drying out now! I cut a couple of red cedars back in February, the top of my shop is hot and they are a curing!

About November I will be at it again, making another longbow or two! I also have some Dogwood and Hickory! 

Its a lot of fun Lorren to make your own bows and arrows, mine don't always work perfectly but they suit me and thats what counts!

good luck....


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## choctawlb (Jul 2, 2008)

Lorren,
Making your own equipment is a sometime frustrating, but very  fulfilling experience. It really makes you appreciate the skill and patience of the Native Americans, and just how much better hunters they were, than we lazy Americans have become.
Ken


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## JohnK3 (Jul 3, 2008)

Just remember:

It may look gneiss, but don't take it for granite.


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## gadeerwoman (Jul 3, 2008)

John only a fellow rockhound could appreciate that !


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## knapper (Jul 31, 2008)

you can also try ,what we call thunder chert ,alsoknown as a toilet,it is almost a low grade of navculite , and did I say free.good luck randy


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## bam_bam (Aug 1, 2008)

knapper said:


> you can also try ,what we call thunder chert ,alsoknown as a toilet,it is almost a low grade of navculite , and did I say free.good luck randy



Hear it called brownstone a couple times too....


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## bam_bam (Aug 1, 2008)

JohnK3 said:


> Just remember:
> 
> It may look gneiss, but don't take it for granite.



That was a good one


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