Obsidian slabs

[LandSeig]

I picked up these obsidian slabs for $1 a piece to practice my knapping on some different material, they are about 1/4” thick. I feel like it’s cheating a bit not starting from a whole rock, but I don’t have access to anything like that in obsidian. I have worked mainly flints and cherts, some regular glass, but never obsidian. I was thinking about cutting them down closer to the size points I was going for to not waste as much material. Any advice best way to go about it?

 

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[AlabamaRelic]

I used to order obsidian slabs for knapping back in the 80’s. I used a glass cutter for making smaller pieces. The guy that I ordered it from had plans for a tool for knapping. It was a board with a 3/4 “ pipe and a 1/2” pipe sticking up. You held the edge of obsidian against the roughened side of the pipe and flaked it by moving it up and down. The tops of the pipes were hammered shut and used for making notches.
You better wear leather gloves.

 

[newnan man]

That is some pretty looking material.

 

[ToddsPoint]

Why do you need to trim them? It looks like there is only one point in each piece. Just knap away everything that’s not a point!

 

[russau]

I was told that "Don't be set on a certain shape" Stuff happens , so when it cracks ,plan on what to make out of these new pieces!