This was my first time slabbing flint. I put in a good sized nodule of Wyandotte chert from Harrison Co IN, aka IN hornstone. I had to trim it down to fit in the vise. My new saw will cut a slab 6” X 5”.
After taking off a wide slab of cortex I was greeted by a bunch of cracks.
I cut a slab 3/8”, which is the right thickness for flintknapping.
The red lines are cracks, the green area looks solid. I put my knapping billet on it and the cracks failed of course. I managed to edge the good area and there should be a nice point in there.
This is Holland flint from Dubois Co IN. It’s Pennsylvanian in age and was in the tailings from the Energy Supply coal mine. The mine is shut down now. This piece has quite a few cracks but I kept it to use as samples. The tailings have been reclaimed now and it’s about impossible to find.
I opened up this nodule of glacial flint. I’d love to know the source of this stuff. It appears to have a chalk cortex like true flint from England. Most pieces we find are small. This one is the biggest piece I’ve ever found.
I had this small 2” rock and cut a slab from it using the 6” trim saw. I thought it was quartzite but I think it’s flint or chert of some type. It was really hard to cut. It has some nice banding and should polish well. It reminds me of an AZ sunset.
I slabbed a nodule of flint from Henry Co IA today. I got this nod from a rock quarry that closed because there was too much flint in their limestone and there were too many flat tires on county gravel roads. It has unusual bumps of flint on the top (or bottom?) of it.
It’s nice material and I’ve worked it before. When heated, the yellow areas turn pink. This frame of points is the same material.
I put a small nod of Cobden in the saw yesterday and made the first cut. I’ll glue the fresh cut face to a board with gorilla glue, then clamp the wood in the vise and start slabbing from the other side. A lot less waste that way.
I glued block to nod last thing last nite. Came out this morning to put it in saw and this is what I got when I went out to shop. Wood and nodule were stable when I left. I know what happened. Deer mice! A mouse jumped on wood block. When he jumped off it knocked wood off nod. I have a surprise for them tonite.
A friend sent me a nice nodule of Buffalo River. I’ve cut 3 slabs and it looks like I’ll get 3 more.
After I cut 3 slabs, I glued the flat face of the nod to a piece of 2x4. When the gorilla glue dries, I’ll clamp the wood in the vise and slab the rest with no or little waste.
