Any Flint Knappers out there?

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  • DangerousDave

    Marksman
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    Jan 3, 2014
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    Cayuga
    I have been knapping arrowheads and gun flints for awhile now. Was wondering where other members get their flint to knap. I have some Independence chert, but find it is hard to knap
     

    Hkindiana

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    Sep 19, 2010
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    Southern Hills
    I have an outcropping of fossiliferous chert on my farm that I use. I also walk the banks of the Ohio river and find TONS of beautiful hornstone flakes to knap.
     

    Clay Pigeon

    Shooter
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    Aug 3, 2016
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    Summitville
    My sons have found some geodes on our place, nothing ever spectacular. Better finds were found by them along the sides of the road digging in the limestone.
    I have a friend hows place is near Columbus, IN and he has chunks of what he calls chert? on his property..:dunno:
    Is that used to chip flint into arrow heads?
     

    Hkindiana

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    Sep 19, 2010
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    My sons have found some geodes on our place, nothing ever spectacular. Better finds were found by them along the sides of the road digging in the limestone.
    I have a friend hows place is near Columbus, IN and he has chunks of what he calls chert? on his property..:dunno:
    Is that used to chip flint into arrow heads?


    Correct. We actually don’t have any “true” flint in the US. We (and native Americans) use/used “chert” for making tools, atl-atl points, and arrowheads.
     

    DangerousDave

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    Jan 3, 2014
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    Cayuga
    I have an outcropping of fossiliferous chert on my farm that I use. I also walk the banks of the Ohio river and find TONS of beautiful hornstone flakes to knap.
    I have heard that there is some beautiful hornstone down along the Ohio. You are so lucky to have some chert on your property that you can work with. I have seen some beautiful flint that has come from Flint Ridge, Ohio.
     

    Tactically Fat

    Grandmaster
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    Oct 8, 2014
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    Indiana
    All flint is chert, but not all chert is flint.

    Kind of like how all bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs.

    Flint has a special formation environment: Chalk or marl. That's the difference.

    Also - there is most definitely flint in the USA. For instance, look up Flint Ridge quarry.
     

    Tactically Fat

    Grandmaster
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    Also - I wonder what it really is that's being called Hornstone (Hornfels) - as Hornfels is a metamorphic rock.

    Granted, stuff DOES wash down stream via rivers... But there ain't no metamorphic rocks in Indiana unless they've been washed down by rivers or pushed down by glaciers. Or if you dig DEEP enough.
     

    Hkindiana

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    “True flint” has to do with the percentage of quartz in the chert, and is found in chalk deposits. There are no chalk deposits in Ohio, so what is being CALLED flint, is actually chert. Hornstone, as well as other cherts, are SEDIMENTARY. Hornstone is a particularly smooth grained grey to black chert that is found in nodules in southern Indiana and in Kentucky.
     

    Leadeye

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    Jan 19, 2009
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    Great looking work HK, that takes skill and patience. A guy I know over in Decatur county does this, but I know him best for his bullet mold work.
     
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