Looking for knapped flint

[tombear]

Hi Folks
I'm still looking for someone to make me at least one (several would be better) of the large shaped flints I saw at the museum in Banbury.

Have odds and sods like the magnesium rod to swap or plain old fashioned money.

To go in my shiny new tinderbox.

Went to the White Horse again and despite wandering around and scrabbling round post holes etc couldn't find more than little flakes of flint.

ATB

Tom

 

[Peat]

When I need various sizes of flint burins made, I asked on the forum and was referred to Will Lord at http://www.beyond2000bc.co.uk/

Great service, beautiful items and cost next to nought.

 

[tombear]

Thats excellent! Thanks!

ATB

Tom

 

[launditch1]

They look like oversized gunflints to me..
Ill have a look in my stuff as im sure ive something i can knap to size.
What was the museum's description of it anyway?

 

[tombear]

Yup I thought I may have been a partially shaped core (if thats the right term) that someone was making gun flints from or possibly even a larger flint used on a artillery piece, although saying that the few such locks I have seen just look like those off contempory long arms rather than scaled up affairs.

The flint wasn't described seperately but was in a kit along with a steel. Unfortunately I made the mistake of asking if I could photograph it and girl on duty just parroted the party line despite there being nothing in the case or near it that could have been effected by the flash (which I said I wouldn't use). There was no one with higher authority to appeal to and later attempts to write to them about it received no reply. I wish I had made a sketch of the steel as if the kit was all from the same period it would have given some clue as to when it was made.

It seams logical that when the flint and steel was in common use some sort of worked flint would have been commercially available for folk who were in areas that didn't naturally have suitable stones laying about. Being cack handed I find normal gun flints rather small for using easily.

Thanks!

ATB

Tom

 

[Eric_Methven]

It seams logical that when the flint and steel was in common use some sort of worked flint would have been commercially available for folk who were in areas that didn't naturally have suitable stones laying about. Being cack handed I find normal gun flints rather small for using easily.

Flint mills generally turned out hundreds of thousands of flints for flintlock rifles, smooth bores and pistols. They generally had very decent quality control, and any that didn't come up to standard were rejected. These rejects usually went in bulk to the firms making strikers (The Hudson Bay Company comes to mind) around the Sheffield and Birmingham areas where they would be packaged along with a striker and shipped by the thousand to the colonies in exchange for beaver pelts.

In whatever period, strikers were not usually sold or traded without a piece of flint to go with it.

Eric

 

[kaosblacksmiths]

john lord your man i went on one of his courses what that man does with flint is f****ng amazing

 

[hedgerow pete]

when I come to the birmingham gathering at the spring show i was planning on bringing a big pile of flit nodes for people to play with

 

[tombear]

Cheers folks!

The flint at Banbury could easily be a partially worked flint that has been rejected before being turned into individual gun flints. I will have to sniff about the black powder shooters/makers I vaguely know to see if any make their own flints and if I can scrounge any rejects!

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

Hi folks
after a incredibly swift turn around I recieved 5 shaped flints from Mr Lord today, one of which now lives in my shiny tinderbox.

I tried one out straight away naturally, using the hold the steel over the tinder box and strike down with the flint method. Nice big sparks set the tinder smouldering almost every swipe! Previously I had been using either a randomly broken bit of flint picked up or gunflints, these large shaped flints produce better sparks than the former and are much easier to use than the latter. It's definately worth using a knapped bit and for the hamfisted types like me who can't do their own Mr Lords are great and suprisingly cheap. Please see his website

http://www.beyond2000bc.co.uk/contact.html

and let him know what you want.

To those kind souls who offered to make me some, if you have already started I'd still love to get them from you.

ATB

Tom

 

[Miyagi]

A Question for Tombear and other Flint users;

I've been using an old bit of hacksaw and one of the original rods since the early 80's, it's almost done now.

I could easily get a swedish firesteel but, because of the folks on here extolling it's virues I'm sorely tempted by flint and steel these days.

I've obviously heard of people knapping flint for tools etc., as it's a workable material.

How does this affect using it with a steel? Does the flint need to be replaced regularly?

Hmmm, is it the technique of knapping that makes it flake? Does the generating of a spark use a different technique with no flaking? I understand it's the fire steel that gets shaved, but how does the flint stand up to this kind of wear and tear?

Thanks in advance,

Liam

P.S. Excellent tinder kit you got there Tombear.

 

[tombear]

Cheers! The extra effort in getting my kit "just so" has really paid dividends with regards to how easy it is to get a viable flame from it.

The ins and outs of the knapping process are beyond me but it boils down to having a really good edge to scrape the sparks from the steel and although you can be lucky when just smashing up a piece of flint in my experiance you don't end up with meny of the really acute angles that slice nice fat sparks from the steel.

Something else is that its much easier to store a nicely shaped bit of flint rather than the lumps I have previously tried to use. If your using just a pouch it don't matter so much but in a tin it makes life easier.

Oh and keeping the char dry is of paramount importance, I suspect the Potassium nitate treated char will absorb moisture faster than the plain stuff. I've a spot on the top of a radiator to keep stuff like this and will make myself a water proof, almost air tight bag for it to go in. The spare char I keep in a zip loc bag inside a tin with a tight fitting lid.

ATB

Tom

 

[Eric_Methven]

How does this affect using it with a steel? Does the flint need to be replaced regularly?

Hmmm, is it the technique of knapping that makes it flake? Does the generating of a spark use a different technique with no flaking? I understand it's the fire steel that gets shaved, but how does the flint stand up to this kind of wear and tear?

The flint will shave a tiny shard off the striker only if it has a sharp edge. Naturally broken flints will do this, but you are dependant on the way the edge broke off, the angle of the edge and other factors. This will determine how long the piece will survive. The edge will dull fairly quickly in any case and the quality of the sparks produced will diminish.

With a knapped flint, you have a manufactured item where the edge is sharp, in fact you have four edges to work with, the angle can be controlled so it is neither too shallow (chips off too easy) or too wide (doesn't have a sharply defined edge).

When the manufactured flint becomes dull on all four sides, it is relatively easy to reprofile the edges using simple pressure flaking. There's plenty of info online on this technique, and it is not too difficult to achieve. It will resharpen the edges and give you a new flint. You can keep doing this untol the flint becomes too small to hold comfortably.

Eric

 

[Miyagi]

Thanks for that Tombear and Eric,

I always wondered.

Cheers

Liam

 

[John Fenna]

I use raw flint shards for flint and steel sparking and have never had a problem getting good sparks.
As the edge dulls a quick tat with the steel will break off the dull bit and produce a new sharp edge.
They do not look as smart as a gunflint knapped flint though!