Welcome to Black Knife Stone Works! This is the first part of my how to make an arrowhead series and the first technique we are going to learn is pressure flaking. I love talking and teaching knapping and I do it quite a bit live over on TikTok. I am writing a how to tutorial series for flint knapping and this is the first post. You can’t discuss how to make an arrowhead without going over pressure flaking. It is so important! A good grasp of pressure flaking mechanics is crucial to all other aspects of flint knapping. My mission here at Black Knife Stone Works is to make learning flint knapping as easy as checking your email. Speaking of email-sign up for my email list and a free tool video.
Let’s cover a few things:
- Why I think you should start with pressure flaking
- The best material to practice on for beginning knappers
- Flint Knapping Safety
- Tools I use for Pressure Flaking an Arrowhead
- Pressure flaking platforms
- How I pressure flake
- Mindset
- Where to get tools and material
- Get a free flint knapping video!
Why I think you should start with Pressure Flaking:
I know I know. Percussion flaking is, well, sexy. Its a thrill to take a flake off a huge piece of obsidian. The sound of the flake releasing gives me tingles. It is one of my absolute favorite things to do. But…… I still think you should start by leaning to pressure flake an arrowhead. For starters big pieces of stone are expensive. When you are just starting out you will make a large piece of stone into gravel in short order with percussion flaking. Cuts and other injuries tend to be more severe when large heavy stone is involved. Pressure flaking requires a very basic tool kit as opposed to the variety of billet sizes you need for percussion work.
Let’s start simple.
Think of pressure flaking as small scale percussion flaking. You can to get a feel for flaking an arrowhead with a minimum of tools and a small amount of stone. The occasional cut you get is going to ne much, much smaller. Trust me on this one. Speaking from experience.
The best knapping material for beginning knappers to practice on:
The ever present bottle bottom. Its cheap, readily available, colorful and it even has an added bonus. It is lens shaped. You have a ready made concavity/convexity teacher right there. I don’t think you could ask for more. Emptying the bottles can be a whole lot of fun if you catch my drift. Free is always better when you are just staring out. Its just a glass bottle so who cares if you mess it up? You will eventually find yourself choosing the drinks you buy by the bottle more so than the contents. You can make some pretty nice arrowheads from bottle bottoms. Here is one of mine:
Flint Knapping Safety:
I am going to link to an article I posted on safety here. And my disclaimer here. Please take the time to read them both before you start. Learning how to make an arrowhead has some safety risks. Obviously we are breaking glass here. Let’s take as many precautions as possible to minimize the risk.
Don’t pick this hobby up if you are a hand model.
Tools I use for pressure flaking an arrowhead:
I am a copper knapper. Knapping tools are either modern or natural material tools. My how to articles are going to focus on copper tools. I have the most experience using copper tools. Copper flint knapping tools allow me to make arrowheads the way I want to. Flint knapping is an art to me and I find it strange that some people look down on knapping with modern tools. Flint knapping seems unique in that respect-I don’t think anyone ever criticized Michelangelo for his choice of hammer and chisel. I use tools purchased from flintknappingsupply.com. I have used tools from there for years and they hold up well. The bare minimum to get started making arrowheads is a copper tipped pressure flaker, a copper tip to go in it, an abrader and a hand pad. Don’t forget the safety gear from the safety article. Get that first and wear it.
Pressure flaking platforms:
A flint knapping platform is the edge of the stone that you put the tip of the pressure flaker on to release flakes. It has to be set up and abraded properly to get a clean release of flakes. Look at the diagrams at the end of the post to hopefully make this a little more understandable. Platforms are easily the most important part of learning to knap. Pay attention to the platform and the flakes that come off. Flakes will not release (at least not the kind you are looking for starting out) if the platform is above the centerline of the piece. Look for an article about platforms coming soon.
How I pressure flake:
I think a video will make it a lot clearer than words. Use the angle I show above and in the diagram below and push in on your prepared platform with the tip of the pressure flaker. Push in and build as much pressure as you’re comfortable with then apply a downward pressure; if the platform is prepared correctly a flake should release. Study the resulting flake.
A short flake could mean the platform is too high relative to the centerline. It could also mean the platform is not strong enough or you are chipping into a concavity. The platform itself may crush under the tip of your flaker. A crushed platform means you need to abrade more. Keep at it! The stars will align and you are going to have a nice long and straight pressure flake in your hands. Stop everything right then and there and study the platform and the piece. Set everything up the same and then do it again!
Avoid the beginner’s trap of setting out to make a perfectly symmetrical deeply notched gem point. I hate to break your heart but it is not going to happen. Focus on releasing those nice long pressure flakes over and over again.
Mindset:
The trick to making an actual arrowhead? Just remove everything from the piece that isn’t an arrowhead. Simple right? Don’t worry. You will get there in no time. Just don’t get too wrapped up in making arrowheads like the guys you see on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. The pros have many years of practice under their belts. It isn’t fair to you to compare yourself to them. You will get there.
I almost gave up the hobby after seeing the gorgeous FOG (flake over grind) arrowheads and knives on social media and forums. Those eye catching flake patterns are breathtaking. I thought I was inept and couldn’t do it. Turns out my art is just a little different.
Don’t get attached. Its just a rock.
Where to get tools and materials:
There are plenty of places to buy tools and stone online. I have put together a some pages with links to stone providers, tool providers and flint knapping educational material. (coming soon) Here are those links:
- Flint Knapping Kits for beginners
- Flint Knapping Stone and Tool Vendors
- Flint Knapping Educational material (coming soon)
You can also make most of these tools. I advise beginners to buy tools at first. It is difficult to learn to make arrowheads, even more difficult if you are trying to learn to make flintknapping tools at the same time. A beginner has enough to figure out without wondering if their tools are causing problems. People are very interested in making their own tools though so I will put something together for y’all in the future.
A natural tool set can be purchased online as well at the sites I linked to above. Natural tools can also be found while on a hike! Great hammerstones can be found in landscaping and parking lots-you didn’t hear that from me.
Want more?
Sign up for our email list for updates about us and a free knapping tool video! Check out my video course if you learn better that way. This is a long one! Thanks for checking out my work, and I hope to see a whole lot of arrowhead pictures in my inbox!
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