2010 WESTERN LITHICS. KING NOTCHER WORLD FLINTKNAPPING CHAMPION TROPHY.
2010, WESTERN LITHICS, WORLD FLINTKNAPPING CHAMPION, KING NOTCHER, STEVE ALLELY
Steve Allely is knapper who began breaking rocks in 1967 and hasn't slowed
down much in the last 40 plus odd years of working stone. He specializes
in beautiful high color points of the Western US although he can make many
styles of points and knives. He is also an accomplished flat work artist
in painting and illustration. Additionally, he is a bow maker specializing in the
subject of Native American archery for over 20 years and has illustrated a
number of books and written the periodic chapter on the subject in the well
known Bowyers Bible book series with Jim Hamm of Bois d' Arc Press.
He has taken a number of deer with his sinew backed bows obsidian tipped
arrows and dressed them out with obsidian knives. He also replicates various
Native American material culture items for museums and interpretive exhibits.
When he's not breaking rock, scraping on bows or wielding paint brushes he
periodically plays Celtic music and doodles with several kinds of bagpipes. Steve and
his wife make their home in central Oregon, a "rock rich" area for a western
knapper.
ISHI, FATHER OF NOTCHINGThis years runners up: Second place: Ray Harwood, third place: Joe Dabill.
Nocthing Ishi points #6 [-]
Posts: 3
(05/04/10 9:34 AM)
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My Recent PostsMessage MeBlockingIgnore User's Posts A few helpful hints on narrow notching is that first you have to make the area of the point you're going to notch, very thin to begin with. That will solve a number of problems before you even start and is essential. You'll need that part of your point thin so you're not fighting any thickness which is highly helpful. I use a filed down very flat and thin welding rod tip with the end having not a point but a tiny flat area as if one flattened off the end of a wooden popsicle stick but at a slight angle instead of at a 90 degree. This flat and thin tip is tiny and miniature is size and looks something like a tiny screwdriver tip for eyeglasses screws only its at a slight angle if that makes sense. You can use a horse shoe nail, regular nail or any other piece of mild steel or iron like Ishi did. I used a 7 or even a 10 power jewelers hood when doing this (its really hard to see it!) and it took several attempts as its very hard to do. I made a very tiny micro notch to start with using the flat thin flaker that I gradually went into the edge of the point a ways. Then as I got the notch started an in a ways from the edge maybe a 11/16" or so, I inserted the flat tool into the notch from the side, gently set up a little platform, and carefully pressed off a little crescent shaped notch flake to expand the notch outward and into the point but not too big, because if that flake is too large it circles back and tears open your tiny narrow notch entry and wrecks it. One has to "micro narrow notch" a little ways into the point from the edge, and then start to take off larger flakes a bit more aggressively. After you get away from the edge it gets much safer and a bit less of a risk to break it. As you notch you have to set up your platforms to the next side you take your flakes off of. I pop off a flake, very gently crunch my way in a ways but build the platform to the opposite side and very gently scrape (grind) it with my flaking tool which is setting up the platform for the next flake on the other side. Then the process repeats if all goes well. What you don't want is to get your edge to thicken up too much in the mid line of the notch and then you can start to get "stuck" and spin your wheels in taking a flake off as your platform is too far from either side stuck in the middle and it starts to get too thick so your tool keeps slipping instead of taking off a flake. You can sometimes power through and pop off a large one but you can wreck it very easily at that point and will be heard quoting Homer Simpson with a loud "D'oh!"...or worse... In short, it takes lots of practice and I've seen a number of Ishi's old points at the Hearst Museum where he "messed up" and popped his notches out wider than he wanted or had planned. That's essentially it, its just meticulous mirco notching. Its not a deep dark secret nor rocket science, just very careful tiny flaking with lots of practice (and many failures) This is probably the tiniest notched point I've ever managed to make with the entries under 1 mm but I was pushing the envelope even for me and it took several tries as I messed up somebefore I was successful. When I notch this way I work on my knee on an old green chain leather apron and hold the tool straight down when I get to the 'insert it into the inner notch" stage if that makes sense. The tiniest mistake of twisting your tool wrong can mess you up if you aren't super careful. Practice on glass or obsidian flakes a lot, the more you do it the better you'll get at it. I'll try to post some pics I have if I can ever figure out how to attach them as this web site doesn't seem to allow to pull a saved jpeg off my computer to post.
Description follows..
The welding I use rod is numbered 6013 and is a type you can get at most any Ace hardware store and is a mild steel (I think) a kind of multi purpose rod about 1/8 thick. I don't use the big thick heavy 3/16 rod nor stainless rod as its a bit too hard. I cut the rod in half and get two flakers out of each half. I use them as they are with no handles and then file the tool end down fine like a little eye glasses screwdriver for miniature tiny notching stuff. The rods eventually shorten down with repeated filing (you have to re file the end constantly) and get too short to hold over time. I like holding them just as they are while others prefer something in a handle, its up to the preference of the knapper really. You can do the exact same thing with a simple slim nail 1/8" thick or a horse shoe nail with the head cut off and stuck in a wood handle. Everyone makes their own tools a bit different.
When I looked at one of Ishi's small flaking tools in the Hearst museum, it was simply a piece of about 1/8" iron or a slim nail stuck in a wood handle. I made an exact same sized copy of it (see photo #004) and I'm sure its one of, if not the tool he probably used for his retouch and narrow entry notching although I've never seen anything written up on the specifics of how he did that. I did make an exact copy of his one of Ishi's larger regular iron flakers too which was a soft iron rod lashed into a wood handle with cordage. (pic #004)) Ishi's flake tools did not come to a sharp point but were metal version of the old antler tools in which they were shaped something like a screwdriver end with slight rounded edges or akin to the end of a popsicle stick that has been flattened slightly and not too rounded. The platform is prepared and the edge of this kind of flaker is put placed vertically on the edge of the piece one is knapping to press a flake off. Its how I flake with copper tools that look basically like Ishi's pressure flaking tools and I've been doing it that way for many years.
Lots of knappers pressure flake with a pointed sharp tipped tool. They prepare a platform, then place the point of the tool just above the edge that they are going remove a fake off of. That works ok and many folks flake like this, but I'm convinced from old flake tools I've seen and from looking at tons of original lithics in the far west, that the old guys (Ishi included) mostly made pressure flaking tools with a flat edge then placed that tool edge on the edge of their preform or point. Its really about the only way you can really get an antler tool to flake like you see on old points and it sort of surprises me that a lot of modern day knappers don't flake that way at all. The flat tool type edge flaking method is fast, easy, takes less of a platform and you remove the platform as you go and get super sharp edge which is how I make my points I shoot deer with.
For the ultimate challenge, one can make all antler flaking tools like this and try flaking the narrow notches with them. I've done it that way too and they are basically the made the same, very small flat and narrow but you have to constantly redress the edges as you go as they are more frail but it does work. I've seen old Wintu points and other points from the Great Basin that were made that way. Now THAT would be a fun narrow notch competition wouldn't it?...antler only tools!
Way too much here to write and elaborate on further in this short of a space. Good luck all!
Photos are as follows:
#004 Exact replicas of Ishi's soft iron flake tool lashed on wood handle and his smaller retouch or notch tool
#006 My fine flaking tools, welding rod and a horse shoe nail with end cut off and inserted in wood handle which is a favorite of Jim Hopper.
#008 Close up of how welding rod tips look. Upper one is for super thin entry notching
#015 Point made from white novaculite and Montana banded agate full of "pepper" spot swirls
#010 Close up of back lit Montana agate point. Entry notches are slightly less than 1mm. The blue glass Ishi point was less than that.
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