Path: shell.portal.com!svc.portal.com!sdd.hp.com!frankensun.altair.com!nntp.coast.net!chi-news.cic.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!news.mindlink.net!rover.ucs.ualberta.ca!news.ucalgary.ca!news From: Niko Silvester Newsgroups: alt.religion.wicca,alt.pagan,alt.magick,alt.religion.druid Subject: Re: Obsidian Blades (was: "Re: A question...") Date: 3 Dec 1995 19:24:40 GMT Organization: University of Calgary Lines: 41 Message-ID: <49stho$u5u@ds2.acs.ucalgary.ca> References: <496gud$csi@dub-news-svc-6.compuserve <49fm3e$g1q@charm.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> <49fsim$auo@bristlecone.together.net> <49jc7f$sdl@news.ycc.yale.edu>,<49ou76$afm@gap.cco.caltech.edu> <49q5hm$586@news.cc.oberlin.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: @ts2-port-1.acs.ucalgary.ca Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 1.1N (Macintosh; I; 68K) X-URL: news:49q5hm$586@news.cc.oberlin.edu Xref: shell.portal.com alt.religion.wicca:17700 alt.pagan:135443 alt.magick:60256 alt.religion.druid:375 NONONONONONO! Sorry to yell, but this is a subject with which I am familiar. The method for making an obsidian blade that was suggested is not only dangerous, but it doesn't work. Sure, if you get a piece of stone hot enough, and then drip cold water on it, it will break, but you will absolutely no control over the results. Please, try flintknapping if you want to make stone blades. Perhaps it's not at easy as an experienced knapper can make it look, but it's not all that hard either. There are several books available on the subject that will let you get a good start, or you can go to the anthropology or archaeology department at your nearest university. Many archaeologists are also flintkappers and will be happy to help. Or you can ask at a rock shop [try "lapidary supplies" in the yellow pages], that is also the most convenient source of raw material. Speaking of raw material, obsidian is the easiest to work, and putting it in a fire would probably ruin it. Chert, flint, chalcedony, and similar cryptocrystalline rocks are also very good [some of these benefit from heat treating, but it has to be done in a controlled manner]. Granite is good for things like axes, because it is so hard, but it cannot be worked in the same way. It doesn't flake like obsidian, and generally has to be battered and ground into shape [maybe heating and dripping water works- I still think you'd have little or no control- but please don't try it with obsidian, you'd ruin good stone, and put yourself in danger] One more thing and I'll shut up. Dripping water on hot stonr is not a "traditional" method of working stone in any sense of the word. There is no archaeological or ethnographic evidence of it. In fact, all evidence points towards some form of knapping. If you want to make stone tools [knives, points, whatever], learn to knap. It's fun, and you can show off your great talents, but it's not that hard to learn [the key word is practice]. There are still lots of ritual opportunities. If you don't want to take up knapping, or just can't get the hang of it, there are a number of mail-order companies that sell hand-made obsidian knives, etc. Sorry to blather so. If anyone has questions, I'll answer them happily, or pass them on to someone who knows more than I do. I can also reccommend a book or two, if anyone is interested. --->Niko. Path: shell.portal.com!svc.portal.com!sdd.hp.com!swrinde!newsfeed.internetmci.com!chi-news.cic.net!io.org!van-bc!news.mindlink.net!rover.ucs.ualberta.ca!news.ucalgary.ca!news From: Niko Silvester Newsgroups: alt.religion.wicca,alt.pagan,alt.magick,alt.religion.druid Subject: Re: Obsidian Blades (was: "Re: A question...") Date: Mon, 04 Dec 1995 20:13:20 -0700 Organization: The University of Calgary Lines: 19 Message-ID: <30C3B8D0.1BF5@acs.ucalgary.ca> References: <496gud$csi@dub-news-svc-6.compuserve <49fm3e$g1q@charm.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> <49fsim$auo@bristlecone.together.net> <49jc7f$sdl@news.ycc.yale.edu>,<49ou76$afm@gap.cco.caltech.edu> <49q5hm$586@news.cc.oberlin.edu> <49stho$u5u@ds2.acs.ucalgary.ca> NNTP-Posting-Host: @ts2-port-19.acs.ucalgary.ca Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 2.0b1N (Windows; I; 32bit) Xref: shell.portal.com alt.religion.wicca:17872 alt.pagan:135726 alt.magick:60463 alt.religion.druid:390 I dug out some references for those of you who are interested in making your own stone tools [without danger of serious injury]. _Flintknapping: Making and Understanding Stone Tools_ by John C. Whittaker; University of Texas Press, 1994. _Flintknapping: The Art of Making Stone Tools_ by Paul Hellweg; Canoga Park, CA: Canyon Publishing Company, 1984. _An Introduction to Flintworking_ by Don C. Crabtree; Pocatello, Idaho: Idaho Museum of Natural History, 1982. Any of these should give you a good start. They should all still be available, though they may take some tracking down. The first one should be especially easy to find, as it was reprinted again this year. --->Niko.