This post convinced me to buy 10 pounds of obsidian and basic knapping tools. I may give an update on whether knapping is fun and/or causes me severe injury, though I suspect that the learning curve is low hundreds of hours for proficiency and I’m unlikely to stick with it that long.
Don’t start with obsidian! It’s expensive, and the stone you’re most-likely to cut yourself on. It’s vicious. Wear leather gloves and put a piece of leather in your lap.
I considered these factors. There are advantages too; the knapping subreddit also says it’s easier to work, and with less dust the silicosis risk is lower. But the crucial one is it’s much more exciting to make something molecularly sharp.
The cost seems acceptable because it’s still lower than most hobbies. I’m mostly concerned that the required PPE will ruin the experience as quite a lot is recommended: gloves, mask, eye protection, good ventilation, a tarp to catch stray obsidian shards. Most of these are still needed for flint.
Maybe this is why knapping isn’t so popular compared to other crafts like knitting and woodworking; it seems to be both tedious and just hazardous enough to avoid for rich societies that place extremely high value on health. People don’t persistence hunt gazelles for fun; they use guns or more likely play football and videogames.
This post convinced me to buy 10 pounds of obsidian and basic knapping tools. I may give an update on whether knapping is fun and/or causes me severe injury, though I suspect that the learning curve is low hundreds of hours for proficiency and I’m unlikely to stick with it that long.
Don’t start with obsidian! It’s expensive, and the stone you’re most-likely to cut yourself on. It’s vicious. Wear leather gloves and put a piece of leather in your lap.
An old flint-knapping joke:
Q. What does obsidian taste like?
A. Blood.
I considered these factors. There are advantages too; the knapping subreddit also says it’s easier to work, and with less dust the silicosis risk is lower. But the crucial one is it’s much more exciting to make something molecularly sharp.
The cost seems acceptable because it’s still lower than most hobbies. I’m mostly concerned that the required PPE will ruin the experience as quite a lot is recommended: gloves, mask, eye protection, good ventilation, a tarp to catch stray obsidian shards. Most of these are still needed for flint.
Maybe this is why knapping isn’t so popular compared to other crafts like knitting and woodworking; it seems to be both tedious and just hazardous enough to avoid for rich societies that place extremely high value on health. People don’t persistence hunt gazelles for fun; they use guns or more likely play football and videogames.
Oooh yeah dude I think you want to un-buy the obsidian. That is almost literally glass. You want chert!