Flintknapping A Scraper

Well, I found a piece of glass in the woods the other day that I was wanting to use for something. It is about 6" across, probably from a one gallon sized jar. It was one half of the bottom perfectly intact. I cleaned it up to remove the dirt and grime from it. Looks like a scraper to me, so that's what we'll be making.

With it so hot today, I wasn't really looking to work on the scraper, but my little girl came in and told me, "Daddy, a squirrel just got hit by a car and is dead." Well, time to make a scraper so I can flesh the hide I suppose. One positive thing is that my "glass pit" where I do all of my knapping is in the shade of a beautiful Maple Tree, so the temperature there will probably only be about 85 degrees!

Well, I will use the thicker flat edge as my "handle". If later I want to attach it to wood to use on larger projects this will make it easier. Also the rounded edge on the working end won't tear up the hides by digging into them. Let's go over to the glass pit and begin to "knap" the glass and see if we can come up with a useable scraper.

I begin by using a flaking tool that I made quite a while ago. Deer antler is "primo" for flaking, but since everyone may not have horn available to them I am using something that you can easily make in about 5 minutes. Simply take a piece of round, straight, medium wood (I used maple here I think) and drill a small hole in one end about 1/2" deep. This is simply a starter hole and shouldn't be very large in diameter. The drive a nail (I used a 10 penny I believe) into the hole approximately 2" or so. Make sure it is firmly in place. Taking a hacksaw, or a pair of vise grips shear the head of the nail off leaving a 1" tip. This is your flaking tool. Here is a piture of the tool for you to understand better.

Pressure flaking is exactly what it sounds like, putting pressure on your "blank" and driving pieces of material off of it in a supposedly prearranged fashion. This leaves a sharp edge on your tool which can be then used as a knife, scraper, arrowhead, etc. Because you are driving shards of glass or glasslike materials off of the blank, it is a good idea to have some protection. Always wear safety glasses and always have a stiff piece of leather on your lap to hold the glass or knapping stone. This way you won't get too many cuts. Also, if you are afraid of your own blood, knapping is probably not the "sport" for you. You WILL get cut no matter how careful you are. Now I don't mean you will look like a mummy when you are done, but plan on a few small nicks here and there! In the picture below you can see my goggles and the leather on my knee.

OK...here we go. Take the pressure flaker in your dominant hand and the glass with the leather around it in your other hand. We are going to put the tool on the edge we want to flake and begin to chip away pieces, leaving a sharp edge. When you do this you don't want to press "down" on the glass, but rather inward toward the center. This will cause long, thin pieces of your material to be removed. Also, don't get in a rush. Did I mention that you are probably going to get a cut or two? Here I am working the glass on the first pass around the edge...

You can see the pieces of glass that are coming off. Notice that they are actually long, thin slivers. These go through your leg nicely, so be SURE that you are using the leather pad!

Ok, one pass is done and you can see the "teeth" that are left on the glass where I have removed material.

Now we simply flip the glass on the other side and begin a second pass. Driving the material off this edge will sharpen those teeth that we just made on the other side. You can actually within a few minutes time get a razor blade edge on your tool.

Take your time and make sure that you work the glass to the shape and sharpness that you want it, going from one side to another. DON'T rush...Did I tell you yet that you might become a bandaid salesman? Here are pictures of me working first one side and then the other until the edge is nice and sharp.

The finished product is well rounded so that it doesn't tear a hide, and the "teeth" have been mostly removed so it is just SHARP! I cut my leg making this one...not knapping, but brushing away some of the glass! Did I yet tell you that this stuff is sharp? LOL!

Well let's test our new hide scraper out. Here is a picture of the squirrel that got hit out front an hour or so ago. He died almost instantly and I skinned him out to test the scraper. You can see in the first two pictures a little of the "meat" that was left on the hide from the skinning. It is the red or dark brown patches in the pictures.

I put the scraper to work on the hide for probably 10 minutes. Because of the edge bevels downward it allows me to pull the scraper instead of pushing it, giving me more control and making it less likely to tear the hide. Even so, I got a little to hard on one leg and made a very small nick.

The scraper worked well overall. It took only about 10 minutes to clean the hide up and get it ready for sanding. I will set it in the sun and let it dry flat now so that I can sand the remaining membrane off before I "tan" it. Look at the great job that our scraper did!

Well there you have the basics of Pressure Flaking. I have made arrowheads, scrapers, and knife blades from obsidian, chert, beer bottle bottoms, and seashells. Flaking is rewarding as you see your own tools formed before your very eyes that you can use to make your life much simpler in the wilderness. Again...I would say that as you begin to practice make sure that you have a piece of leather, safety glasses, and a box of bandaids. If you make any admirable projects, send me a picture and I will put up a page with many of your tools! E-mail Us