Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

How can I make an obsidian knife?

+2
−0

I have some obsidian and I know that it can be made into knives and other sharp objects such as arrowheads. Historically this was done for a long time in the United States before there were steel blades.

Steel has a lot of advantages, but I think that it would be a fun project to make one and it could even come in handy in a survival situation.

What would the process be for making an obsidian knife?

History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

0 comment threads

1 answer

+1
−0

You have to chip it. Primitive hand axes were very slowly and carefully shaped using another stone to chip away at the tool bit by bit until the desired shape was achieved. They were then sharpened against another stone in a similar fashion to using a modern wet-stone today. The process for shaping obsidian is known as flint-knapping. One method of flint-knapping is to use lead filled copper boppers. You need lots of patience to complete the task, go too fast and you could ruin your tool by taking off too big a chip or flake.

This guy shows one method to knap an obsidian blade: Flint Knapping a Far Cry Primal Inspired Dagger Blade.

This is another method from a different part of the world; this guy is making a danish dagger: Flintknapping the Type IV Danish Dagger

History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/18025. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

0 comment threads

Sign up to answer this question »