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Post by legacyofthesword on May 15, 2018 4:51:23 GMT
Basically what it says in the title: how sharp should a stone blade be? Having no experience in this area, I was somewhat surprised by my first stone blade. I had ideas about obsidian being sharper than steel and so on, but my new novaculite knife had an edge more akin to a serrated knife than a razor. I should have probably expected that, given the method of construction that automatically denies a long, unbroken edge, but I'm curious: what's the normal sharpness?
Also, how quickly do stone blades dull, and how would you sharpen one?
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Post by Timo Nieminen on May 15, 2018 7:23:18 GMT
How sharp it should be varies. For an axe, you want a robust edge, so you live with something much less sharp. For a blade for butchering, you want as sharp as possible. As sharp as possible means that it will have a fragile edge, and will wear out quickly, so you keep the blade as simple as possible. A common butchering blade is a single flake, with the edge kept as originally flaked. When it bluntens, you throw it away and break another flake off from the core.
At some butchering sites, lots of flakes were found, but "no tools". So the archaeologists decided to play 3D jigsaw, and reassemble the flakes, and then they could make a cast of what the tool that had been made by removing those flakes. However, the flakes just fitted together with no missing space. The flakes were the tools. Disposable tools, razor sharp until they blunten.
It does depend on the stone - glasses like obsidian will give you broken-glass sharp, sharper than a razor. Fine-grained rock will give you as sharp as the grain size allows. How quickly it bluntens depends on the strength of the rock (and what you are cutting).
Stone projectile points might only get a single use. Hit something solid, and they have a high chance of breaking. Staying sharp isn't the problem - staying in one piece is the problem. If you want a tougher point, use hardwood or bamboo, bone, or horn. If you want sharp and are prepared to live with single-use, then use stone.
Axes with ground edges can be resharpened. Small flaked tools are usually replaced. On larger flaked tools (e.g., bifaces), you could redo the edges by pressure-flaking.
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Post by celegon on May 15, 2018 18:51:21 GMT
a fresh flake edge is really sharp but its really really delicate, for example, you would want it to cut flesh but it wouldn't be ideal for cutting cordage or wood, that's when the serrations come in handy knapping strengthens the edge, but it also serrates it and takes away the razor edge, I suppose a hoko styed knife hafting would work for holding the flake while in use heres a couple blades that have the raw flake edge (the one on the far right is knapped) the next one from the right is based on an inuit design, it and the 2 on the left are from blade cores  |
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Post by legacyofthesword on May 16, 2018 3:22:52 GMT
Awesome guys, thanks. So how fast should I expect a stone knife to dull? Say if I used it to cut wood, rope, etc.. Or what about bone? At some butchering sites, lots of flakes were found, but "no tools". So the archaeologists decided to play 3D jigsaw, and reassemble the flakes, and then they could make a cast of what the tool that had been made by removing those flakes. However, the flakes just fitted together with no missing space. The flakes were the tools. Disposable tools, razor sharp until they blunten. That's fascinating. Really cool. heres a couple blades that have the raw flake edge (the one on the far right is knapped) the next one from the right is based on an inuit design, it and the 2 on the left are from blade cores Those are sweet! They look like stone-age straight razors.... |
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Post by celegon on May 17, 2018 2:40:33 GMT
its hard to say, in some cases the knife could chip and resharpen itself, mostly though it may need to be touched up with a pressure flaker and the edge re knapped, I think it would depend on what youre cutting, bone and harder woods may quickly dull it. oh and just to warn you when you use a stone or glass knife try not to pry with with it,it could snap off, thats a the biggest draw back with stone/glass
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Post by legacyofthesword on May 18, 2018 4:42:54 GMT
Okay, interesting. Do you think, with the way that stone tools would dull quickly on bone/wood, that many knives/axes were somewhat disposable? oh and just to warn you when you use a stone or glass knife try not to pry with with it,it could snap off, thats a the biggest draw back with stone/glass I knew that at least, if nothing else.  |
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Post by celegon on May 20, 2018 1:36:42 GMT
id say somewhat disposable. Or eventually disposable. I'm sure they would be touched up and knapped until there wasn't enough material there to do any more knapping.then maybe use it for an arrow head?  |
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Post by joseph08 on Feb 21, 2019 5:51:47 GMT
Sharpness primarily depend on the construction of your tool and what sort of material is used. Also, maintenance is an important consideration to keep the sharpness of blade.
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