Found some local chert...

[sussexmuzllodr]

on an out cropping. Made some flints with it and they sparked pretty well.
But , it seemed that what I had found in comparison to watching videos where folks knap flint, it had the same glass like properties but just not quite the same.
When struck for flakes it did not present itself the same as the chalk covered nodes as seen in the videos.
The question for those in the know, does chert vary as to geographic location?
I think it does but im not sure.
How can something that sparks so well have such different working properties?
It did have some of the usual chalking on some of its surfaces.
Maybe someone has been down this road and has an answer.
It was found in the Allegheny Mountain region in N.W. N.J.
History dictates that during the 1700,s our ancestors produced flints from this material.

Anyone in the know?

SM

 

[Carbon 6]

The question for those in the know, does chert vary as to geographic location?


SM

Yes it does. and it can also vary in the same location. There are many different kinds and quality of chert. Not all types are suitable for knapping.

 

[Carbon 6]

How can something that sparks so well have such different working properties?

SM

I'm not a geologist but I'll explain it like this;
Flint is a lot like steel, it all looks pretty much the same, feels the same etc. but has different working properties based on how the steel was made. Different temperatures, composition, forging etc. Chert is very similar in that regard. It is a sedimentary rock formed primarily of silica. Trace minerals and the way in which the sediment was formed affect everything from color and appearance to working properties. I'ts sparking ability is due to the high silica content and being harder than steel. Remember the sparks are actually tiny bits of steel that are red hot/on fire from being peeled away from the surface of the steel.

 

[Rifleman1776]

does chert vary as to geographic location?

The answer is "yes". Understand chert is flint. Flint is not always chert. The difference in designations is how it is found in nature. Most flint is what you envision in chalk nodes. Chert is embedded in hills, mountains, etc. Both can vary in quality at different locations. For example, where I live in the Ozark mountains of northern Arkansas we have abundant chert. But it is poor quality for knapping. However about 75 miles south of me the chert there is excellent for knapping. Generalities cannot be made as to quality. It is what it is where you find it.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

Cherts by state and location. https://mrdata.usgs.gov/geology/state/sgmc-lith.php?text=chert

Cherts can be nodular, lenticular and cubic. In NYS we have Onondaga but most of it has glacial fracturing and not of much use.

 

[M. De Land]

I'd sure like to find some good sparking deposits here in AK so I wouldn't have to ship it up. I have been happy with the heat treated Keokuk chert from Oklahoma, for making gun flints. Makes great knives and points as well.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

I'd sure like to find some good sparking deposits here in AK so I wouldn't have to ship it up. I have been happy with the heat treated Keokuk chert from Oklahoma, for making gun flints. Makes great knives and points as well.

https://mrdata.usgs.gov/sim3340/show-sim3340.php?seq=B440&src=RB009_829

FYI - Craig Ratzat at Neolithics has English flint

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

Thanks for all the replies Fellas.
What you have said is right on the money. I had went on the USGS site to get a little crash course in chert. Rifleman youre right on with your comment. Our Mountainous region goes back 1 billion years for some of the oldest rock formations. We had mines for centuries in this area. We also have a quarry on the Nat. Hist. Regis. that was a supply for chert for not only native tribes but those who came after.
It looks like flint quacks like flint but is not quite flint.
Sorry to bore you Fellas....I appreciate your insight and have a better understanding now.
Thanks and best regards,

SM

 

[curator]

Some cherts that do not knap well can be improved by heat-treating. Paleo-Indians in Florida 10,000 YBP heat treated local cherts in hot reducing fires. Afterwards they could be fashioned into projectile points, drills, scrapers and other tools with pressure-flaked edges. Nearly all "Paleo-points" found on Florida's west coast beaches are heat treated Florida chert. Some of them show very skilled craftsmanship. I have used broken pieces of "surface-found" paleo-points for flint & steel demonstrations and it mostly made good sparks.

 

[BrownBear]

I had went on the USGS site to get a little crash course in chert.

Kinda surprised they don't mention the AK Peninsula. Lotta chert out there, all red or green. The red is finer grained and makes great gun flints. Lots of it was used by the ancestors to make points. The green seems "softer" and doesn't flake near so well. I got a big delivery of the red about 20 years ago from a friend who anchored there, but I've long since run out. I did some checking and I can't even find any of my old flints for a pic. Sure attractive to my eye. Worth your effort to find anyone going to the right places for a moose or caribou hunt, and ask them to bring you some chunks.

 

[running horse]

X2 for heat treating. A lot of different chert's seem to benefit from heat treatment. If you get on some of the archery oroabo chats you may find someone willing to trade. They often will ship a flat rate box full of there rocks for a box of yours.

 

[rich pierce]

Heat treating helps for find work like arrowheads where pressure flaking is used. I like very tough Burlington chert for flints, untreated.

 

[Stony Broke]

I picked up a bog box of it years ago in West Texas while on a deer hunt. I liked the way it sparks for fire starting, but I have never made my own firearm flints. I took a big bunch of it to a muzzleloader club shoot and gave it away and the guys make good use of it.

 

[smoothshooter]

Thanks for all the replies Fellas.
What you have said is right on the money. I had went on the USGS site to get a little crash course in chert. Rifleman youre right on with your comment. Our Mountainous region goes back 1 billion years for some of the oldest rock formations. We had mines for centuries in this area. We also have a quarry on the Nat. Hist. Regis. that was a supply for chert for not only native tribes but those who came after.
It looks like flint quacks like flint but is not quite flint.
Sorry to bore you Fellas....I appreciate your insight and have a better understanding now.
Thanks and best regards,

SM

I live in Southwest Missouri in the Ozarks, and the various kinds of chert are all around in nuisance quantities. Lying on too of the ground in the way of haying equipment and lawnmowers, and underground making the digging of post holes a real aggravating experience.
In some places around old farms you will see huge piles of mostly chert in old rock piles that would be the equivalent of 20 dump truck loads.
I have made many gunflints out of it that work really well. Most of what I find is a whitish color, but there is a small area about 30 feet across around a cattle feeder that has some sort of chert or flint that is colored brown, black, reddish brown, with a little white mixed in here and there sticking up out of the ground with some just lying on top. Various shapes and sizes, with most being about 6 to 10 inches across.
Don't know what kind of rocks they are, but they are extremely hard, spark like crazy. Better than English flint. I am able to bust out a few spalls once in a while that will fit my guns. Not pretty, but definitely usable.