Virginia Quartzite Knife

[Dixieshedhunter]

Now here's one for y'all. Blade was knapped with a hardwood billet from ferruginous sandstone from the crest of the mountain in Alleghany County, VA. Deer cannon bone handle, pine pitch glue with charcoal, deer leg sinew lashings, hide glue over all. Sheath is whitetail rawhide that took a stain from my outbuilding siding, and then cold pressed walnut oil over everything to keep the rain out. Silly, huh?

Cheers-Pete Davis in Virginia

 

[smo]

Looks great

 

[LRB]

Cool! I like that. How usable is it, in reality? Just curious.

 

[BrownBear]

Whole lot of skill, determination and good taste went into that from start to finish. Well done!

 

[Dixieshedhunter]

Quartzite is well suited to sawing tasks. A few thousand years ago everybody carried around a quartzite knife in this part of Va. An unmodified flake is better suited to breaking down game. The self-serrating edge of the flaked tool is better at removing hard material such as wood or bone.

PD

 

[Ames]

Wow! I like that one!

 

[Robby]

Not silly at all, damn nice!!!!!
Robby

 

[Rifleman1776]

Not silly. Neat. And you are preserving the old ways.

 

[appalichian hunter]

They tell me that a knapped blade is surgically sharp.LRB I would think with some care it would be very usable. The Neolithic peoples used this type of blade also there are still native peoples today that use this method. The American native the true people used this method prior to the encroachment of the white men. This would be a great skill to master especially for a emergency survival situation.

 

[FishDFly]

Now here's one for y'all. Blade was knapped with a hardwood billet from ferruginous sandstone from the crest of the mountain in Alleghany County, VA. Deer cannon bone handle, pine pitch glue with charcoal, deer leg sinew lashings, hide glue over all. Sheath is whitetail rawhide that took a stain from my outbuilding siding, and then cold pressed walnut oil over everything to keep the rain out. Silly, huh?

Cheers-Pete Davis in Virginia

I really like the blade, handle, I prefer antler over bone, but what I really like is the sheath.

The sheath is a nice as I have ever seen.

I do have a weakness for knapped blades.

You do nice work and have a talent no doubt.

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

Beautiful work !

 

[renegadehunter]

Very nice!

 

[smo]

I know this one is sharp..... and light too.

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

Very fine work on all of them, start to finish.

Now, I do have a question for you; which mountain? I grew up in Alleghany County and you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a mountain. Since ferruginous sandstone contains iron oxide as the cementing material, would I be right in guessing somewhere between Dolly Ann and Low Moor, Longdale or maybe out near Hematite? There's a lot of iron still in the ground and the remnants of furnaces all around Alleghany County.

 

[Dixieshedhunter]

Yes sir. I am in Rockbridge and I find plenty of the purple stuff on the ridges over there in Alleghany. Reservoir hollow at Clifton has a lot, and you are correct. Generally anywhere the furnaces were using the Rose Hill ores there will be ferruginous rock. The challenge is in finding a piece of the right quality and that holds a chance of becoming a tool. This is the hardest material to knap on earth. The abos were mixed between river cobbles and upland talus in procurement. Warms Springs Mtn is covered. There are upland quarries all over if you look. Thanks for the insightful comments. Alleghany is the place to be!

Pete Davis in Collierstown