Glass Arrow

</A>Please dont laugh, lol, but i had a try at a glass arrow, the glass seemed a bit brittle and i found it hard to thin it down, i didnt want to notch it any deeper as i thought i might break it. its about 3ch in height and 2.5cm in width

It looks good to me. You seem to have got it very thin shaped it well. Notching is the most difficult thing in knapping and takes years to learn, you must also break dozens of points to learn it. A good tip for notching is practice on flakes or waste pieces so when you come to do it on the points you're well drilled. Glass is an excellent material to learn on as the learning curve is better than harder stuff, after a couple of dozen goes you can really get a feel for it and turnout surprisingly good stuff.

Was it from a glass bottle or pane?

it was from the bottom of a glass bottle i found in the hedge, it was quite addictive, even though i come on here all the time i have done little knapping mainly due to not having any good material.

i made a bopper out of a brass rod and a pressure flaker from a broom handle cut with a brass screw in the end

3" a big bottle, did you drink it all yourself. Brass screws that's an interesting idea, did the tip grip well or did you have problem with it slipping?

sorry it should read 3cm,



i got the grinder on the tip after it was screwed in, it worked great.

Try sniffing around glaziers skips, lots of free and flat pieces of glass to practice on, and hopefully some thicker pieces to play with...

mr.hertzian cone wrote:Try sniffing around glaziers skips, lots of free and flat pieces of glass to practice on, and hopefully some thicker pieces to play with...

good tip, i fancy trying a bit of blue or brown glass.

thats a nice point!

and it is very addictive, especially when you can have a pot of preforms just waiting for a spare few minutes.

i actually wombled some TV glass today, there was a load (about 4 big sreens worth) in a skip at work from some wacked out project and i put some large bits aside. i have just tried knapping a sample i bought home and it works a treat - roll on monday when i should get the rest!

i am going to look for some glass tomorow, i know a hedge row local that has plenty of old bottles in - the tv screen sounds interesting, you will have to post some pics of what you manage to get and knap.

TV screen glass definately works a treat. Try sweet talking the workers at your local tip, they might let you 'recycle' stuff for them.

You also find a lot of pieces of glass on the local farmers fields. I pick up some lovely bits when out metal detecting.

i'm looking forwards to getting the rest tomorrow, it'll be googood to have some big bits to experiment on - a glass spearhead, however rough, would be most cool.. i got some nice sticks just waiting for a pointy bit on top.

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This is the only piece I've made from T.V glass without breaking it, a really chubby clovis. It seems to be more brittle than usual glass.

that's jolly nice! do you ever haft your points?

that is nice - i like the way the edge has a blue tint.

skalla wrote:that's jolly nice! do you ever haft your points?

I've done a bit of hafting in the past.

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Ahoy Barnicle, found it! this is my first arrowhead made many many moons ago, back when I was using a ball pien hammer and a small hammerstone to make stuff..

hey thats looking good. i had to pick some glass up today so had a rummage in the skip, not something i would want to do every day as i never had gloves - but did find plenty of glass about 10 - 15mm thick and about 200mm square so got a good box full, i just hope it knaps ok, i really want to get some nice flint, but for now a bit of glass keeps me happy.

10-15 thick, that sounds great. Wish I could find some like that.

Grendel wrote:10-15 thick, that sounds great. Wish I could find some like that.

i had a go with it this morning and it might be my inexperience but it seemed to break very easily some seemed to go well then step fractured and some just broke in half.

Are you pressuring or percussion flaking it?

might be an idea to get a glass cutter and snap it from 200mm square into 200mm by 100mm.
Don't be alarmed by hinges on glass, these can be under cut later on, the flakes on a flat plane always spread out and end in a slight hinge, you'll get it on the next pass!

i was hitting it with a gopper bopper then pressure flaking it, sorry not to respond sooner but i have been away for a week.

Even 15mm glass is very thin to percussion flake something not convex, you really need it to be convex, flatness not only makes hinges, it also makes breaks more likely.

Grendel wrote:Even 15mm glass is very thin to percussion flake something not convex, you really need it to be convex, flatness not only makes hinges, it also makes breaks more likely.

thanks for the information, with 15mm flat glass should i just be pressure flaking?

TV glass does knapp well, but it can be more fragile/brittle than normal glass. I found that I had to just take small 'bites' at it and really think about the next hit I made.

It's not very forgiving, and a small billet, used gently, does a better job.