Flint Drill Test

Here's the test guys.

i look forwards to watching the vid when i get home, just cant get vids to work on this bloming laptop

Yep, who needs an electric drill? Good work:D

that's real good, must make one myself - I also like the way you had to re touch the flint it brings the past to life.

Splendid vid and jolly interesting reflections!

The drill bit was pretty much an arrowhead? I saw a display of flint drillbits/burins made by a modern knapper a few years back - he had about 30 or so of them and they were all 4 or 5 sided iirc. I've no idea if they work better but i'm assuming he had some practical experience that fed into the design so it should be worth a try.

Also interesting to see it's difficulty with the sandstone - i guess it just ground the edge of your bit to relative uselessness. I've always read that stone was drilled with techniques such as a cane using an abrasive slurry or with a copper bit/tube. Cane would ofc wear down fairly quickly too but would not require a retouch. Considering the drilled flint mace heads i've always been amazed by the near perfect holes... but then they have the anthropomorphic carvings too which add even more to the wow/how factor.

I used a flint drill (same as bottom right picture). They can be specially made but many knappers simply convert failed arrowheads.



I saw a tv show once about the making of the pyramids and to make the huge sandstone blocs they sawed them with copper saws. They just got a flat copper bar, put wet sand on the stone and rubbed the copper bar across it, it cut remarkably well. So as you say it would be an effective drilling method too.

Found some pictures here

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempires/obelisk/cutting05.html

it has also amazed me how they drilled perfect holes like this - its a Canaanite Green Stone Mace Head from 3000bc - Height: 5.4cm.

there's a good documentary where they make an Egyptian obelisk making precise holes like that entirely with stone as they carve it.