Obsidian percussion preforms page: obsidia n page: brazilian agate. Many materials now available as preshaped knife blades. See below for sample pics. Materials available will have order box on page. Click thumbnails. Several thousand inches available for immediate shipment. Banded obsidian. Obsidian Information Black Obsidian is a popular volcanic glass favored by flintknappers for its consistent quality and uniform flaking. Knappers who favor pressure flaking techniques usually enjoy Obsidian in particular for its potential to run super long flakes. Our cleaned and graded black Obsidian spalls range in size from 3-6 inch pieces. To see more modern knapping art photos and arrowhead examples please browse our flint, obsidian,and glass art photo galleries from the navigation above. In the American Arrowhead galleries you will find photos of our reproduction arrowheads, axes, blades, celts, drills, tools,knives and artifacts. I am supplier of Obsidian, specializing in different varieties of Oregon rainbows, including Aurora Borealis. Often I have large slab (9-11 inch) available and hopefully by spring I will have slab available from 12-24 inches long so keep an eye on my store.
Only product descriptions on this page
Click Here Now for secure shopping
FLINTKNAPPING STONE AND TOOLS
Over three thousand years ago, areas of central Arkansas were being extensively mined for the nearly pure silica we call novaculite. Large quantities of stone were quarried for shipment to outlying areas, including many tons that would be floated down the Ouachita River into present-day Louisiana. From there, it was traded raw or finished throughout the Lower Mississippi Valley. The Poverty Point Culture of northeastern Louisiana was involved in this early novaculite trade as part of a vast exchange network in gem minerals and chippable stones. The most common use of novaculite at the time seems to have been to make the simple and efficient Gary style spear or dart point.
Our modern day novaculite mining effort yields a stone that varies from pure white to pure black and includes many shades of tan, brown, pink and purple. After breaking blocks into large quarry spalls just as the ancient miners did, we heat the material to 850 degrees Farenheit, then cool, clean and grade.
This process produces a stone that is very easy to chip but is not so brittle as obsidian or glass. It is an excellent stone for beginners or experts as it is available in large, consistent pieces.
Novaculite is microscopically porous, allowing it to accept many stains and dyes. Metallic nitrates, salts or carbohydrates in solution will penetrate this stone to great depths. Then, careful heating can yield dramatic color changes. Some users report good results with inks, wood stains, oils or waxes.
ARKANSAS NOVACULITE - Cleaned, heated spalls and preforms of novaculite, grade #1 3' to 6' mixed. Suitable for fine, thin arrow and spear points and knife blades, percussion or pressure flaking techniques.
#1 3'-6' mixed colors and sizes............$5.00/lb
Knapping Obsidian Tabs
Quarry Spalls 3'-6' white to off-white. These are spalls graded at the quarry, heated to high gloss, but with only minimal trimming and bifacing. This is the same basic material as our #1 grade mix.
Quarry Spalls, sold in 10 lb lots.....$35.00 (per 10 lbs).
Our novaculite is sold as a mix of sizes to offer the best color assortment and value per dollar. To see examples of our 3-6 inch mix, CLICK HERE. To see a closeup of the patterning of streaked opaque/translucent novaculite, CLICK HERE
If you must have a special size please specify. Material of greater than 6' is not always available and selecting one particular size may be more expensive than the standard mix.
Knapping Obsidian For Sale
DACITE-A highly knappable volcanic stone that is midway in knappability between novaculite and obsidian. Dacite is opaque to very slightly translucent, medium gray to black in color and is slightly grainier than glassy obsidian. It looks more like stone than obsidian. A consistent material available in good sizes.
#1 grade 3'-6' mixed spalls and preforms.......$4.00/lb
OBSIDIAN - Natural volcanic glass from the American West. Consistent but somewhat brittle, obsidian produces a chipped stone blade of scalpel sharpness. Colors are grey, black, mahogany, mixed lots only. May contain some dacite.
#1 grade 3'-6' mixed spalls and preforms.......$4.00/lb
Smaller spalls 2'to3' for arrowpoints...............$4.00/lb
ANTLER BILLETS - Batons made from the base of mule deer antlers, used to strike off flakes in flintknapping.
6 to 9 oz white, gray or brown..............$10.00/ea (1)
9 to 12 oz white, gray or brown...............$15.00/ea (1)
MOOSE ANTLER BILLETS - Batons made from the base of moose antlers, used to strike off flakes in flintknapping.
medium moose billet, finished..............$24.00/ea (1)
large moose billet, finished...............$40.00/ea (1)
ALUMINUM BILLETS - Lightweight, versatile and durable billets made from aluminum. Metal percussion billets behave differently from antler, are not historically correct, but may be easier for beginners.
Aluminum billets work well on heated novaculite and other easy-to-knap materials. Especially good for smaller knapping projects up to 4 inches. Click here for instructional information on using metal billets
6 1/2 inch by 1 inch, finished with domed tip..............$9.00/ea (1)
COPPER TIPPED PRESSURE FLAKERS - Pressure flakers are used to press off finishing flakes from small arrow points or in the retouch of larger points and blades.
6 in. wooden handle w/ copper tip.......$2.00/ea
GREEN SILICON CARBIDE GRINDING WHEELS - (for wet grinding @3600 rpm) 6in x 1in size only 80 grit
(soft bond wheel)faster cutting, shorter life.....$19.00/ea(2)
LEATHER KNEE PADS- medium stiff cowhide, approximately 10' square....................$2.50/ea.
SILICON CARBIDE HAND ABRADER - to strengthen the edge of core in pressure and percussion flaking. An essential step in flintknapping...................$5.00/ea (1)
Knapping Obsidian
Black Obsidian is a popular volcanic glass favored by flintknappers for its consistent quality and uniform flaking. Knappers who favor pressure flaking techniques usually enjoy Obsidian in particular for its potential to run super long flakes.
Our cleaned and graded black Obsidian spalls range in size from 3-6 inch pieces. This size is good for large and medium points and blades. Ordering 1 pound of this material will not ensure that you will get a single 6 inch spall. Most often a one pound order will contain two pieces of stone in the approx 4 inch range. To make certain you receive the full range of sizes of this material you will need to order multiple pounds or purchase a flat rate box of material.
Knapping Obsidian Slabs
WARNING: Obsidian flakes can be sharper than razor blades! Exercise extreme caution!
We strive to provide the cleanest, blemish free knapping material within our means. On some spalls however, blemishes do get past us because not all defects are evident at first or even second inspection. In efforts to avoid defects as much as possible, we perform a few thinning blows to ensure that you do not pay for large amounts of waste, over thick spalls, or fragile/thin sizes that will shatter with the first strike.
Large knapping material requires large billets. Attempting to knap large stone with too small of a billet will damage the billet and not produce sizable thinning flakes early on in the process as needed. If you are graduating to this size material from one of our kits, we recommend adding a large copper percussion billet to your order. If you are unsure about what you need, please visit our Flintknapping Buyer's Guide, or feel free to contact us and we will be glad to help.