Obsidian blades?

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General Geoff

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I decided to start this topic after reading about the ceramic knife that wasn't particularly sharp from the factory. A point was made in that thread that ceramic is a lot more like glass than steel, in that it's super hard, but very brittle, and as such doesn't sharpen in the traditional sense.

How about obsidian? Being volcanic glass with naturally sharp cleavage, I would imagine an obsidian knife would be incredibly sharp, if not particularly durable. Anyone have any edged weapons with an obsidian blade?
 
My son is a dedicated flint-knapper, and has made a number of obsidian, chirt and other mineral blades and arrow points.

Some of the minerals, and obsidian in particular, can get frighteningly sharp. (And this from a fellow who's been making steel knives for 30 years.) Their cutting edge 'feels' different in character from a very sharp steel blade, and it's a challenge to get anything approaching a straight cutting edge on one. But the sections 'as knapped', especially in smaller pieces, are scalpel-like in cutting ability.

I'm sure they could be useful blades-after all, they've been used as such for centuries-but they would lack much of the lateral and edge strength we take for granted in steel blades. For pure cutting, though, they could easily outshine a sharp steel edge.

HTH,

Larry
 
Obsidian was one of the "flint" knappers big 3: Flint itself, chert, and obsidian. Obsidian was used all over the world for stone points and knives. It was especially popular in Mexico because the whole central part of the country is a bunch of huge volcanoes and thus obsidian is very common.

Both the Maya and the Aztecs were master Obsidian knappers to the point of even knapping sculptured faces and whatnot.
 
Obsidian chips are still used in surgeries today. Has to do with the sheer strength of the chip being removed. Sure would be nice to have a knife made from one but they break very easy.



Jm
 
Once the obsidian is worked, it can be tempered to be stronger. The old way was to bury in in the hot ashes of a campfire. The neolithic people knew how to do this, many obsidian tools have been found that were fired tempered. Not near as brittle.
 
You know Carl I think there was a network of people to go to for spears & knives. Why would anyone go to the time to make one or two good ones when they can trade for some some meat or hides. Once settlements commenced from potatoes or corn, people could specialize.


Jim
 
I totally agree with you Jim. Human civilization couldn't have happened with out specialization of labor. There's always going to be somebody who does some task a little better because they like it. By the same token, somebody else may hate doing that because they find it boring. I think this may have been the case all the way back to the cave. It's human nature.

Some people will learn to knap flint better than the next 20 people, but they may hate dealing with leather and making shoes and such. I'd imagine a couple guys sitting around the cave by the fire, getting ready for the big mastidon hunt the next day. There's Gronk, knapping away, and he makes the best spear points anyones ever seen. Nobody comes close to a Gronk made spear point. But over there, is old Blonk, and he's making a bad job of it. After he's cut himself for the third time, he looks over at Gronk, chipping away like a pro. But Blonk has an ace up his hide kilt. He makes the best moosehide boots around. Loves the leather work.

"Hey Gronk. You make me a spear point and I'll give ya a brand new pair of moosehide boots to wear on the hunt tomarow."

Gronk thinks this over for a few seconds. He'd been worrying over the fact that his boots had a hole in one sole and the other wasn't to good either.

"Deal!" he says. Bth men spit in palm and slap hands in the seal.

Next day Blonk's happy as a pig at the slops because he's carrying a new spear made by the best maker around and will go clean through a mastadon hide, and Gronk's happy because his feet are warm and comfortable in new moosehide boots stuffed with nice dried grass fr insulation.

Both men got what they wanted with a simple deal.

Human nature hasn't changed in 100,000 years, and it never will. The very fact that our civilization advanced is due to our ability to adapt, and deal and work at specilization of labor.
 
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