You learn a lot by doing this.
A note from the knapper
Hi, I'm Ronnie
My father, Roy Miller, is a master flint knapper and the greatest influence on my work. He taught me the techniques I use to shape each point.
I got into flint knapping in the mid-1990s. Countless hours of practice, along with time spent learning from fellow knappers, helped me build my own way of working.
Digging flint taught me just as much. I bring the stone out of the ground on our property at Flint Ridge, break the raw material down, and reduce it into workable spalls. That makes the stone easier to handle and teaches me how each piece will work.
Once the stone is prepared, I heat it in a kiln only when necessary. Heat treatment can make the stone easier to knap and bring out more of the color already inside it. Then I shape the point by hand.
It is very satisfying to create arrowheads, which I call modern lithic art. Every finished piece gives me another design or idea to carry into the next one, and the process keeps going.