by Richard Sanchez

Preparation pays off !

Two of the Retired Sergeant Majors in front of the Chuckwagon

We headed out to Maxdale on a picture perfect Texas day. Sunny and just enough clouds to make it relatively cool. Everything was starting out right. Good conversation, good weather, and easy driving, could it get any better? You bet! This was the day that Ronnie Tatum and I had planned on for months. We were headed to one of the biggest knap-in's in the country and we were prepared to do some serious "knapping" of the Flint variety. Once we got to Maxdale we saw the usual welcoming party, some deer running in front of the truck and some wild turkey. As we pulled into the Chile Park Campgrounds we were surprised to see so many Knapper's already there. It was Thursday and there were already 15 or more knappers. The next morning after breakfast we headed out on a "Flint Run" in search of some of that nice Tx Flint. Well we hit the jackpot. We found allot of Tx Flint in Tabular form. We also found 3 fossilized Stromatolites! Stromatolites are a mushroom shaped rocks. All of the stromatolites that we found took two men per rock to pick up so they were heavy. We ended up with about 900 pounds of flint, not counting the stromatolites!

Spalling out all that flint was an experience in itself. That is some tough work. Ronnie did most of it and I had my hand at some and it's a lot tougher than what it looks like. Imagine trying to spall out a huge 200 pound tab of Flint. But we got the job done. By nights end we were wiped out and ready to call it a day.

Saturday Highlights

Points Made by Craig Ratzat.

I got a chance to talk with Craig Ratzat and watch him biface several pieces of Obsidian. He is quite an accomplished Flintknapper and makes it look so easy. Craig is always willing to help out a knapper. His video is just another method of helping promote the craft of Flintknapping. I picked up a copy of his new video entitled Lap Knapping. It is an excellent video and am confident that it will improve your knapping skills.

There were quite a bit of vendors selling their wares. The most unique rock at the show was some Flint from Belize. It was called Colha Flint. At first glance I thought it was Agate but the vendor informed me all about it.

Craig Ratzat working on a 18 inch long Obsidian point.

There was also some Tortilla Flint. This type of flint has a thin cortex and a real nice color to it. The tortilla flint is also called pancake flint because of it's shape. There was a sudden down pour of rain, but that definitely didn't dampen anyone's fun. The nights were cool and pleasant. I thought I was in Michigan. If you stayed away because you thought it would be hot, then you missed out. There were about 75 knapper's and a good time was had by all. If you missed out on this Knap-in then your in luck. There will be another one in March. Make Plans to attend. Plans are currently underway to make this event a memorable one!

Good Chipping.
Richard Sanchez
[email protected]

Richard Sanchez is the founder of the DFW Knapper's Club and a Staff Writer for the Knapper's Anonymous Web page and the Knapper List.