Earlier this summer I got an email from Jeff "Maddog" McCray from here on Tradgang saying that he wanted to swap one of his steel knives for one of my stone knives.  The result was two happy people yesterday when our respective postmen came.  

The knife I made for him had a Chola chert blade in a drop point style.  The stone was brought back from Belize by a friend of mine and is mighty tough stuff as far as stone goes.



Jeff asked what I wanted and I told him that a short, light, stiff hunter would be knice and here is his end of the trade!

 

I am happy and I am sure Jeff is as well.  If you are looking for a well built, strong hunting knife, give him a PM!

Matt

WOW! Very nice on both ends!

What kind of wood is that on the steel blade handle?

Good trade!

Matt, I have a stupid question for you (out of ignorance in the subject).  How sharp would a stone knife like that be?  Is it usable or does it lose it's edge really fast?
 Very nice knives.

     Geoff

Murph, the trick is that a stone knife cannot be used the same way that I steel knife is used.  If you stay within its capabilities, a stone blade like that is more than capable of doing a whole deer without need for retouch.  You can accomplish all the same stuff as a steel knife (except splitting the pelvis and ribcage), you just have to take care to cut only tissue and not try and hack at bone.  The stone you use is also a primary factor in how long a blade stays sharp.  A blade of something like Knife River Flint will have a edge that will last at least 5-10 times as long as an obsidian edge.  It also depends on your idea of how a knife should work........modern users of stone blades typically resharpen them they way they would a steel blade in as much as they keep the bevel at its original angle which is wastefull on stone.  Ancient folks who used stone knives tended to reverse bevel the edges like those on grizzly braodhead and keep them at a rather steep angle......it might not shave, but it was super durable and more than sharp enough for most tasks.

Matt

Nice deal. Nice job knapping too.