Hello all:
My brother in law found an arrow head on his property that we
believe is flintstone. I want to wire wrap it with a bail and solder
the ends. Does anyone know if flintstone will holder up to soldering
temperatures?
Thank you!
Debbie Parent
Check it for cracks of any kind since flint is schist it flakes it
should be a combination of flint,quartz and sometimes even tuffa
since these can stand considerable heat using normal wet wadding and
cooling techniques should work.
IMO as an archaeologist heh former lives
Teri
Silver & Cameo Heritage Jewelry
www.corneliusspick.com
Debbie,
Lots of flint stone out his way but I don’t think it will handle the
heat. Hope one of the more versed lapidaries has the facts on this.
Devin
Debbie,
No, flint will NOT hold up to soldering temps. Flint is a variety of
chalcedony (aka quartz) and will begin to decay at about 700 deg F.
Flint IS a hard (7 Mohs) and some varieties are extremely tough. That
is why tools were made from flint. But hardness and toughness are not
indicators of ability to stand heat.
Cheers from Don at The Charles Belle Studioo in SOFL where simple
elegance IS fine jewelry!
I am not a geologist (or archeologist) by any stretch of the
imagination but I did dabble in “flint knapping” years ago when I
worked at a historic site that held a large gathering of
"prehistoric technologists".My understanding is the what most people
call flint is actually chert. (there are very few examples of true
flint in the US, I believe there is some in the Georgetown, TX area )
It is my understanding that both are crytocrystalline quartz
materials, however, true flint is of much higher quality/purity (such
as the Brandon deposit in England and the Danish flint used for the
incredible axes and daggers). Symantics aside, I wouldn’t recommend
putting heat to the arrowhead. Without knowing the particular type
of chert (or other material) that you might be dealing with, you
really run the danger of shattering it. I know from playing with heat
treating material to make it more “knappable”, each material has
different heat tolerances, some very high, others extremely low. It
also often changes colors with heat.Even if the material can take
the heat, there is a good chance it will blow apart with soldering.
Why not come up with a wire wrap or prong design to incorporate it
into a piece of jewelry. If you have to solder, I’d cheat and use
something like Tix…at least your chance of disaster will be
mitigated. Why risk destroying an irreplaceable artifact with
sentimental value??
Chris Hanson
former rock buster, hide tanner, bow maker, etc…
Ketchikan, AK
Yes, and I would like to add that many stone points were heat
treated at the time they were made, which can add a certain amount
of brittleness. The stone workers believed that heating allowed
knapping to produce a sharper edge.
But no soldering torch heat, please!
Wayne
Check it for cracks of any kind since flint is schist it flakes it should be a combination of flint,quartz and sometimes even tuffa since these can stand considerable heat using normal wet wadding and cooling techniques should work.
Just to clarify a couple of points-
Flint technically is the form of cryptocrystalline quartz found in
the Cretaceous chalk formations of southern England. The name has
been loosely applied to somewhat similar quartzes (cherts, jaspers,
and chalcedony, for example) found elsewhere around the world, and
often used in making the tools and points so useful as markers of
various prehistoric cultures.
Schist, on the other hand, is a high pressure metamorphic rock
consisting of micas, quartz, garnet, and various accessory minerals,
depending on the chemistry of the original rock and the proximity of
other mineralizing bodies. It is unlikely that a low temperature
quartz like flint will be found within a schist, unless near-surface
hydrothermal processes have emplaced that form of quartz in cavities
in schist. (I have personally found banded agate in cavities in vein
quartz eroded out of schist or phyllite.)
Tufa is a general name for surface deposits of calcium carbonate
left as a result of spring activity, especially near limestone
bedrock. It sometimes encloses plant materials. Travertine is
actually a bedded form of tufa used as an ornamental rock similar to
limestone or marble. The name is also sometimes erroneously applied
to the eruptive volcanic rock rock known as tuff, essentially a
solidified pyroclastic flow.
With respect to the application of heat, modern flint knappers
sometimes use heat to make their raw material more brittle and
easier to flake. Any cryptocrystalline quartz is somewhat porous, and
might contain enough water to cause fracturing if heated enough. So
care is necessary if using a torch in its vicinity. Heating is
deliberately used to make carnelian redder, so it is certainly
possible to heat these materials without destroying them.
-Dick Davies
That was my point the arrowhead may be flint but I doubt it it could
be anything why endanger an artifact with torch heat or as in the
cinnibar case play with something before you research it and find out
exactly what it is…sighs
Teri
Silver & Cameo Heritage Jewelry
www.corneliusspick.com
Dick,
Heating is deliberately used to make carnelian redder, so it is certainly possible to heat these materials without destroying them.
So true…however, from the original post, it appeared they wanted
to actually SOLDER flint into a piece. Heating agate to a couple
hundred degrees slowly to produce carnelian slowly and then cooling
it slowly in a controlled atmosphere is one thing. The thermal shock
sof quickly bringing it to anything approaching soldering temp and
then letting it quickly air cool would result in lumps of
nothingness!
Cheers from Don at The Charles Belle Studio in SOFL where simple
elegance IS fine jewelry!
Flint technically is the form of cryptocrystalline quartz found in the Cretaceous chalk formations of southern England. The name has been loosely applied to somewhat similar quartzes (cherts, jaspers, and chalcedony, for example) found elsewhere around the world, and often used in making the tools and points so useful as markers of various prehistoric cultures.
Even among rockhounds, the distinction among flint, jasper, quartz,
chalcedony, chert, etc. tends to be pretty fuzzy.
Al Balmer
Sun City, AZ
Hello,
It’s really not necessary to solder a mounting on the arrowhead. I
use fine rope-twist sterling wire and wrap around the waist of the
arrowhead, as would have been done to fasten it to an arrow shaft.
The wire should be long enough to have at least an inch extra after
the wrapping is done. That length is shaped into a "hangman’s noose"
bail to suspend the arrowhead from a cord or chain.
Not difficult and fairly quick. Good luck with your project and let
us see the finished piece.
Judy in Kansas