Cut and Ground Preforms

*We suggest you DON'T order SLICES/GROUND PREFORMS WITH RAW ROCK. SEPARATE ORDERS WOULD BE IDEAL. If you take the risk and order them together we WILL NOT REFUND OR RESEND the MATERIAL that got damaged!**

 

Education time: When it comes to ground preforms there are different shapes and angles for different goals. The ones I make are for bigger pieces like knifes and so called spear points, with curves and angles like what would be used on Danish daggers. You will notice that the flakes are running about 1.25” long but with this type of preform I have and have seen pieces 4” wide cleared. The preform is designed so that the flake coming from the opposite side will overlap the first side making it look almost like one flake over the surface. This surface doesn’t need to be ground super smooth but depending on the availability of the knapper that is a personal choice. For me 80 grit is just fine but the ones I make to sell, we go to 220.

For those who are making small points that are obsessed with symmetry those are ground much different. Most of them are never wider than about 1.5”. Platforms and angles are different and they are sometimes ground to a polish of 360 to 600 grit. These take a lot more time to make even though they are small so are usually only done on the most beautiful of materials. Very few are ever made to sell as preforms because of these factors.

 

Just as there are many knapping styles there are more types of ground or partly ground preforms out there each made for different results and looks. There is no one fits all.
One last thing. When I first started making and using these preforms they were called FOG for Flake Off Grind but somewhere someone started calling it flake over grind. This term confuses me. I could paint over the grind but you flake under the ground which would be a FUG.