Man shaves with obsedian

[ubet]

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[Maggot]

Re: Man shaves with obsedian

Great post Ubet. Funny, Ive been toying with the idea of posting that about obsidian for several days. Didnt have the vidieo though. A buddy gave me a piece years ago and it reall is MUCH harder and sharper then surgical stainless steel. The trouble is getting a smoothe edge. If you look at most of the arrow heads youll note that they have more or less serrated edges. But much sharper and harder a than a metal one.

 

[ubet]

Re: Man shaves with obsedian

I had always hear how sharp obsidian was, never believed it. So one day I chipped a piece and lightly touched a finger to it like you would a knife, well it cut said finger.

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Re: Man shaves with obsedian

Very good post, thanks for that. I'd heard of this years ago but have no experience with it yet. About the same time, I'd heard that there was an actual surgeon who chipped his own scalpels, because the 'supplied ones' just weren't as good.

So went the story, anyways.

Still, I'd relish the opportunity to make some edged tools with this stuff. Anyone got any kicking around that they don't want? Ain't no volcano's in Manitoba.

 

[h4everything]

Re: Man shaves with obsedian

My bic is a hell of a lot faster. That is pretty cool though.

 

[vwhugger]

Re: Man shaves with obsedian

My cat and Kemps sweet cream is the fastest.

 

[ArcticLight]

Re: Man shaves with obsedian

There is one stone that is more dense and harder than obsidian, a volcanic glass - The Samurai used it for arrow heads.
I have one stone on a Samurai arrow, I will have to ask my Sensei that made it what the name of it was again.

Obsidian is an awesome tool to have!!

 

[ubet]

Re: Man shaves with obsedian

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ArcticLight</div><div class="ubbcode-body">There is one stone that is more dense and harder than obsidian, a volcanic glass - The Samurai used it for arrow heads.
I have one stone on a Samurai arrow, I will have to ask my Sensei that made it what the name of it was again.

Obsidian is an awesome tool to have!! </div></div>

Obsidian is volcanic glass.

 

[RichJ]

Re: Man shaves with obsedian

scalpels
Rich

 

[mexicanmatch]

Re: Man shaves with obsedian

I have a friend who makes Obsidian arrow heads for hunting and they really do the job. He also makes knives and a Doctor friend has him make scalpels for him. He tried to teach me but being on blood thinner i thanked him and just watched. Very good for skinning also. MM

 

[Fred_C_Dobbs]

Re: Man shaves with obsedian

Obsidian isn't that hard. If it's 100% pure, it's no harder than quartz -- another SiO2 -- which is 7 out of 10 on Moh's scale of hardness. Among the minerals, topaz, corundum and, of course, diamond all are harder than 7. Flint also is around a 7.

But that's based on scratch hardness. There's about 40-leven ways to measure hardness. The Rockwell scale everyone's familiar with that's used on steels is indentation hardness.

 

[Maggot]

Re: Man shaves with obsedian

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: mexican match</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have a friend who makes Obsidian arrow heads for hunting and they really do the job. <span style="color: #CC0000"> He also makes knives</span> and a Doctor friend has him make scalpels for him. He tried to teach me but being on blood thinner i thanked him and just watched. Very good for skinning also. MM </div></div>

He wouldnt be Aztec, would he Match?

 

[ubet]

Re: Man shaves with obsedian

Can you sharpen obsidian on a stone, like a knife?

 

[Win_94]

Re: Man shaves with obsedian

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ubet</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Can you sharpen obsidian on a stone, like a knife? </div></div>

You would knap it like flint.

California Knapping

 

[Intrepid4576]

Re: Man shaves with obsedian

if one was to apply this lesson to all aspects of "primitive" life im sure they would find that this is not the only thing that is "not really that primitive" at all

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Re: Man shaves with obsedian

Eh....I am not impressed. Had the title been:"Man shaves balls with obsidian." well then I would have been impressed.

 

[RichJ]

Re: Man shaves with obsedian

It's hard to believe but the sharpest knives that have ever been used in recent years were mounted with stone flakes made of obsidian. A company called Aztecnics was manufacturing and selling surgical scalpels mounted with different sizes and shapes of obsidian blades. Good quality obsidian fractures down to single molecules which can produce a cutting edge 500 times sharper than the sharpest steel scalpel blade ("American Medical News", Nov. 2, 1984:21). On the cellular level an obsidian knife can cut between cells rather than tear the cells as a steel knife will do. A sharper cut will allow a wound to heal more rapidly with less scarring. High magnification of a steel scalpel blade edge looks like a serrated saw blade but an obsidian edge looks smooth.
Rich

 

[shark0311]

Re: Man shaves with obsedian

FYI Obsidian is not approved by the FDA...If there are doctors using them it is very rare and probably illegal.

 

[Fred_C_Dobbs]

Re: Man shaves with obsedian

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Shark0311</div><div class="ubbcode-body">FYI Obsidian is not approved by the FDA...If there are doctors using them it is very rare and probably illegal. </div></div>
I was wondering how many autoclavings they could endure before the thermal shock caused them to crumble.