"Flintknapping"
Back to tutorial Identification guide
The word "flintknapping" was a word the English used in the 1700s
for making gunflints for flintlock guns. "Knap" is a German word
that means to strike a piece off.
Gunflints consisted of crude flint rectangles that fit in the hammer
of a flintlock gun. The flint strikes the steel frizzen causing
sparks, and the
frizzen is forced forward, exposing a small amount of gunpowder
which is ignited by the shower of sparks. The flash sets off the
main
charge of powder in the barrel via a small touchhole in the side.