Shaving with primitive tools

[SiR-ed8]

I'd love to try this obsidian volcanic glass. He claims this to be sharper than surgical tool!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWSTE6WLB0Y[/youtube]

 

[Arrowhead]

You could corner the market in re-knapping flint razors ...

 

[henkverhaar]

You could corner the market in re-knapping flint razors ...

:lol:

Note that a claim that glass edge tools (and certainly obsidian edge tools) are sharper than steel is probably correct. Not that they would be useful shaving tools though.

Cryomicrotomes (devices used to cut extremely thin slices of biological samples for microscopy, in this case frozen samples) use slicing tools made by scoring and fracturing a piece of glass so you get a 30-45 degree edge.

 

[cheese_dave]

Approx 1 min 30 seconds in looks like a good way of smacking yourself in the nads with a piece of rock and/or razor sharp chippings.

 

[Rev-O]

Interestingly many cultures used stone in preference to metal for sacrificial and surgical cutting (eg circumcision) even where/when metal was known / available alternative. (Which, incidentally, wasn't the case with Native Americans: true that they used stone but they did not know about metal.)

Not sure whether this is because of sharpness or for other (ritual, religious) reasons.

 

[neocaligatio]

Some lovely looking hand-made bows hanging up in the background too...