'Only two things' to flint knapping

In the time it takes most people to eat lunch, Portales flint knapper Tommy Heflin can pick up a chunk of obsidian, chip away at it with homemade tools, and turn it into a perfect arrowhead with edges sharper than a surgeon’s scalpel.

And he can tell stories the whole time he’s doing it, and even make it look easy.

That’s what 44 years of experience can do for a guy.

Heflin worked his magic — and it really is magical to watch — for the Friends of the Portales Public Library last week.

Seated in the library meeting room next to a bucket of tools he crafted himself, and with a large blue tarp spread out beneath him, Heflin knapped and told his story during a 45-minute program that included plenty of questions from his mesmerized audience.

He said he fell in love with arrowheads as a 10-year-old boy after finding two perfect points and wondering how “something that beautiful” had been made without modern tools.

He became an avid arrowhead hunter, but didn’t start trying to make his own until he was an adult, and a fellow point hunter suggested they try.

“We met once a week for eight years and made a lot of gravel,” Heflin said.

Later he met an experienced knapper from Tucumcari and started learning the tricks of the trade and then, “I found out you could buy books and video tapes … I didn’t know anyone else cared.”

He became a regular at “flint knap-ins,” where experts gathered to trade tips.

“Out of the four or five thousand flint knappers I’ve met,” Heflin said, “only two or three didn’t want to share information.”

As the pile of razor-sharp flakes built around his feet, Heflin was asked if he’d ever injured himself in his hobby.

“I’ve never needed stitches,” he said. But then, dabbing away at a little blood on one finger, he admitted, “With obsidian you always end up bleeding.”

Heflin describes flint knapping almost as a relationship between artist and stone.

“There are only two things you have to do,” Heflin said. “Have the desire and be smarter than the rock. Sometimes the rock is smarter.”

Heflin said when a point snaps, it makes a distinctive sound that any knapper immediately recognizes.

“You say, ‘I’m going to take one more flake’ and that’s when you break it,” he said with a grin. “Sometimes the rock wins, and sometimes you win. What you end up with is what counts.”

Heflin knaps at least once a week with local aficionados of the art, and figures he’s taught at least 400 people to share in a pastime he clearly loves.

“You get to busting that rock,” he said, “and you forget everything else in the world.”

Betty Williamson enjoys watching passionate people share their work. Reach her at: [email protected]