Portable Petroglyph - Micro Pecking Technique

by Stephen Lee
(N. Pitcher, NY)

As requested, here is some background info on the origins and making of my Petroglyph Pendants.

In 1990 I was looking for a new craft to explore that would make use of commonly available materials provided by nature (low overhead for materials).

"Two Feathers" riverstone pendant
by Stephen Lee.

While looking through various books on native American crafts I noticed some illustrations of simple stone pendants attributed to the Algonquin tribes.

These pendants were made of whatever soft types of stone where available, were ground into various shapes, some of which had simple designs gouged into them.

This idea really grabbed me, so I began picking up stones from the property I lived on and from a nearby riverside to see if I could carve into them with my pocket knife.


"Kokopelli" catlinite pendant
by Stephen Lee.

In keeping with the idea of "low overhead" I wanted stones I could work with common metal tools rather than those that required expensive power tools, diamond bits, etc.

One type of stone common in my area is shale.

This turned out to be easily workable with knives, woodworking chisels, files, rasps, sandpaper and emery paper.

I experimented with many techniques for creating a design on these bland colored stones that would have enough contrast to allow the design to stand out.

It eventually occurred to me to use a basic stone working technique, that was used all over this planet for shaping stones into tools and utensils as well as for creating the many petroglyphs found on cliff faces and boulders, and which I had taught while working at an outdoor skills school in my mid twenties.

This is generally called pecking and consists of using a hammer stone that's harder than the stone you're shaping to crumble away portions of the stone through percussion.


"The Healer" African wonderstone pendant
by Stephen Lee.

I realized that in order to adapt this technique for working small pendant sized stones, I would have to use a pointed metal tool instead of a stone to do the pecking.

My first pecking tool was a hardened metal concrete flooring nail with the head cut off and the nail shaft mounted in a wooden handle with the end ground to a sharp point.

Over time I've used worn out Philips head screw drivers, nail punches and assorted other hardened metal tools, modified for pecking.

My favorite pecking tool now, I made from a short section of sharpened bicycle spoke mounted in a type of pin vise with a three jaw Jacobs chuck for weight locked on the rear end of the pin vise. (See upper image in photo below):


Pecking and engraving tools.


Next:
Part 2 -
From Pendant Blank to Finished Pendant.


Your questions and comments are welcome!


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