Sharpening obsidian

[Trnelson]

I bought an obsidian knife recently. Turns out, that it is blunt. I thought it was to be sharp. How on earth do I sharpen this volcanic glass? Or whom can I take it to to be sharpened? The maker of the knife only ships blunt edged knives for reasons of liability. Ideas???

 

[jackem]

I suggest finding someone locally that knows about knapping and get their opinion. I worked with obsidian enough to know that its sharp edges happen due to the way it breaks, like glass. Grinding on obsidian like you would a metal knife doesn't work well.

Jack