From the time I picked up my first arrowhead at around age 8, I have been fascinated by and studied Native American tools and weapons. My fascination has not been with tools and weapons of just the last 300-400 years, but also with weapons and tools from the last 30,000 years, since man's earliest arrival in North America. The craftsmanship and ingenuity used by the first Native peoples still fascinates us all to this day. The last Stone Age was known as the Neolithic age and now, with more people reproducing and making stone tools, we seem to be in the midst of a new Neolithic age.

The material that I work with is mostly obsidian and agate with some flint from the U.S. and Belize, South America. The agate and flints are cooked (brought to a certain temperature for a given length of time, making them more workable). I use both modern and traditional tools. The traditional tools consist of bone, antler, horn and stone. The use of copper is the main modern tool, saving time in tool preparation. The hafting materials for my knives are antler, bone and some woods and on occasion, stone. Traditional knives are hafted with either buffalo or elk sinew and a mixture of pine pitch and charcoal. Modern methods of hafting include use of epoxies and artificial sinew. Knives can be made either way, with the cost of traditional methods being more expensive than modern ways due to availability of materials and time involved in their preparation.

As my knives are custom-made and no two are alike, the prices vary, depending on the material the blade and handle are made of, and style of knife blade. Here are some rough estimates: a simple 3-4 inch blade hafted in antler runs $35 to $45 while an exotic piece of agate with a lot of eccentric notching in the blade and an elaborate handle might average $400.