Vinson Miner, who has been endowed with a natural talent for the art of bowbuilding, has been handcrafting bows since 1993. He established bows of Wood in 1998 and is considered by many across the US and internationally as one of the finest bowbuilders within the industry. His dedication to quality and precision is evident in the first rate craftmanship of all his work. Vinson views bowbuilding as not just a craft, but also an art.
Journey with Ancestral Man
Stone age people lasted for an unimaginable periodof time before the age of metal tools. Since Thomas Jefferson's first archeaological excavations began in the late 1700's, these cultures fates have been revealed through the efforts of science and technology -- this same technology began with controlled fire and a simple stone flake.
With all the archealogical evidence mounded together, no other objects have contributed more to help interpret human history than stone artifacts. Organic materials such as bone, ivory, wood and antler survive for a limited time unless perserved in an oxygen free environment or mineralized.
The earliest tools are flakes that were used for cutting and scraping. From these, a continuous development of different flaked stone tools spread, causing a world-wide transition with different stone tool technologies and manufacturing techniques. Some flaked stone tools have been built with such skill that even todays finest flintknappers cannot duplicate but only mimic.
Newly developed stone tool manufacturing techniques and the invention of more powerful weapons, all contributed toward more organized cultural development. All of this prehistoric progress has been marked by stone tools and the journey of ancestral man.
All of Vinson's flintknapping methods are done with these developments in mind and flintknapping ethics are constantly practiced. His abo flintknapping style is done without the use of copper tools (with the exception of some pressure flaking) and is taught in this fashion with a heavy accent on primitive technologies from around the world. Vinson uses antler and wood billets or hammerstones for spalling and bifacing and many different techniques are available for beginner to the advanced flintknapper.
