Thanks, guys.
Building knives is fun.
This is the direction the knife is going.
I won't even get into all the metallurgical fru-fru that goes along with all this. But keep in mind that a knife that doesn't have proper heat treating procedures will be pretty, but completely worthless as a cutting instrument.
So my task is multi-faceted.
Following forging, the blade must be cleaned up and ground to nearly it's final shape.
This carbide guide helps me keep the sides even:
After grinding, the blade is properly hardened and tempered.
I use a specific grade of stainless steel for my guard material - 416 martensitic - that primarily only comes in round stock. So I just make it flat!
The slot for the tang is created using one of my two mills:
Here are the three major components:
The blade.
The guard.
A block of chemically stabilized figured Missouri Crotch Walnut.