Wow. This was a while ago.Just so you know, these dies are still working 4-1/2 years later after hundreds of cycles and presses.

Hey Moose, welcome to the madness.I'm not sure which forge you bought, but it looks like this one. (two burners) I think that will lose a lot of hea...

Clayed and drying in preparation for H/T this morning.  Clayed-blades.JPG

Yesterday's work.Four commission blades rough ground  Rough-grinds.JPG

@Devon Mills I replaced the top roller on my flat platen with a 2" grinding wheel. This is a very useful size to have handy for a variety of applica...

@Michael Samdahl There are a few techniques I use to accomplish that:1. You need a grinder with variable speed control. Work at slower speed, like a...

The final finish is done by hand in a Panavice.  Hand-sanding.JPG

The next step is using a 1" scalloped slack belt.  Slack-belt.JPG

I do almost all of my handle shaping as a complete unit, off of the blade. I have a post around here somewhere about how I hold all the pieces togethe...

For the initial shaping, I put the package in a vice and used the drill press to remove the center. If you enlarge this photo, you will see a black li...

Thanks @Michael Samdahl. The finger pocket was a little tricky, but I made it easier by keeping the two guard branches basically straight and doing th...

Side by side.  With-Sheath-3.JPG

The sheath is now done  With-Sheath-1.JPG

@Devon Mills, I think this is a very good first attempt. It's difficult to critique something from two photos online, but I'll give you some feedback....

Close-up of the guard and sub-hilt.  Close-up.JPG