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We do the exact same thing on the opposite side. Next we want to make sure our pins have a clean fit. If they do, then we want to mark them to cut so that way just a little bit sticks out of both sides as shown below. Next cut the pin where we marked while it is held in the...

Now its time to attach the handles. The way I do it is that I use super glue and clamp the handle in place, wait for about an hour for the glue to dry, unclamp, drill my holes, then do the same for the other side. Before we begin this step, make sure to have everything you need out and ready. I...

Next step is to start on the handle. Here I'm using a piece of red heart wood. I decided to go with red heart as I thought it would go well for a Christmas theme color, along with some brass pins. So first step is going to be to trace the part of the handle we want to be covered onto the wood...

Just some more boring hand sanding. The important thing to remember is to get all your hand sanding finished on the blade at this point, which means I started at 120, then moved to 220, then 340, and finally 400. Go as a fine as you want to go. The goal is to finish all hand sanding before...

More hand sanding. For the bottom and top parts of the handle, I only hand sand to 120/220 grit. Reason is because this part is going to go back on the belt grinder later when working the handle material attached to the tang and will do more hand sanding after. And this is...

That's really amazing!! I hope to do bolsters like that someday!

Now its time to remove all that yucky scale. I start by first placing it in my home made descaling tank. Really all it is, is a PVC tube with the bottom end sealed and positioned into a piece of wood. Then filled up with vinegar. The vinegar helps eat away the scale. I tie wire metal through one...

Now its finally time for the heat treat. First we need to get our safety gear, leather apron and leather gloves. We also need to light up the forge. This is a forge I built out of soft and hard fire breaks that runs on a propane tank. Originally, I built this in a 6" diameter, and after...

Next, it is time to drill the holes into the handle that we just marked. I use an old drill press given to me by my grandfather. Here I use a clamp to hold the knife in place while I drill. This is very important as I quickly learned after drilling into my first knife the dangers of the drill...

Pay very close attention to detail and try to get most of the scratch marks out if you can. At some point, I believe I switched to 220 grit. Some prefer to only go up to 120 grit before heat treat, I usually like to go to 220. I don't really think it matters as you will have to do it again after...

Next, we want to hand sand the handle part. Some people may choose to skip this step as the handle will be covered by wood scales and no one is going to see this part of the handle. Plus, the scratch marks gives the glue something to grip. Even so, I felt like hand sanding the handle anyways...

Next, we want to clean off the piece before repeating the process. I normally hand sand for about 30 seconds or so before cleaning off the piece and moving to a new section of sand paper on my strip. To save time, I show a picture after every few hand sanding cycles. Yes, it does take a...

For hand sanding I use Mirka Gold PSA (Pressure Sensitive Adhesive, which means its sticky on the back) and a flat piece of wood. I usually cut the rolls out to be a little more than the width of the blade and somewhere between 1 to 2 feet in length. I then wrap this strip of sand paper around...

After profiling is complete, next step is to work on the bevel. For making a bevel, I use a file guide. It is not completely necessary when working on your first knives, but I found this to make a night and day difference when trying to make straight even plunge lines. This one I got from Benton...

Next we want to profile the spine and the bottom parts of the edge and handle. While doing this, we want to try and keep this flat as can be. It would be helpful to use a tool rest that is level and 90 degrees to the flat platen. Unfortunately, I've had bad luck with the cheap tool rest on mine...

Continuing the handle... Once basic profiling is complete, we want to stop for a moment and compare back to the original design template. Always good to make sure that we are on track. It doesn't need to be a 100% perfect match to the template just yet, we are going to grind further using...

This knife I completed last December, but took detail pictures of the process from start to finish (leaving out the sheath and sharpening). This is a stock removal process and I decided to make a simple knife for a gift giveaway at work. There's many ways to make a knife and this is just showing...

I received my knife from Derek Lee. Almost forgot about this until I decided to check my front porch. Beautiful knife! Nearly perfect mirror polish and great craftsmanship. The leather sheath is nicely constructed too. If I didn't know any better, I would say you have been doing bolsters and...

It's looking good George.

Wow! That's scary. Glad you're still alive. I pray for a speedy recovery for you. Just finished my knife and sheath. My first completed forged knife.