Thanks for the enthusiastic feedback, mates!
Tom, we have lots of roadkill, and I hadn't thought of that. I'll have to take on that messy project!
Tony, I'll add a few thoughts.
I use a homemade coffee can propane forge most of the time. I have a proper coal forge, but I don't use it too much because fuel is hard to get and it's not as convenient. I'll post the plan for the forge I use and the link to a short video of it. I'll also post a video that I made going through the basic forging process I use.
I like to take my blade to very near its final edge. For heat treating I close the choke on the burner to get a reducing fire, which is really low pressure. This gives me lots of control, and I don't have any problem with a decarbonized surface on the edge. I normalize the blade three times and quench it three times in canola oil. A metallurgist told me it is almost the equivalent of the high price fast commercial heat treating oils.
For this one I cut some notches in the tang and just epoxied it into the handle. I am an avid carver, and I carve lots of hard wood. I've never had this system fail on me. I've destroyed a few knives on purpose to see how secure they were. It took some beating with a hammer just to get the handle off. Epoxy is wonderful stuff and saves the knife maker a lot of trouble and work. Though the pins and such are nice to look at.
Recycling materials is more than half the fun for me. I get a real thrill out of it. I'll wear the label "Womble" proudly.
Didn't know what they were until now.
Here is the video of the process I generally follow to make a smaller blade like this.
[video]https://youtu.be/ALSL-82ec6g[/video]
Here is a short video of my forge.
[video]https://youtu.be/BI9qz55Qv6s[/video]
Here are the plans for the forge burner. Easy to make and cheap. I did not make up these plans. I found them on the internet.
Have fun recycling!
