Thanks folks! NeededWill, no lathes involved in these, though I do have plans for a dagger or two that will have turned handles, which I then will cut flutes in by hand and wrap with wire. Should be cool, and it's on of the reasons I got into pens. Mr. Lion, I get a lot of my handle materials from the same places turners do. There are also 3-4 knifemaking supply companies (USA Knifemaker, Jantz, etc) that I do business with for specific things like steel, grinder belts, and the like.
SDB, I make my own blades. Some start with a bar of a given thickness, from which I bandsaw and grind the profile, grind the bevels, etc. Others start with a bar or rod (or, in the case of pattern welded steel, a whole bunch of little bars squished together and restacked repeatedly), which is then hot forged into a knife. After profile and bevels are done on either type, I heat treat the blade according to the specific requirements of whatever steel I'm using in a digintally controlled kiln. After that it's more grinding, hand polishing the blade, and then fitting and shaping bolsters, guards, and handle material. The smallest one in the picture took about 6 hrs, and I'm working on one right now that already has about 20 hrs in it, and will require about 12-15 more before I'm done. Most of mine sell in the $250-400 range, with occasional forays below and above that range as appropriate.
I started making pens because sometimes it's nice to be able to start and finish something in the same evening.
