Well boys I finally put one together. I started out attempting to forge. Ive hammered a few rr spikes and files into something resembling knives but I've had repeated problems with my little forge so I've put it on the shelf for a bit. I bought a plywood saw blade that said it was high carbon and cut a blank out of it. I tested it with a file and when I saw how the file cut I figured it either was never hardened in the first place or they had tempered it. I worked it with a 1X30 and pinned some pine handles to it with copper then sharpened it. Theres a bit too much flex in the blade, but I'll give it a shot and see how well it holds an edge. Either way I'm proud of this one and I hope its the first of many I make. Ill try and figure out how to post pics. Thanks for the rant, I've enjoyed seeing all the work on this page. Theres some real talent.