Put the pins in. It was fun trying to come up with a way to clamp everything down so I could drill clean holes. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> Three blocks of wood, two bar clamps, and some wedges solved the problem. Drilled the holes out with a hand-cranked drill because I wanted to take things nice and slow. The pins on the other side need to be cleaned up, they aren't flushed off yet. A bit more filing and polishing all around and then it should be quite handsome. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I don't think I got epoxy down in as far as I wanted to. I was trying to poke it down inside the handle with a sliver of plastic, but it was setting up really fast. The pins themselves are very snug (had to tap them in with a hammer), the epoxy is more to keep the bone from cracking.

Balances beautifully, between the first and second fingers. Feels weightless in hand. Aside from my blade decorations being somewhat irregular (kind of keeps in the spirit of the piece), I'm very happy so far.

That looks great! How do you plan on sharpening it? I think a crude stone would really do wonders for the rustic appearance.

Yes, I plan to sharpen it with a stone. But I have a good quality stone for doing this, so "crude" is debatable. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I just got done carving the spine so it's flush with the handle. Steel is quite a bit harder than copper. Takes a bit of elbow grease, but you can whittle it.

But the decoration looks good! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />