First off, I want to say that looks fantastic! If that is your eighth blade, you should be very proud of what you've managed to make. I know my eighth blade didn't look nearly so nice as that.

As for feedback, I'm no expert myself, so feel free to take what I say with a grain of salt, or ignore it altogether.

I like how the handle is shaped. The front of the scale is especially nicely done. It could just be the lighting, but between the first and second pin, I'm seeing circular impressions in the wood. Is this a part of the grain of the wood, or is it something else?

The bevel is nicely formed. The top arc looks pretty much perfect. Right in the middle of the bottom bevel, the top of the bevel goes a little flat, but that's a minor nitpick. I know how difficult it is to do a bevel on an inside curve like that. My bigger comment related to the bevel is along the edge. The photo makes it look like the edge geometry is pretty steep, just judging by the thickness of the sharpening bevel. Maybe that's what you were going for, but I wanted to point it out just in case you weren't aware. I know I wish that I had learned more about blade geometry earlier on.

I got to attend a hammer-in last year, and I learned a useful tip for judging the edge geometry. I've attached a photo that I took of it, but it basically involves setting your calipers to 0.040 inches and seeing how far up the bevel the calipers will travel. The further the calipers can go up the bevel, the thinner your edge geometry is.

Overall, I really like the blade; I think you did a great job. I hope some of this can help you!

I think the circle impression is from one of the clamps being a little too tight. I thought I got it out. You are right about the edge. It is a little wonky and that was the first time doing such a gnarly curve on a blade. I still have a bunch to learn, but I'll get there. Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it!

That is a very good job for #8 Allen.

The situation with the bevels has already been covered, so I'm going to talk about the handle.
The pin placement is critical on full tang blades and these pins are off. The distance between the front and center pin is different than between the center and rear pin. The center and rear pins aren't centered in the width of the handle. They are both closer to the belly than the spine. Neither of those two pins are round. There is something causing a strange shape along the edges. 

As for avoiding those circles from the clamps, use something like these: https://www.acehardware.com/departments/tools/hand-tools/c-clamps/2105666?x429=true&utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic-shopping&utm_campaign=organic-shopping

This is one of the reasons I joined the ABS. Anything I can learn from is steps forward to where I want to be. I see what you are saying with the pins. I have no idea how that happened. Thank you for the feedback!

My guess for that blemish in the wood is you are using thin pre-cut scales and are clamping it with a C clamp. like the thicker pointy thing is pointing at...they are fantastic and cheap and will really hold the scale to the blade, but will leave a mark you will have to grind out later. There are several ways to deal with that, such as buying something that is 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick and grinding it down after you have your scales glued on (or timing it on a bandsaw, but that's more dangerous). Then, you do your pins how you like to do them. Another option is you can glue a piece of thick leather to each side of the C clamp using leather crafting cement. (i did this with a small vise) and create a soft backing (you can use an old leather belt or order a belt leather blank as works fantastic...and you can use what you have left over for backing before doing a paracord wrap).

Or you can get a sheet of Kydex or styrene plastic ( go with at least .020, I would go more .060 thick. You can get a 4-pack white Styrene Sheets in 12x12.020 sheets for 4.99-20$ depending on the brand on Amazon and use the rest for other things...like protecting your workspace from epoxy spillage or Scale models. Kydex is more expensive) or just scrap wood or leather and have that over the scales then clamp it to keep it from marring the scale if you are using something fancy and pre-made (compared to just buying a board of, say, purple heart, Wegie, or Paduke and cutting the scales yourself with a hand saw but if your using Micarta you will want a power saw of some kind). Or you can buy the kind of c clamp on the far right, which has soft material covers. I love the ones on the far right; they are not that expensive but do cost more than the one Mr. States shared...and I need to get more. However, avoid ones like the Pro-Grade as those slide when doing this kind of clamping. If you're going to use this style, go for the Keter as they have groves in them that help increase friction without marring the piece.

Fiebing's Leathercraft Cement: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003W0GFTU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1  

leather Belt blank: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LXAC2TG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Just Type styrene sheet into amazon to get a lot of options.

They weren't pre cut. It was a solid block I got from pop's knife supply and made my own scales from it. I just messed up a bit. I'll have to get better clamps. I just learned what not to do next time. 

Posted by: Allen Crowell

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It was a solid block

I Meant no offense. and I think every bladesmith will agree you always need more clamps. however I want to say sorry I was also way overthinking it (a bad habit of mine). Another way you can fix this is really simple. After you have the scales glued on, tape the blade with masking tape, and you can just sand it off as you form/sculpt the handle with a 40, 80, or 120-grit (as it depends on what you are comfortable with) wood sanding belt while doing your final shaping of the handle. As I have had those in my own work, and they tend not to be that deep unless you really over-tighten the clamps.

No worries. There was no offense taken. Just saying it was a solid block. I have some cheapo clamps that I used on it

@Allen Crowell Pin placement mishaps happen. How I avoid it is by using a template that already has the hole placements drilled. I layout the hole placements in the template very carefully being sure to measure twice and drill once. I then surface the blade so everything is flat and has parrallel sides. Now I paint the unground and un-heat treated blade with layout dye, and clamp the template to it. I scribe the profile and drill the holes exactly where the pins will be. Now I can grind the profile down to the line and grind the bevels.

Here is a photo of one of my templates for a full tang blade. I was asked to make two identical copies of a blade I had made many years ago. The steel template is made from plain 1/8" flat stock. I made a drawing of exactly what I wanted and put the pins exactly where they needed to be. Then I glue the drawing to the flat bar and cut/grind it out. I forged the two blades out using the template at the anvil by drawing the profile on the anvil face and forging the steel to the outline.

Joshua C States those have a very nice shape to them. I like it a lot.