Good start Will
. The woodworking part will get easier if you get some dedicated wood working tools. For example, not try to shape your handles with bastard files and wet/dry paper
. As for the design -
less is more - is a time proven adage. You don't need to incorporate all your ideas into one knife. NOT SAYING that you did that here but just cautioning on the tendency which - BTW - is a tendency characteristic of every one of my new ventures
.
Make full scale drawings - sketches really - on graph paper. Don't worry about not being an "artist" just give your self some dimensions and proportions to compare. Then when you start to build you've got a target in mind and to refer to or modify as you build, rather than redesigning on the fly with the hard goods.
An easy way to transfer pin locations from the tang to the scales is by making a pattern. Left and right. Mark your pin centerlines on the template AND THEN use that to locate the centers on the tang and the handle. If you set the pins first it becomes more difficult to get accurate centers. Punch or prebore with small bit into your tang for accuracy and use a bradpoint drill bit on the wood part.
OK 'nuff to think about. Coffee break is over. Looking forward to see you evolve as a knife maker. I'll put my order in in a few years
Cheers, Ray