Cousin here. I wanted to thank you all for the nice comments. I did spend good bit of time reshaping and finishing the handle, but the polishing job our uncle did really took it to another level.
@Ladams19, don't be too hard on yourself. Our uncle did it in about 15-20, and it would have taken me at least a full day to get it remotely close to this (but never as scratch free as it was when he was done). And he was bullshitting with me about this and that all the while. He makes his own wheels and uses a couple 5hp polishing machines.
Here is a before (polishing) and after shot (if I add it correctly):
Regarding the talon hole that Petey pointed out: I went back and forth about what to do with it. I've seen written, the handle was a bit of a mistake, dangerous actually. It was wedge shaped and wanted to push your hand over the blade with any sort of push cut. I reshaped the profile of the knife so that the widest part of the handle was about mid-handle, but felt it needed a bit more grip, and the only options I could think of were to leave the flare by your index finger, or use a strap from the talon hole to the lanyard hole (butt hole?). The handles are removable, so I left it as is, since it can be drilled out if my cousin ever wishes.
Again, much appreciative of all the nice feedback.
Cheers
