Apologies for being late in responding to a few questions in this thread.
To those that wanted me to maybe make them a knife, sorry, but I just don't have the extra time - as evidenced by how long it took for me to reply to this thread.
To answer a few questions:
The 4.25" (108mm) laminated carbon Mora blade I got from Ben's Backwoods. It was $11 plus shipping.
http://stores.ebay.com/BENS-BACKWOODS
The knife is rather light, even with the slightly larger handle. The hickory handle isn't that heavy and the laminated Mora blades tend to be a tad thicker and heavier than regular, non-laminated Mora blades. See that bump right behind the front finger notch on the handle? It's just about right at mid-length on the knife (4.25" blade, 5.5" handle). That is the balance point.
I drilled out the hole for the knife tang using a longer then normal drill bit (Home Depot). For drilling the initial hole, I marked the lines with a Sharpie marker on all 4 sides so I could visually align it, and then I drilled it freehand with a cordless drill. I opened up the hole at the mouth using a Dremel tool to fit the wider part of the tang. Then I used a combo of drill bit, a chisel I ground out of a long, really skinny screwdriver, and a tool I made out of a small saw blade that I ground the back on to make it really skinny. For the bolster, aluminum works great and it's easier to find than brass.
The blade is secured to the handle with a generous amount of JB Weld steel epoxy down the entire length of the tang. The tang is as long as the blade and goes down all but the last 1-1/4" of the handle. The only epoxy I'll use on a project like this is JB Weld. The excess cleans up easy with a wet cloth or damp paper towel. It has a very long cure time (it says 15 hours or so on the instructions but I always give it 24 hours), but when it does cure, that handle and the blade tang are effectively one piece. When initially mixed, it is very loose and runny so it fills all of the nooks and crannies of the tang cavity extremely well. I filled the entire tang cavity with JB Weld, used a small, long, skinny screwdriver to work it in and get all of the bubbles out as I topped it off with JB Weld. I then put the tang of the blade into the handle and slowly shoved it down, wiping off the excess JB Weld that came out. I then braced the knife up vertically, tip of the blade pointing up, with a board on the tip and some weight on the board and then let it harden for 24 hours. The bond of the JB Weld in an application like this is so strong, the blade steel or the wood of the handle will give before the epoxy will. To get that handle back off, you would need to grind it off, millimeter by millimeter (I've had to do that before).
I've done a couple of projects like this and the only custom tool I've used is a reciprocating saw blade who's top I ground down the spine on to make it really skinny and I made a rudimentary handle for. I use this for scraping out the insides of the cavity where the blade tang goes. It was made by Black & Decker and the teeth are a lot like those on a Leatherman Wave or Swiss Army Knife. I also have a very small head screwdriver that's very long and skinny that I sharpened into a chisel. You probably will want to buy a longer than normal drill bit which should save you quite a bit of initial work. When hollowing out the cavity just have patience. On the bolster, I drilled the hole for the knife tang out small and used jeweler's files to size it out. I used a small reciprocating power sander, the type that vibrates back and forth with a small square of sandpaper, to help shape the handle and handguard. I also used a Dremel tool quite a bit. I also used a wood rasp in the form of a Nicholson '4 in Hand', and I also used a half-round 'Bastard' file.
For the lanyard hole I used 1/4" brass tubing I bought at ACE Hardware for a couple of bucks a foot. For the hole I used a 1/4" drill bit and it was a tight fit. I smeared JB Weld into the hole with a Q-Tip before I lightly tapped it in. Do this after the knife blade is in but before you sand the handle down. So, when you do sand the handle down, it all comes out smoothly contoured.
The sheath was made with thick 1.5" leather strap originally intended for repairing horse tack. The sewing was done by hand with a sewing awl. I marked the holes out freehand with a small, Phillips screwdriver while eyeballing the spacing. The holes I drilled with a cordless drill, though I usually use a 110V Dremel. Often the leather is too thick to use my cordless Dremel. This is a pattern of sheath I developed that I've made variations of for several of my knives. The most difficult and tedious part of making this style of sheath is the hone pocket on the front.
Here is a pic showing the knife alongside a Kabar Mule lockblade folder for a size comparion. The Mule has a 3-3/4" blade. Oddly enough, the two marks on the handle from the snaps on the sheath's retaining strap show up in the photo, but are not really noticeable with the naked eye.
