These handles were hand sanded, no hot spots on them anywhere! My teenage daughter can handsand with the best of them. She told me my handles stink and booted me out of the handle dept. I don't argue with this kind of result. Whit profiled and drill the holes for us, and I just did the heat treat and the grind. I glued on these handles, roughed them in on the kmg down to 120 grit, and then my daughter took over... So I can't take all the credit for this project!