Just finished a third knife. I bought a kit, threw out the blanks that came with it and bought a piece of stabilized maple burl. Got both sides fitted and then shattered one side with a nail and hammer when I tried to start the screw. Dummy. Ordered this nice piece of Afzelia burl, its from Southeast Asia. I figure you might as well spend a few extra bucks on the wood, it takes the same amount of time to finish as a cheap piece of wood and it looks a lot better. You can get spectacular wood for not a lot of money.
I had to peen over nickel silver pins in the bolsters, file, sand and then buff down to where you can't see them. I shaped the scales on a belt sander and then progressively wet sanded down to 2000 grit. Finished the wood off with carnauba wax applied with a loose cotton buffing wheel.
Overall I was happy with how it came out, better than the first folder I did. I did a fixed blade knife for my Dad with exhibition grade Ironwood scales that came out really nice. I'll put some pictures up after Christmas.
