The making of a correctly tempered blade is the key to knife
making. Guys that know how to do this are artist in their own
right. I have made a lot of knives but have mostly failed in
tempering process. Which I attempted while making knives out
of files. I take the easy way out and look for items of carbon
steel that are already tempered. Actually this is about the same
as making a "kit" knife. Believe me there are a lot more Handle
artists than blade smiths.