proswimmerguy, I know that the excitement and intrigue of making a knife and making sword makes you want to make these things now. However there is no replacing Black smithing basics, take a piece of half inch round bar, and make it square, try to get good sharp corners, when you have done that make a octagon, turning the square on edge and hammer the edges to create a new flat, once again try to make as crisp and clean lines and edges as you can, then make the bar round again, make a square taper on the end, then make the square taper almond shaped, this is a very basic exercise, and you should do it till its easy.the experience you can gain from something like this will be very useful, and maybe your next knife won't look so much "like crap"