I've been reading these boards and asking questions for a few months now, and I finally decided it was time to post some pics of my work. This blade is inspired by the brokeback seax. The runes are my own slightly educated guess at spelling Longtooth. They are from the Anglo-Saxon Rune Alphabet, as apposed to the more traditional Elder Futhark.
Overall Length 14 1/2 in. Blade Length 9 1/2in. Starts at 3/16 in thick and tapers until it's pointy.
The blade itself was forged from 1095 tool steel, normalized, then heated to non-magnetic and quenched in canola. Two 2hr cycles at about 415F (enough to get it to a dark straw color), and then the spine was tempered to a purple/blue 3 times using a butane torch. The handles I've been told are maple, they were given to me by a friend of a friend, and he couldnt really remember what it was. It's good and hard, and I like the look of it, so that is good enough for me. I filed the blade bright before H/T and then left the forge marks on the finished product. I hand sanded the blade lightly with 400 grit paper to give it just a little shine. I am very proud of it, and feel it is the first blade I have done that is worth showing off a little. Comments and questions welcome, I'd like to know what you all think.