this is the third knife that i have made. i will probably grind and sand the whole blade down more, and put handle on all of them. this knife is made out of a leaf spring. the knife has been tempered and heat treated. feel free to criticize.

You want to do most of your filing, sanding, etc. before final heat treating, it's a lot easier to do on soft steel. I'd anneal after forging to relieve stress, then do my grinding, etc. Then harden and temper. Then final polishing.

Frosty

Yep, what Frosty said with the addition of a normalizing sequense after grinding.
That means taking to a red heat then allowing to cool several times. Removes grinding stresses.

What they have said is true. The normalizing is really needed when one forges the blade to relieve the stress's from the forging process.You hate to find those stress's when you get to the hardening phase quench it and it cracks or bends or worse yet shatters

Looks like you at least know what some of the basics are, even if you haven't mastered them yet. You might want to do some work on the handles, thinning them down some, adding some finger grooves, etc. I suggest this as an exercise in hammer control as much as design or ergonomics. Keep it up!

I was thinking more in the lines of hand filing and sanding rather than grinding. But yes, if you grind normalize or anneal before your final heat treat.

Frosty