Too much effort?
I found some surplus 416 stainless bar ends and bought two pieces that are 2.5 inches in diameter and 12 inches long.
I plan to cut them up to make guard material and from my calculations I will be able to get 10 pieces of material, .375 X .750 X 12.00 from each bar.
I bought the bars for $13.50 each, so I'll end up with 20 pieces of 3/8 x 3/4 x 12 for around $40 by the time shipping was added.
Since I only do this part time I figured that at $2.00 a bar I could justify the time I'll spend cutting them up.
What do you think? Worth the effort or not?
Mike

Mike- time is money. The more you do this, the more you realize that starting with material that is close to the finished size you need is more economical in the long run.

I suppose this could logically progress to the laser/water jet cutting of blades, but then you are dealing with a production shop.

You could make sculped handles of that stuff like Wolfgang Loerchner....

;)

Well I guess I have an unfair advatage here, because I'll give it to the guys in the tool and die shop here where I work and they will cut it for me. So I really won't have that much of my time invested, just the time it will take for them to do it as they will just work on it when they have some spare time.
When I have an order backlog, I don't waste any time messing with something like this, but when I don't it still gives me an excuse to be in the shop. :D
Mike