I don't actually 'know' what construction method Loveless used on his Big Bear knife but from looking at it I can guess. The first guard simply has a hole in it and slips over the handle. In Bob's case, this would be a near perfectly fitted slot that probably had to be tapped into position. To hold it Bob soldered his guards, if you look closely at the pictures of his knives you can see the fillet of solder. Soldering guards is getting to be a rare skill these days. The sub-hilt is probably just slotted and pinned to the tang with the joints again blended with solder......
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