OK, here is my first draft concept of the HT knife:
All this stuff is open to discussion, especially in the Chat Room on Sunday, but here's the starting point: a 5" blade, about a 4" handle, with about a 1" ricasso. The ricasso is necessary for me to be able to do a hardness test on your blade without having to go to a lot of trouble. I'm thinking 1/8" steel because that's easy to HT and if you can't do that you can't do thicker blades either. And, if re-grinding is needed the thinner blades will be faster and easier to handle. Plus, they will be easier to break when the time comes. A full size pattern will be provided so that everyone's knife is as identical as can be reasonably managed.
At first, I wanted everyone to use the same steel from a single source and I still think that would be best but I can already see that's a problem. Upon further consideration, it probably isn't necessary anyway as this is not a competition where we're trying to see who does the best HT and therefore want to be sure we're all starting on the same page. This is only to be sure each individual can HT whatever chunk of 1084 he has and the testing will tell us that. So, if you already have some 1/8" 1084 from any source or if you prefer to buy your own that's fine IMO. If you don't have it and don't want to order any then we'll work out a price - probably on the order of $5 - and I'll order in quantity and send you a 12" piece (or whatever you want).
The knives will come to me first. I'll do a hardness test on the using that ricasso area so be sure that area is as hard as your blade. I'll also etch your name on the spine of the handle so Eli will be able to track the knives easily. And, if re-grinding is needed I'll do it at that time to save Eli from having to buy belts. Then I'll bundle them all up and ship to Eli for testing. After testing, Eli can either ship them back to their makers if he has the time or ship the lot to me and I'll ship them back.
That's a start, we'll kick it around more Sunday night so try to be there. Of course, you can throw in whatever you want to say right here too but interactive generally works better for these types of discussions....