[Doug Lester]

I think that I understand what you are wanting to do but I'm not sure that you can make it work the way that you have the tang profiled. Have you condidered a single branch guard where the arm of the guard only extends past the ricasso on the edge side of the blade?

T make it, lay out the profile of the guard on an appropriate bar of metal with the center line of the slot marked on it. The finished slot will be open to the back. Make this slot a little deaper than you need it to be. The guard will be evened up with the spine then you finish the guard. Also leave the bar that your're making the guard from long enough to handle while fitting the slot and cut it to length after the slot has been prepared.

To make the slot, drill a line of holes on the center line on the guard that are smaller in diameter than the finished width of the slot. Connect these holes and open up he slot with hacksaw blade and files. A set of jeweler's files are not all that expensive. As you get near the width of the slot that you need, slow down and check often. You will want as close of a fit as you can get. If you widen the slot a tad too much you can tap it in a bit with a hammer. You will also have to have a flat section below the ricasso to seat the guard against. Some also make a slight notch in the tang that the guard will slip into but that is not an absolute necessity.

After you have the slot cut then you can cut the material to length and finish the profile of the guard. You and soulder the guard in place or you can "cold soulder" it with JB Weld. If you don't like the guard at any point you can always start over.

Another option would be to make that finger grove just below the ricasso a little deeper. That would also help prevent the fingers slipping forward over the edge, which I think is an over rated danger. Unless the blade is used to stab into something where something hard, like bone, might be encountered there's really not much of a danger of it happening. If your buyer is really worried about it and wants a guard, the single branch guard would do the job. A double branch guard is not necessary.

Doug