Reply by RiverWood

This should turn out to be a very informative topic. I enjoy making tools from old files and saw blades. There is no need to be an expert metallurgist if you go slow and don’t overheat your stock. Polishing is much like sharpening, pretty much the same end result. As for softer metals, I have made many things with everything from spent ammo to used pipe and fittings. A dremel tool or angle grinder are very useful for shaping (remember go slow) and a grinder or files to refine shapes. Hope this helps to get the topic going.

-- My favorite projects were firewood bound