Hello Spitfire, I forge high carbon steels mostly 1070/1080 1084 1095 and O-1 tool steels. I guess I use what ever I pick up. They're all good steels. Most of my handles come from a very old stock pile of deer, elk, and moose antlers I bought a couple of years ago. I was told and I believe that they were over a hundred years old. There are ways to further age them the process has been discussed many times in various threads and posts on these forums. The marks on the blades are touch marks I use. One is the letter "Y" breaking through an arrow. The letter "Y" is the first letter of my last name. The story behind that is I was shooting my long bow from the sidewalk infront of my garage to a target inside my garage. I plucked the string during release and the arrow plumb centered my anvil snapping the arrow in half, the anvil won on that contest. The double barred cross mark is also known as the Lorraine cross. This symbol was a popular trade symbol and it is easy to make. Take care.
Joe Yanta
