Thanks for the compliments.
This piece was forged, normalized three times, annealed twice, hardened at *1475--quenched in Parks 50, then tempered at *475 (this piece was differentially hardened using clay as a resist). I don't have an RC tester to confirm, but, the hardness should be right around 60 Rockwell.
The best advice for forging is never let the blade overheat. Don't forge in direct sunlight. I've seen many knives that were worse because they were mistreated during the forging process.
I REALLY need to get this piece finished-- way too many other projects .