OK - Fine with me! I've got some new shots to post up here. They are not the best quality, but they at least show what's going on in terms of process.
First off I have to admit that that way I do this is not the proscribed methodology. Normally, one stacks all the parts of the handle onto the tang and glues them all at the same time...set in a small "vise" made just for this. When I do the glueing I'll show that. Me? Well, what I've had to do was do the spacers and handle parts in stages...glueing a few pieces together and then assembling those 'sets' into the full handle. The photos below show the spacer pieces set onto a bolt in the same orientation they will occupy on the handle...for shaping. I use a belt sander, a small 2"X42" and although real pros will go on and on about this machine of that machine...the little one I got for about $150 does what I need it to do just fine. The 2" belts are not all that common, but I've found them online pretty easily.
I'll post some photos of the same thing, after sanding.
Also, check in the jaws of the green vice. The three pieces that form the guard are set in there for edge shaping. I take them down to rough form with files and then 220 grit paper in a block. Note that the guard is made up of three pieces of metal, 3mm nickel silver, 3mm brass and 1mm nickel silver. They are set up this way so that I can do some filework on the middle piece of the sandwich...the brass...which should look cool when assembled (saw it on the internet! lol). Aside from the metals the materials used are Reindeeer antler, green dymondwood, and Ebony.
Last thing. The Gabon Ebony handle. I ended up carving it to sort of resemble (how much depends on the number of drinks you're had) a seal...or a Polar Bear...or whatever. The eyes and nostrils are drilled and I set some sterling silver wire into the eyes and some sterling tubing (cause...like...he's gotta breathe, right?) into the nostril holes.
OK - the pics: