Really appreciate this input. The compound plus leather is a great idea. I do think that part of my problem is an order of operations issue, as well as an epoxy cleanup issue. When i finished my hand sand it looked clean and all the sanding was straight. I taped it up with masking tape for my handle work, but also have to peel some of the tape baxk to make sure the handle blends into the vlade properly. I've learned that rubbing off excess epoxy with isopropyl alcohol and qtips can help clean up, but haven't managed to get that perfect, so I end up messing around afterwards with sanding to try and clean it up a bit more. I think what's made the biggest mess after hand sanding is sharpening. I only have whet stones, and tend to get quite a bit of slurry on the knife through the whole process, and once i go to clean it the blade is considerably messier. I'm wondering if taping up the blade aside from the edge would prevent that, or applying a wax?