Hey everyone:
I just got off the phone with Jason Randall. Although he cannot address this #14-CDT being shown here, Jason informed me that the Randall shop does "not" heat-treat their tangs. Both stainless and carbon models are "annealed" to make then less brittle and to be able to work with them during the fit and finishing process.
As A side note: I cannot help but notice how "un-new" the nickel silver double hilt appears for just "one chop". Not saying it didn't happen....just a curious observation. The initial thread did ask for "first-hand" accounts. This is not "quite" first hand.
Thanks to Jason for the clarification. It's great to see that, not only do we have Scott's eyes and ears on our forum, but Jason's as well.
Have a nice weekend everyone, Capt. Chris