Overview
Our sharpening service will provide a good serviceable edge on the blade. The result is typically “very sharp” with a small secondary bevel and a bit of an “apple seed” profile. The resulting edge is somewhat dependent on the particular blade. Some blades will take and hold sharper edges than others and the thickness of the blade will determine how wide the bevel will need to be. We adjust the angle of the edge to suit the specific blade and attempt to get as close to a bevel-less edge as possible without marring the surface of the blade.
The Sharpening Process
The sharpening service is done with a belt sander. The process involves many passes with sanding belts of various grits. The blades are rested between passes to prevent them from becoming hot and damaging their temper. By default we will sharpen as much of the blade as possible including any false edges if appropriate. If you have a different preference, feel free to make that request in the special instructions at check out. We can sharpen only the last half or third of an edge, for example. Our sword sharpening expert has personally sharpened several thousand swords at this point, so will provide you with a professional service.
What the Service is Not
The resulting edge will be “sword sharp” not razor sharp. Our goal is to provide you with a usable edge for cutting practice that will hold up to some use and not require constant re-sharpening. In other words, we intend to provide you with a serviceable weapon, not a personal grooming implement. The service will not provide a completely bevel-less edge. To create that type of edge will necessarily scratch up the blade surface and we lack the machinery and time to provide a full re-polishing of a blade’s surface. A service of that nature would be significantly more expensive as a great deal more time would be required. We do not offer this type of service at this time.
Disclaimer
We make no guarantee that the resulting edge will meet with your expectations. Every blade is different and some will take and hold a sharper edge than others, due to the blade material, heat treatment or geometry. Some customers can also have incorrect assumptions about sword sharpness and improper expectations as a result. All we can say for sure is that the resulting edge will be sharper than the default edge, in most cases, significantly so. We can not provide any refunds for the service once it has been completed, so consider it to be provided “as is”. That being said, if you are unhappy with the product for any reason, we do still allow you to return the item for a full refund, including the sharpening costs under our normal return policy. This does not apply to special sharpening requests, for example if we sharpen something specially for you that does not normally list that option on our site. The vast majority of our customers are happy with the results of the service, so as long as you keep the above mentioned in mind, we are confident you will be pleased with the results as well.
Erick –
Gorgeous Hamon and solid build quality This is my forth Hanwei sword. I previously bought a Raptor Nanbokucho katana, Dragon King Autumn katana, and a Hanwei Musashi Elite katana. I was very please with the Musashi Elite and the raptor was nice for the money. The Dragon king sword could of been done better. I didn’t like the habaki fit, narrow tapering grip, or blade heavy feel of that particular model. The bottom of the habaki wasn’t flush to the seppa on the dragon king sword.
The Lion Dog katana is in a whole different league. The saya is amazing due to its two tone look and multi colored silk sageo. The habaki fit was perfect with a moderate amount of pressure needed to release the blade from the says. All the fittings were very tight and nicely made. The same or rayskin is very high end with a multi colored/yellowish emperor’s node. The hamon is out of this world looking… I cant stop looking at it. The sori is not as pronounced as my musashi elite which has a lot of curve to it. The lion dog is a little straighter and thicker than the musashi elite.
Its one hell of a tough blade and sharp. It handles very nicely for its larger size. The blade on mine was 29 inches to the habaki. The tsuka/grip was 13.5 inches. Its a little longer than advertised but it feels great in hand. The ito was wrapped VERY tightly and has a curve to it. The curve follows the curve of the sharp part or ha of the blade like it is suppose to. I was pleasantly surprised that the tsuka wasn’t as thick or axe handle feeling like the raptor and musashi elite. The lion dog’s tsuka was narrower than both of those katana but was still hand filliing.
The O kissaki was very nicely done with a good diamond shaped tip that can be seen when looking done the mune or spine. The Tsuba is a bit plain until you look at the detail of the lion dog. Its highly detailed but hard to pick up unless you are looking directly at it. It was very sharp, not as sharp as the musashi elite, but plenty sharp enough. The edge is more of an appleseed hard target edge than a razor sharp soft target edge. I am EXTREMELY pleased with my purchase. Kult of Athena has been great and has the best prices around. I highly recommend the lion dog and musashi elite katana for anyone looking for a great cutting sword.
Kris –
Amazing katana for a good price! I don’t normally review… well, anything. However, this is one purchase that I feel might hold some merit, concerning future customers.
Now, let me start off by saying, I only own two katana and a bokken at this point. So, I’m not exactly what you would call an aficionado. And I had only take kendo half a year before the studio moved out of town and I lost access to proper training.
That said, I spend weeks doing research before buying any swords. I read up on the munetoshi t10 brand before making that purchase and I was relatively pleased, even despite the shoddy Ito and Sageo. And for a sword of this magnitude, read price range, I was definitely doing my homework.
In short, I got exactly what I expected. The hamon is beautiful and more distinct than on any other sword I’ve seen. The o-kissaki is very elegant and preferred, in all honesty. And the blade is razor sharp. I haven’t tested it yet, but I’m sure it will perform nicely.
Furthermore, the Habaki fits firmly in the saya, with no looseness to speak of. The silk Sageo is of such high quality that I’m not sure much more even needs to be said. The Ito is also of a very high quality, in regards to what I expected. It’s nice and snug against the real Same rayskin, which features an emperor node, albeit a bit cut down near the top for whatever reason.
Lastly, the saya itself is beautifully done. I had an issue at the mouth of the saya that I had to touch up, but nothing severe. Overall, it’s a great looking saya and possibly one of my favorite designs. The menuki, tsuba and kashira are the final touches and they are all prim and proper. The lion dog design on the tsuba and kashira are great, although you do need some measure of light to make out the designs.
In all, this is a damn fine sword. It’s not folded, but with it being effectly a stronger type of spring steel, of Hanwei’s own design, then it doesn’t really need to be folded, in my eyes.
The lion dog katana was supposed to retail for about $1,400, which I think is a bit high. However, for just over 800 large, it’s not completely out of budget and it could be right up your alley.