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.
Malta –
Great weapon I loved the same dagger needing to be sharp after delivering but great for use and very sturdy
firespiter –
I purchased this from another vendor as KOA has been sold out for a time.
You may note I gave this 5 stars despite what might come across as several criticisms, but factoring in the price, it’s hard to find something comparable. From casual observation, this dagger is very similar in appearance to the A&A crusader dagger.
-There is no leather grip on this. The handle is just painted wood and not shaped very well. The handle is also abut 1/2″ too long, in my opinion, for a medieval dagger. The shape is just a tapering cylinder. Slapping leather on this would not be an improvement.
-The blade is carbon steel with no distal taper, but exactly the same length and just slightly wider than the A&A version. And despite the flattened diamond cross-section, the dull edge is almost 2mm, so I would strongly recommend getting it from KOA and investing in the sharpening service (which other vendors do not offer) unless you are proficient at sharpening/making blades.
-The cross-guard is nearly identical to the A&A version, but slightly longer and not quite as refined. The eccuson on the one I received was wobbely on one side. I’m pretty sure KOA’s review process would have declared the one I received as a munitions grade.
-The pommel is about 1.3″ in diameter, which is heavy but I like much better than the puny 0.875″ diameter ball pommel on the A&A version. The larger pommel on this (GDFB) model gives it a more substantial feel. The fact it is solid steel and peened, I would have no reservations to using the pommel to smash something where some rudimentary pounding/hammering would suffice. Note that short bladed weapons with heavy pommels can be a flopping problem when worn depending on your way of belt suspension.
-The tang appears to be contiguous to the blade and not welded on. There is no threaded rat-tail.
It’s tough to say because it has a lot to be desired out of the box. There is a dearth of carbon steel double edge daggers (even dull) for $90. In fact I considered buying just a dagger blank from a knife maker and making my own, but abandoned the plan when I did the math and time consideration of making the other parts (a ball of steel suitable for a pommel could set you back $15-25 by itself). And craft blades often have welded on tangs. And the blade would still be unsharpened and need a lot of work an still not look medieval accurate in shape.
If you have it in your budget and want a finer, sharp-out-of the box dagger of this style (and are okay with the petite pommel), get the A&A model. But if you have a small shop and basic shop tools (peen hammer, dremmel/grinder, flat head screwdriver to use as a pry, an anvil-like object and sandpaper) and are handy with them, you could fix the problems in a few hours of craft work.
If you are adventurous: grind off the peen. Remove the pommel (There was also epoxy helping to hold mine on, but a torch will help to release it. Beware of fumes), use a wood shaping bit on dremel to shorten and re-shape the grip to a medieval grip shape. Re-seat and peen the pommel (torch once again will help to soften the tang). For extra style points, throw on some leather risers, and a small piece of pigskin leather with a cord wrap and dye a more appealing color, and your $90 investment can look as good or better than a $250 one. YMMV.