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.
Clint R. –
The meaning of ‘training sword’? Order a training sword and it exploded ten seconds after using it. I contacted Athena and they informed me that it broke because I was using it wrong and they might send me a new hilt if I agree that I was the reason it broke. Terrible customer service response, I’m still dumbfounded by it. I never took the hilt as it would do nothing for me because the hilt launched across the yard after the cheap support that hold it in place shattered in several pieces. I’m not certain what the definition of ‘training sword’ is, but this experience did sharpen my eye when it comes to purchasing a ‘training sword’. When I explained how awful the customer service was to Athena, they did apologize and offer a new hilt without insulting me, and that is why I’m giving it 2 stars and not 1. This company has awesome reviews everywhere I looked and that’s why I went with them. I must have caught them at a bad time…
Corey –
My review is That this is a grate buy I like that the guard comes off and it works well with and without the guard it’s got a good weight to it and it grate for soaring I recommend it
Orion –
Good Cheap Starter Working at a minimum wage job and want to get into learning European martial arts? This is the sword to start with. Compared to near all other training swords, this sucks, but this is the sword I have learned longsword with. It should be noted that this is more the size of a Hand and a Half sword. Most longsword wasters I’ve seen are about 10 inches longer. I now have my hands on a Rawlings Synthetic Sword, so if you’re better off financially then go get that. It’ll probably bend a lot due to the material it is made out of, but it is easy to bend back into shape.
Chris –
Seem decent I ordered two and they seem decent enough, but they both have a noticeable bend in the “blade” setting the flat of the blade on a flat surface, there is over an inch of clearance along a large portion of the blade.
i doubt it will really matter, but a bit annoying. still they were cheap and are (hopefully) more durable than random sticks found in our woods.