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.
Garrett –
Quality sword, with adjustments. I bought this alongside the blunt version of the Tinker Pearce Longsword. After swapping the blades out and cutting water bottles with it, it truly lived up to all of the wonderful things said about it. Sharp, beautiful, and very well balanced. However, the threaded portion of the tang was too long, and was bottoming out in the nut leaving everything loose. I did not encounter this problem with the blunt blade, the tang on the sharp blade was simply too long. I had to use a dremel tool and a cutting bit to cut off a little less than half an inch of the tang, and everything worked flawless after that.
Alex –
very good for the price well i wanted project/custom sword. but not the wall hanger. so i ordered this blade and and nut i have designed and made my own pommel and cross guard made my own wood handle. wrap it with cord and leather. and i am happy. even though it has nice point edge needs to be sharpened more. it is a bit to the floppy side. it is not like whip but taking in consideration price i paid its acceptable for me.unfortunately i can not post picture here. maybe will do video when finish the scabbard
Lonerider –
Hanwei Tinker Longsword blade Ordered this and mocked up my own hilt furniture to get a sharp ls on the cheap. The blade is sturdy, well made, and pleasing to the eye and hand. I like the brushed finish doesn’t show scratches as much. KOA was very helpful and this shipped right on time.
I’ve never had a sharp longsword before so I thought my difficulty cutting was my inexperience. No doubt that played a part, but more importantly was the edge. It sold as sharp so I didn’t select sharpening service, but it came more or less blunt! Doh!
If it had come with a decent edge I’d have given five stars. As it is, for this excellent albeit blunt blade I give 3 stars, only because I’ve spent three days off and on honing it and it is still only sort of sharp. It will now cut water jugs and sometimes bottles, but it is still not “sharp” as it should be.
Great sword, I love everything but the edge…
Jonathan S. –
One of the Best Project Blades Let’s be frank: this isn’t the perfect longsword blade. “But why did you give it five stars?!?” Well, because I’m reviewing this as a project blade–a piece that’s meant to be worked on, that isn’t expected to be ready-to-use in its starting state. And for THAT purpose, it’s pretty much perfect. The edges are a little chunky, with a sizeable secondary bevel. Passable, as others have said, but not great. The advantage, from a tinkering perspective, is this gives you more metal to work with for different edge geometries. Want a very robust, convex edge? Cool, a couple hours with a file and you’re good to go. Do you want a classic appleseed edge? A couple more hours. Do you want a very fine, thin, flat grind, like I did? I put quite a few hours into grinding this blade to the proper geometry, refining the tip, etc. Polished it up, hilted it, and it’s absolutely phenomenal. I’ve got friends with Albions who were blown away when I showed them this custom Tinker. They were very, very perturbed that a $100 blade could cut about as well as a $1,000 sword. The steel is hard but flexible, holds an edge beautifully, and is stiff enough to deliver great thrusts without being too brittle. Ultimately, if you’re looking for an off-the-shelf blade on which you won’t have to do much major work, I don’t think this is the product for you. But if you’re looking for a project blade and plan on working the geometry to your liking, this blade will meet and exceed your expectations; that, I promise.
T –
3 star reviews are speaking from ignorance putting it bluntly.
This is a tinker (look him up) designed sword blade for barely more than $100. It is 15/5 stars from the start. No other sword south of the $~1000 mark today has anywhere near this level of technical knowledge put into it’s blade geometry. Effectively all other swords within the pricing bracket of the H/T longsword this is the replacement/project blade for are just flatstock cut into the profile shape of sword blades. Compared to 6.6 mm – 2.4 mm of distal taper. This is a real sword in an entry sword market bereft of real swords.
Point 2. It is made of spring steel. You can flex these blades tens of degrees without issue. Yet again, almost only sword in this price point whose blade will not be destroyed by a 15 degree bend off center. Though being springsteel, that does mean it requires effort to sharpen and keep sharp. That said, the factory edge out the box is perfectly serviceable for test cutting bottles or meat targets. Could be better, can be better (use a 1×30 belt sander with 600-1000 grit knife sharpening belts) but is better out the box than just about anything not semicustom to begin with.