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.
Jim E. –
Practical XL plus katana. Sword arrived in a so-so sharp condition. Needed more polishing to even cut new wara.
Essen –
Just to get this out of the way
This is not the exact version of this katana that I own and I purchased my sword from a local katana shop
And like I said my sword is slightly different
The tsuba I have is a rectangle in shape and has a tsunami pattern on it and the handle i believe is an inch ir two longer than the standard
But overall it is the same product
And overall I have had a good experience with my katana so far
I haven’t owned it for very long but I have already done test cutting on straw mat, several bottles, and even empty bottles
And I can say that this sword cuts like a dream, I’ve been able to pull off more consistent clean cuts in harder targets than with other swords I own of similar quality due to the high cutting power nature of such a sword
But be warned that that same nature may make this sword not the right blade for some people
This is an XL blade it is fairly large for a katana I believe even around the length and weigh of a standard tachi but I may be wrong
And that weight might make this sword too heavy for some people who want to practice things like iatio or ken jutsu
Personally I have used this at my Ken jutsu dojo pretty well and my sensei has one aswell
But I am a relatively tall person with some amount of strength
I’m around 5’10 and I’ve been getting consistent workouts in for a while now and have been handling swords for years
So while this katana has served me very well and fits me well it may not be the correct choice for someone who is substantially shorter or lacking in strength as it may make it harder to execute techniques properly
But that’s just part of the beauty of it in my opinion is finding a blade that matches you as it’s wielder
Which is why I’m leaving this review to let people who this blade may suit know that it may suit them and the people who it won’t that it won’t
But as far as quality itself goes I have found almost no issue with this sword
The edge is nice the polish is a bit rough in some places but that’s okay this is a heavy cutting sword meant for use after all
So from my eyes it’s an excellent blade that I can recommend from my time owning it so far
But keep in mind what you are looking for in a blade always of course
And if you can get a sense of what something is like in your hand before you buy it that is always great