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.
Oyabun –
5 stars for the price; 4 stars on its own merits regardless of price. Quite sharp as received, extremely sharp after a couple gentle passes on a ceramic hone. Grip is comfortable and secure in my hand, gloved or bare-handed. Grip leather seam and wire-wrap are near-perfect. The grip fits my XL-sized hand very nicely in hammer, handshake, and saber grips. Blade is very flat, less than 0.1mm bow at center. Scabbard is well-made, sword fits tightly but draws out easily enough, no rattling. The blade finish is somewhat inconsistent, which is easy enough to rectify. Handling is terrific, especially in comparison with other cutlasses and hangers I’ve handled; relative to my C.S. 1917 cutlass, this K.A. hanger is 7.9 oz lighter, 1.75″ shorter POB, distal tapered, right-handed, with superior grip. I can’t yet speak to its durability, other than to say it looks and feels very solid.
Josiah .C (verified owner) –
Scabbard and grip are terrific very aesthetically pleasing. My main complaint comes with the blade itself. While feeling solid and quite sharp, approximately 2/3 of the way up the blade length it does appear to have slight lean to the right. While this isn’t devastating in itself, it does appear that instead of setting the blade aside as a defect they removed sufficient material in an attempt to keep the blade profile aligned. This intern leaves the upper half of the blade much flatter on one side and with no bevel.