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.
David (verified owner) –
Passable look and balance. Very poor guard construction, unimpressive edge even with usually-excellent KOA sharpening.
txmosberg (verified owner) –
Amazing sword to buy! Guard construction is not poor, high quality steel, and amazing balance! Would definitely recommend.
Matthew Nguyen (verified owner) –
I quite like it! Balance is nice, its a basic but very pretty sword (perhaps thats just the aesthetic I like). The blade seems stiff, which is nice seeing as how windlass had a problem with their longer blades being too flexible in the past. Now this sword is more or less a spadroon which is cut and thrust, but mind the blaring “Unsharpened” tag in the specifications. Windlass is based in India. They cannot sell or ship sharpened swords. I bought mind with the kult of athena sharpening service just to put an edge at all on the blade, but let me tell you even with that service you’re barely going to cut anything. Its edge is almost pitiful, but at least with the sharpening service…you have an edge.
How much that bothers you is up to you. I wanted AN edge on the blade but I dont plan on doing much cutting with it anyways. More for display and to feel a little more cool when practicing fencing. If you want it to be more functional, take it to a whetstone, grinder, sand paper, or file, but just know that whether or not you get the sharpening feature…You’re not going to getting a sharp blade in the mail. For my purposes however? Love it.