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.
Nathan K –
Bought this second hand. Very nice for the price. Feels good in the hand and very quick due to the heavy pommel. Finish is at the high end for Indian made swords. I would rate above Deepeeka and similar to Del Tin
erich_ellis –
Full disclosure, I own a bunch of Balaur’s swords, both pre and post LK chen, and I love almost all of them. Please don’t take this as me saying not to enjoy the brand, as Balaur arms is one of my favorites. From a looks perspective, this is a cool sword. There are a number of originals in museums with hilts like this, with blades that were probably similarly profiled. But there is no way this weapon is anywhere near what an original would have felt like.
The crossguard and pommel are especially thick and monstrously heavy, which brings your POB way back. This of course makes the weapon want to rotate through the wrist. When you do that, you realize how pointy, sharp and god awful painful the pommel can be. This was magnified when I first received the sword because from the factory, the pommel was rotated to about 1 o’clock. For a lefty, this would have helped make the sword more comfortable. For a right hander like myself though, I swear that I just about dislocated my wrist the first time I swung it. So I muscled it over to the 11 o’clock and that really helped, but it turns out that I did not bend the tang, just deformed the inside of the pommel so it started wobbling (rotating slightly) after some use. Honestly this was a miserable weapon to use and I don’t regret damaging it, because now after the modification it may still give me blood blisters but at least it doesn’t lever my wrist apart. I know it has been a long time since I ordered this but I would really like the money back.
One star because the blade itself is well made.
Quentin A. Tartock (verified owner) –
This is easily one of the most historically accurate reproductions of a sverth / Viking-age sword that you can get, especially for the price point. The grip is going to be very tight for anyone to gets one of these, and you’re not going to be able to wear very thick gloves. My hands are relatively small for a man (being medium or small size for a glove, depending on brand) and the grip is barely wide enough for me to fit my entire hand.
Additionally, the pommel is *supposed* to be turned, as we’ve seen on hundreds of archeological finds, though it is true that Mr. Ellis’ was turned the wrong way and much too far. For a normal person the pommel should be at ~11:45 to 11:55 (if we’re looking at an analogue clock face to determine angle). Do NOT try to turn the tang by twisting the pommel of this sword. It’s made of brass, not of steel. You’re going to make the eye a perfect circle before turning the tang. You’ll have to deconstruct the hilt if you want to turn the tang at all.
Now, Mr. Ellis above me is having problems because he’s trying to use the sword incorrectly. He’s trying to use it like an arming sword, when a sverth and an arming sword are used completely differently. You don’t turn your wrist, you lever the pommel into your palm if you’re going to make a cast blow, but the use of a “hammer” grip is more appropriate; and from my practice in fighting other people with similar a sverth and round-shield in attempt to figure out how the Norse fought, I’ve found that the hammer grip is much more effective with a shield. This is also informed by the fact that the Norse valued raw physical strength so highly that to be called strong was a component of one of the highest compliments one could get: to be called Drengr (which is to be honorable, strong, brave, and true). Now, I do believe that Roland Warzecha is correct that cast blows were also prevalent, and it would account for why the skaldic kenning for a sword was “battle snake,” but his ideas for shield fighting don’t seem to be practical in actual combat.
He is correct that the top of the pommel that interfaces with your hand is quite sharp, but again it’s brass. It’s not exactly hard to wear down or sand.
The blade is excellent and the sharpening service from Kult of Athena did a wonderful job. I’ve yet to have any problems despite using the sword for brush clearing. Easily better than any blade you’d have found *in* the Viking age or for long after.
Quinn Waterfield (verified owner) –
Not too much to say for this one in terms of quality which is different.
Overall this is very close to being near perfect in terms of historical accuracy for a mid range reproduction.
The main issue is the fittings size and weight. The fittings are about %125-150 larger than the original typology and also lack the hollow pommel cap. This puts the balance 2” closer to the guard than typical of sword blades in this typology class (oakshotte type X, Geibig 1991 type 3)
In addition there was confusion in the design as the pommel guard has two holes drilled and filled with imitation copper rivets. Where the original has no rivets and is just through peened on the tang.
It’s hard to say without disassembly if the pommel assembly is two pieces like the originals or is one casting. If it is two parts the weight could be easily altered by a craftsman by removing material from the underside of the pommel cap.
Front guard has characteristics of typologies that have wood spacers set into the mouth where the blade shoulders sit. Tang slot is slightly wider than the tang itself but can be easily shimmed if nessisary. Tang rides the length of the slot and is solidly butted to the blade shoulder.
The blade is really good for the price, it’s been presumably surface ground and is strait in both axis. The flex is good aswell and surface finish is adequate for martial practice.
griffin valko (verified owner) –
The sword i received was filthy and had tons of staining along it. on top of that the sheath looks nothing like the one in the image and is substantially worse quality than it appears