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.
Richard Miller –
I got this sword to see if it was actually as good a cutter as Cold Steel claimed.
To be honest, it is a decent cutter, but otherwise it’d just a Sword-Like-Object that can be used to cut most soft targets such as pool noodles, water bottles, single Tatami mats and wet newspaper. Beyond that, it just LOOKS like a well made sword.
First, The specs listed above are quite true to the sword that I received. I am a bit surprised that Kult of Athena found ANY distal taper in the blade at all. On my sword and with my digital calipers, the thickness of the blade is pretty uniform at about 4mm along the length with a couple of spots where the thickness drops to about 3.7-3.8mm. It’s really only in the last inch and a half of the blade where it varies down to under 3mm. The blade has a center ridge (where I made my measurements) but it is definitely not hollow ground (no judgement… just saying) but on the “flat” of the blade there is also no distal taper found.
As to the edges, there is really no taper or thinning as the blade nears the edge. The edge is just a bevel, but sharp bevel to be sure.
The edge is sharp indeed and very even, make no mistake about it. With a very thin blade that is also quite flat, there is very little drag during a cut which lends to easier cutting. This blade’s geometry similar to some extremely fine cutters like XVIIIc blades offered by Albion and Arms & Armor which are true fighting swords, but the offering by Cold Steel really is just a specialty tool for cutting soft targets, and doesn’t feel much like a true, well designed weapon.
On the good side, this sword does lend itself to cutting soft targets, and it might make a fair-to-middling cutter like myself capable of making a few of my “almost went through” cuts into “all the way through” cuts. The competitors that I have seen who win cutting competitions however, are people who need absolutely no gimmicks to make solid multiple cuts with authentic examples of medieval fighting swords.
I admit that my review is a bit biased due to my affection for reproductions of sword that might have been used as weapons the way swords were meant to be used in battle rather than “Bearing Swords” or “Funeral Achievements” designed only for looks.
To sum it up I have to admit that this “nut-pommeled-looks-like-the-Arbedo-Sword” cutter really does cut well and on that note I would give it four stars, but because it’s more a tool than an example of what a medieval was like, I’d give two stars so I split the difference and gave it Three Stars.
sgregg –
It cuts great. It is well balanced, The grip is well made and allows for good indexing, which helps in the cutting. The blade is on the short side, and is hollow ground with a mirror polish. I got this with the factory edge, no extra sharpening. I am not really a fan of the pommel design. I would prefer either a wheel or scent stopper pommels. Overall the finish is solid. The scabbard is a bit rinky-dink, just okay. I will probably make my own. Due to the blade length, this could be easily wielded single handed. If you are wearing this to an event, you will be less likely to run the scabbard end into other people or object, LOL. I have a XVIIIc that is significantly more expensive that this sword, but this does just as good a job at slicing targets. Is it a reproduction of a extant artifact? Nope. But it is not marketed as such so I am quite happy with it.
jordanclymer –
Hello there, just posting to counterbalance another review. You know, there is another site that sells swords specifically catered to historic replicas and it even has ‘replica’ in the name. Maybe if someone is that concerned with it being a replica of a historic model, they should try that place out instead of making a good sword look like a not-so-good sword. I bet he already frequents that site and One Stars all the fantasy swords they offer…
However, I have no desire to drive business away from KOA; they do just fine with customer service and QC and have most of the items any of the other sites offer, and almost always at a better price, anyway. This is “Kult of Athena”; it’s about weapons and war. Others say this sword is a good cutter and that’s what the name of the sword implies and what it was designed for and for far cheaper than any similar model I’ve seen offered. No need to take points off for ‘historic accuracy’. It sure looks similar to a lot of replica models I’ve seen here and other places.