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.
Raven M. –
good blade for a good deal I purchased this sword as my first after a long period of consideration. I have abused it to all shit and still it works and performs well to this day. The only reason I didn’t give it a 5 star was because furnishing on the scabbard came of and I had to reattach it with epoxy. Once I seen you guys allowed reviews I had to.
Thomas R. –
Fantastic first sword This was the first sword I’ve ever purchased after careful consideration, and I couldn’t be happier. The blade comes very sharp indeed, as advertised. With proper edge alignment, it’ll cut through most targets with ease. What’s more, I’ve beat the heck out of it with targets I probably shouldn’t hit but I’ve had no problems, not even dulling. My favorite thing about this sqord, though, is the balance. If your forward hand is up to the crossguard, you barely feel the weight of the sword, making it very easy to handle and manuver. My only warning is that you buy it from here or somewhere else that sells it with the 9 and 7/16″ handle, because having a shorter handle not onlyour throws off the balance, but greatly decreases your leverage (I bought the cold steel hand and a polypropylene trainer as well, but the handle is shorter and it handles MUCH differently, and with more difficulty)
Overall, fantastic product.
Silvo –
Bought two, one was great! I had the pleasure of being able to purchase two of these swords for friends of mine as gifts, I purchased the first one and was very impressed with it, the sword had good make and flex.
This being the case I ordered a second, it was much stiffer and didn’t vibrate well, I’m only getting into swords now but the second version I received seems that it has a higher likelihood of breaking from use.
Tahari Withers –
I love this sword! This sword is quite the looker and I have been testing it for a long time now on water bottles (everything from tiny plastic bottles to hard milk jugs) and it has not let me down. It keeps its edge very well! The scabbard is a nice leather/wood/metal combo that works, and looks decent! One problem with it is the guard on it might get a little wobbly from usage, but i haven’t seen any real problems with it, it just moves a little. The leather on the hilt is nice and the pommel is very comfortable to hold. All in all it is a very nice sword for a very nice price!
MicronV –
Love! Just buy it! Don’t think about it, don’t ask your wife. Just buy it! I love this sword even more so than my DSA Sword! Very Sharp, Very strong, Excellent balance, and over all amazing for this price all I can say is WOW!
Ashanti Z. –
Great first sword This sword is almost perfect, it prob has some of the best response and balance of most of the swords I have used, some of which include an Arms and Armor sword, an Albien Regent, and some other well made blades. I would use this as my primary sword, over the Durer, if the blade was a harder steel.
The problem is in the execution. the handle is kind of wiggly and not super easy to find the edge everytime, I ended up needing to rebuild the handle and making it much closer to the Albien Earl handle and attaching it like Albien attaches their handles. The blade is on the soft side and needs constant resharpening. this sword could be an amazing sword but it is still a good first sword, especially if you want to learn to sharpen, hand sharpen or mod a sword…
Paul Brooks –
an extension of my arm i take this sword everywhere. even if it sits in the car or truck or by my bed at the hotel. the chape is loose on the sheath though and the wood is super thin as well as the leather. easily damaged or snapped.
stitching on the handle runs down the spine, perfect for keeping your edge in line with your swings and makes finding or creating a primary edge easier.
hard to use in confined spaces though. more of an open field sword.
pommel sometimes scratches my arm pretty bad. using bracers helps with that.
iamcats9 –
Solid Came with an edge that you could shave with, no complaints there, the whole sword fit together with no rattling or loose fittings, the guard was tight. Holds up to cutting bottles, black berries, small (3 inch at the largest) trees and branches whiteout any noticing each edge damage, from my experience it is well worth the money!
Jeremy –
You won’t find a better functional Medieval sword. I’m typically more of a Katana fan, but I’d always wanted a functional Medieval sword, and this one was PERFECT. The weight of the sword alone was enough to start cutting through the box. Expertly made, great scabbard, and a razor-sharp edge. The leather on the handle is a bit thin, but the blade is absolutely flawless. Well-balanced, but for me, it’s a bit long for one-handed use.
Robert O. –
Best for the Buck Got this sword a few months ago. Still haven’t had a chance to cut with it but it handles very nicely. Also very beautiful. It just draws your eyes right to it. I have had no issues with loose fittings or rattling crossguard yet, but as I said I still haven’t cut with it. This one has a longer grip than the ones you’ll find on Amazon or similar websites, which gives it an amazing agility advantage. I have created a Weapon Agility Graph for it to the best of my ability (which is quite questionable TBH). I’ll post the link below. This is probably the best sword of this type that you can get for this price. It’s not an Albion, but who can afford those anyway? Cold Steel uses adequate quality steel and tempers it correctly. I’ve owned several of their 1055 steel swords before and they’ve all performed well. Decent edge retention and impressive durability. As others have said, it came paper-shaving sharp. Would definitely recommend.
https://subcaelo.net/ensis/dynamics-computer/?eyJ3ZWFwb25zIjp7IkNvbGQgU3RlZWwgSGFuZCBhbmQgYSBIYWxmIDlcIiBHcmlwIjp7Ik0iOjE0NDIuOTksIlIiOjEsIkNvRyI6OS41MywiYnV0dCI6LTMwLjU5LCJ0aXAiOjg1LjU3LCJLIjoyNDIuNjMyODM3MzczNzM3MzUsImRLIjozODMuNTM0ODYxOTA2NTMwNzUsImxldmVyIjotNiwibm9kZTEiOi00LCJub2RlMiI6NDgsIm0iOiJ3IiwiY29uZiI6WzcsOCw3LDZdLCJwMHMiOlswLDAsMCwwXSwicDFzIjpbMjUsMzUsMzEsNTRdLCJOcCI6bnVsbCwicHBzIjpbbnVsbF0sIlRzIjpbbnVsbF19fSwidmVyc2lvbiI6IjIifQ%3D%3D
Flip (verified owner) –
Wow, this thing is a beast! Bought a wall plaque for it, and now it hangs proudly. No loose parts or noticeable flaws, and it’s close to light sabre sharp. Seriously, my concentration level must have been hovering at around 110% while polishing. Beautiful sword all around, and thank you koa!
alientude –
A perfectly competent sword, which is really the best you can expect at the price point. Decent handling and functionally sharp. There’s certainly room for improvement, but those improvements would likely increase the cost of the sword. The biggest thing you could do to improve it yourself is rewrap the grip with decent leather rather than the cheap-feeling leather it comes with. But for the price, that’s the kind of compromise you often have to make.
I did a full review on YouTube: https://youtu.be/rNHgOzO1dv4
DeviL (verified owner) –
I order 4 of the Cold Steel Hand and a Half swords as Christmas gifts for my friends this year and they were all shipped and delivered promptly. Out of the box each sword was carefully packaged and were in excellent condition. On all four swords I did not find anything wrong. So if you’re wondering if you might get a lemon or not. I think I can say KOA knows what they are doing. For the swords themselves. I don’t think you will find anything else as robust for this price point. The hilt and pommel feel nice and snug with no rattling. The cross-guard is tight with no rattle even though the website does state some issues with the manufacturer and their cross-guards. I’m sure some epoxy can fix that without a problem if eventually develops. The blade is uniform and exactly as you see in the picture. Very sharp as well. Overall feels good in the hands. Can’t wait to test it out. But the best part honestly is the price. I feel like I definitely got my money’s worth.