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.
Snowballs –
Great for the Price…And what it actually is. This item is an excellent light cutter. However, it is by no means a “sword”; this blade is much more akin to a machete than a sword. The blade is just slightly more than half as thick as most high-quality gladius replicas. This tool functions wonderfully for clearing brush, light field work, and fun test cutting but is not particularly effective for much else. The blade is “high carbon steel” but I doubt that it has been properly tempered. I have done some pretty hard testing with this blade and it has held up admirably; I have chopped down a small sapling (3-4 in. or 7-10 cm.) with no edge damage and I have cut a lot of other varied material with it as well (I even once accidentally struck a brick wall with the blade and it had only minor nicks in the blade edge). The blade comes decently sharp out of the box but will need to be sharpened for a “shaving sharp” edge. The handle is very comfortable in the hand and the whole sword balances very well. The sheath is of okay quality but is not the greatest. Overall if you want a fun tool/toy that looks cool and functions very well for what it actually is and for the very reasonable price I recommend this wholeheartedly. The five star rating is for me relative; this is far from Albion, etc. level quality but for the price range it is fantastic. P.S. This is a far superior option to the Cold Steel tactical gladius offering.
Ross –
Like the previous reviewer said, this blade is fine for what it is. It’s a $40 gladius facsimile. Now Good and Bad.
Good:
It’s cheep as hell.
Looks cool.
Good grip.
Factory ground blade was pretty good.
Bad:
Very thin blade (good luck taking a swing at anything solid without hitting exactly perpendicular to it and not permanently bending or breaking the blade). Blade looks like it was stamped out of a piece of thin sheet steel, had a handle mounted, sharpened under a robot grinder, then tossed in the box.
Cheap sheath. Nylon and plastic won’t survive much use.
Again, I don’t want to be too rough with the review, it is after all a bargain play sword; it is what it is.
DL Miller –
I have owned this sword for over 5 years, (among many other higher quality swords). It is not a tool. It is not a toy. It is a weapon. Period. It is cheap and it is not strong enough for heavy chopping. However, it is a superior cutter, extremely fast in the hand, and ideal for close quarters fighting. It is extraordinary in the thrust, and a decent cutter. I would trust it against flesh, fabric, test cutting materials, and that’s about it. Finally, you can carry it and call it a machete, getting around socially and legally awkward carry situations.
I enjoy test cutting with it almost as much as I enjoy test cutting with high quality, two-handed swords.
It is light, cheap, and a “machete” eliminating most barriers to EDC.
It is a gift to anyone who knows the ability to defend one’s self and others is not just a right, but a duty.
By contrast, the Cold Steel gladius machete is more a tool and a toy than a weapon.
Ryan –
I’ve had this for about 5 years. I cannot remember where I bought it, not here I think, but it came with a curved blade which I didn’t mind since I paid so little for it. I just kept it as a junk/beater blade. Even if it didn’t come with a curved blade, the quality of the steel seemed quite soft like the stainless steel meat cutting knives I used as a journeyman meat cutter: loses edge fast and easy to sharpen. I liked the grip and pommel and seemed like it would hold together with heavy abuse (which it has). I also have the Cold Steel gladius machete and it is far superior in every way. The combat commander gladius feels like its waiting to bend, even more, the second it is swung at anything not paper (which it did), while the Cold Steel gladius is a true work horse that takes any abuse I expose it to. It had a less refined blade shape and profile to it, but was one of the sharpest blades out of the box I’ve ever bought made of harder steel that holds an edge very well for the price (the Cold Steel Iklwa was even sharper, scary sharp), while the Combat Commander had an edge ground into it by an automated machine likely (you can see the perfectly spaced and aligned strokes in the edge from whatever was used), that left a lot to be desired. The cold steel gladius has kept its edge through more abuse than this sword, and is even cheaper than this one. If this was made with better steel, a tad longer, with a thicker handle, it would be on par with the Cold Steel gladius.