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.
jon c. –
a proper sword with excellent scabbard This feels well thought out when you pick it up and slap the pommel, and when you hold it and use it correctly. Scabbard is super nice and has fantastic upside down retention and a butter smooth pull. The wrap on mine looks much, much better than the picture, with far smaller gaps in the suede, almost solid wrap, and deeper red-brown rayskin, this photo looks almost pink. Edge needed touched up, very sharp but needed one pass with a hone to even it. Not a lot of choice for this kind of monosteel jian with a functional blade and temper, dismountable construction, so it’s easy to recommend this.
Ben b. –
Good sword, a little bit more quality control. Lets start with the pros of this swords. The blade has excellent geometry, and an excellent spine. The blade is made of 5160, making this blade very rigid and gives a great heat treatment. if you open up the handle you see that the tang has clear heat marks where the tang is softer. Not only that, the spine goes clean down to the threads. The finish on the blade is classic not polished, but is very appealing in its own right. The fittings are beautiful, they look to have some sort of petina or finish on them and then polished to be glossy. The handle feels fantastic in hand, very attractive and very confortable in hand, the way the leather is wrapped is also beautiful. The way the scabbard goes into the blade fittings is great, and the scabbards rosewood finish fits the style and elegance of the sword. The balance is perfect, it is light and blad heavy enough to do slashes as well as controlled enough for thrusts. The center of inertia, the center of percussion are both around the same place, and both of those are located right where you would want to strike with the blade 2 thirds the way up. It came sharp enough even though it takes a bit to get it to paper sharp.
Cons:
One of my biggest complaints is that the hex nut on the end of the blade didnt tighten when it got to a certain point in the threads, so i couldnt keep the assembly tight. The sword wouldn’t fall apart, but it would loosen up on tough strikes. Keep in mind it wasnt just the hex nut that was bad, the threads on the tang were a little small too. If either one was good, tang or nut, then i would have been able to tighten the assembly, but because they were both bad i feel thats major strikes against it. I contacted hanwei customer service and they told me they didnt have the nut in stock to replace it. I ended up making a brand new nut from scratch and was able to tighten the assembly. Anothwr bad thing, is that even with the assmebly tight the sword will rattle when testing percussion or being hit hard. Its just something that can’t be avoided. One of the pins on the scabbards metal throat have come out, but it can easily be glued back in, it isnt crucial to functionality. The scabbard also comes a little loose after a while, doesnt stay well on the sword. Last and definitely least is that the handle picks up particulate very easy and doesnt come out easy. Other than that i have really really enjoyed the sword.
Conclusion:
I am hoping that i had an isolated incident with the whole threads thing, but if it isnt they night beed to look at it. If i hadn’t that issue, or if customer service couldve taken care of it i would have given this sword a 5 and overlooked those other issues, but i feel that the assembly being loose is grounds for loosing a star. If you have the ability to lathe yourself a new nut incase the threads are bad, then i would absolutely recommend the sword, it is an absolute joy to handle and use, incredibly well balanced and amazing fittings for the price, but if you are at all worried about it you might want to think about another sword.
Christopher T. –
Good Sword, With Need of Quality Control The sword is beautifully designed for function and aesthetics. It feels lively, balanced and is a joy in the hand.
This high quality of design is marred by fittings that tend to loosen. There seems to be a common problem that can arise with the pommel nut and thread on these swords. Mine can still be tightened with some effort, but will come lose with use. Even when tightened the fittings on the sword will rattle when lightly struck.
This tends not to be clear from photos, but the finish on the blade is quite rough. It has length wise grooves from the mechanical process used the shape it. This rough texture is not aesthetic and I doubt it helps with cutting to say the least. My blade also came with two minor defects. The point of the blade is not evenly shaped and is off centre by several milimetres. The blade is also very slightly curved in the plane of the edge. Neither of these defects impairs the function of the blade. I was disappointed in the quality control in production of these swords and that KoA sold the blade to me as unblemished and at full price. I did not pursue replacing the sword because of the high shipping cost to me. I am sure that KoA would have been very helpful if I had pursed that.
Overall, I have to give the cutting jian a completely average score, 3 out of 5. Superior design and aesthetics are offset by bad execution and quality control. It would have a higher score at a lower price point.
mmacho56 –
This is a well-designed and produced sword. I have only ever seen really cheap and flimsy jians so seeing one that was well suited to serious cutting is a pleasure.
Fit and finish are very good, wrap on the hilt is tight. I deduct one star for a minor issue–the sword only fits the scabbard in one orientation, if you flip it over it will not fit. It’s a minor quibble but the only real minus on this otherwise great piece.
I have not cut with it yet but have done some forms, the weight of real steel means I need to make some adjustments vs: using wooden training weapons, but that’s making it more realistic and exactly what I was looking for.