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.
EmilySealion –
I’m very happy with this. Looks beautiful and I’m having a lot of fun practicing with it. I’m excited to see how well it cuts
EmilySealion –
I think this is a very beautiful sword. It’s light and easy to swing. Practicing with it is pretty fun and not as tiring as my dojo pro because of the lighter weight. The tsuka is kinda small and I actually like that about it and the shape makes it feel nice to grip. The samegawa is one of my favorite parts of this sword, the nodes are bigger than a lot of the other reproduction katanas I’ve seen. The flower theme of the fittings on the kashira, fuji, and tsuba are lovely, the ito feels comfy, and the menuki looks good. The pointed kojiri was something that I didn’t think I’d like too much when I saw the pictures, now they have grown on me a lot and it gives it great character. The blade has a beautiful hada and hamon, and I love the kissaki. I haven’t cut anything with this yet, I look forward to it though. I’m very happy with this katana
Zynkyoku (verified owner) –
I purchased this sword because I’d been eyeing it ever since Matt Jensen made a review on it.
10/10 blade and fittings, sword is like a racing car compared to my previous purchases.
Only complaint is that the blue paint used in the current run I received is not the same blue as the one in the pictures or in Matt Jensen’s review, and is much darker and requires very bright light to even show the blue paint.
Zynkyoku (verified owner) –
Well I come back after having used this sword for tatami and pool noodles.
The tsuba and seppa becomes loose on my Orchid after a few cuts on pool noodles, and overall the fit inside the tsuka after 2 tatami sessions and 10+ pool noodles is less than satisfactory.
I do not know if this is an issue with the current run of Orchids, or with this specific blade in particular. Attempts to repair the issue have not gone well, and overall I no longer can use a sword like this safely for cutting.
I will note, there is no damage to the actual blade. The blade itself cuts fine and retains the edge well.
Sam (verified owner) –
This is a sword I’ve been eyeing since the early 2000s and I was super excited to be able to finally pick one up. Overall the sword is beautiful and just about everything I hoped it would be. It feels very sturdy in the hand and much nicer than any other sword I’d owned before. The only reason I’m not giving it five stars is that I ordered a standard grade sword and I was a bit disappointed to see some chipping of the lacquer on the saya next to the kojiri and there were some minor rust/tarnished spots on the blade itself. Minor things aside I am still glad to finally add this sword to my collection.