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.
d. gottwald (verified owner) –
I bought this as I was looking for jian for my collection, and the coloring on the blade on this model stuck out to me enough to get it.
The box it comes in is attractive. The box is ultimately cardboard, but it is sturdy and attractive enough with the brocade that I am happy to keep the sword in the box long-term. It comes with a maintenance kit in a little wooden box. Haven’t had a need to use it, so I can’t speak on it, but it’s nice to have.
The scabbard is absolutely stunning. It justifies the purchase as much as the sword does. I want that wood on my home furniture. Sheesh. It’s so good.
The colors on the blade are quite nice. It is a patina induced from the acid treatment (not paint!), and it does not take away from the polish. There is rippling visible on the blade when holding it up to the light, which is to be expected from a hand-forged blade. The fullers and ridges are straight, though the fullers terminate on different points on either side of the flat – about a couple of millimeters apart. As such, the bevels at the tip are a little uneven. Not a big deal, and I didn’t even notice until writing this review.
One thing that needs to be said, though, is that the blade patina is surface-level only. If you sharpen the edge or otherwise remove a layer from the surface (by scratching or sanding/polishing or otherwise), you’re going to lose the color and see bare steel. As such, you are going to want to be careful when you take out the sword from its scabbard and put it back in, so you don’t scratch the blade on the locket as the brass extends to the throat. I was careless early on and ended up scuffing the blade near the tip and some of the color has come off. Silver lining – the folded steel point is real as the pattern-weld persists on the bare steel where this scuff is on mine.
The blade is not very sharp (as expected, it is only listed as “moderately sharp” and I can comfortably touch the edge without much bite. The grip is also completely round. This sword is not going to be a good cutter. That being said, this is a jian, and jians are principally for the thrust. The point is markedly sharper than the rest of the blade, and the sword feels absolutely fantastic to thrust with. The blade is not floppy as it is fairly thick throughout, so, holding the sword, one really feels the urge to plunge it into something as it can definitely do some serious damage.
There is a gap where the blade meets the guard, and it’s not even on both sides, but I can’t feel any lopsidedness from that, and it looks like they added a bit of metallic something to fill in said gap. I’m not concerned about it getting rattley as a result.
One last very minor complaint – the cord wrapping smelled something terrible on arrival. Guessing it’s the black dye, and I just needed to air it out for a day or two to fix it.
All in all, it’s an absolute beauty of a sword and scabbard you’re getting for the price point (448 USD at the time of review). It’s better as a display piece than for any heavy use, given the difficulty of cutting and risk of losing the coloring on the patina with heavy use, but it is perfectly functional if you must use it. It’s not flawless, but an easy recommend.