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.
Acesahn –
Beautiful but cant cut paper. Right out of the box, this is an amazing looking beauty. It has flair and style, and makes a great piece for a collector like myself… then there’s the blade. The blade is listed here as “Sharp” while its Ying Yang cousin sword from the same company is listed “Very Sharp” this sword has no edge at all. I am considering posting a video on youtube on how I can saw into a piece of notepaper or construction paper and… nothing, it eventually tears the paper, but even when moving the sword over it in a cutting or sawing motion doesnt cut the paper. Paper is a very small obstacle to be hindered by.
STILL the sword is gorgeous, and it comes with a fancy looking box that is admittedly a little cheap feeling, but for the price, even the full price of 200 plus, it is hardly something to complain about.
ray blundell –
iron tiger dog jian I also brought this sword a while ago, to address the comment in above review about cutting paper I had no problem cutting any size of paper also cut different water bottles and two matts with pool nodle inside with out any problem.If you are looking for a good priced jian with folded blade blade this is the one.
Elana (verified owner) –
excellent! such beuatiful detail, with every bit of accoutrements you could ask for (box, stand, a (tightly fitting!) scabbard, care kit…) and mine cuts just fine out of the box, at least for bottles. even a fairly lazy, poorly aligned cut did the job. light enough to be comfortable in one hand, enough extra handle and a smooth enough pommel to grip in two, enough presence to feel it in space; the tassels (easily removeable) got in my way, but did offer a degree of counterbalancing that might be nice in making followup strikes, almost in the way you’d carry the momentum of a flail. the only annoyance for me is a somewhat smooth handle, but its not an issue either with gloves or a well dried hand. and above all the value is staggering, less than 300$ taxed and shipped for such a lovely blade with so much extra!
Kulter (verified owner) –
The sword itself is nice and sharp, well-balanced and cuts well.
The downside is that the sword has a tendency to get stuck in the scabbard and either can’t be pulled out or won’t sheath all the way. Kult of Athena tells me that it is a humidity problem that is common with Chinese sword scabbards, but I have had the sword for a few years now and have tried wearing it in but it still becomes stuck occasionally.
Also, the guard has become somewhat loose and I can feel and hear it moving rotationally back and forth during use.
As a Chinese person looking to practice the historical techniques, I would probably rather have saved up for an LK Chen then to have bought this. At the very least, it is very pretty and since it comes with a stand, box, and cleaning kit it is a very nice decoration piece.