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.
Alexandreius (verified owner) –
Quite Decent.
Richard Polinski (verified owner) –
I just received this helmet and it is fantastic, even better than I anticipated. I chose this one because I have a very large head, size 8 with a 25 inch circumference and on top of that its shape is an extra long oval. That makes it very hard for me to find headwear. The specs on this helmet seemed like they would work for me, the largest I’d seen and the front to back and side to side correct for my shape. I called K of A to confirm the dimensions and they were extremely helpful, getting an actual helmet from stock and measuring while I was on the phone. With that confirmed I placed the order.
The next thing to report is that the photos in the ad do not do the helmet justice. For one thing the actual chinstrap is just as heavy duty as the black one shown but is brown and has a brass reproduction medieval/renaissance buckle and the whole setup looks much more authentic than in the photos. It is extremely strong and riveted to the helmet, not just attached to the liner. Next, the photos seem to show some of the rivets not set all the way but that is not the case on the helmet I received. It is very solid and well put together. I was also pleased with the 18 gauge thickness of the steel. It is as thick as a US WWII army helmet of the kind used through the mid-80’s and is plenty thick and sturdy. I also did some research and there was apparently quite a bit of variation in the thickness of medieval helmets and most varied in thickness in the same helmet. Some were in fact 18 gauge and some were much thicker but thicker where it was needed, like a breast plate. So a reproduction in all 14 gauge steel is not necessarily any more authentic that one all in 16 gauge or all in 18 gauge. I do know that for normal ren-faire wear I’d hate to put up with the weight of an all 14 gauge helmet all day. Anyway, don’t let the 18 gauge automatically put you off.
Needless to say I’m very happy with the helmet and with K of A’s help that allowed me to purchase with confidence. I don’t think you can beat this for the price and if you have a giant head like me you should be happy too.
Seth (verified owner) –
I have a relatively small head and the medium fits me perfect with a hood on and the liner adjusted. Shipped fast, looks great, and the buckle for the chin strap is much nicer than the one shown. Great purchase for the price.