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.
Soulstrider (verified owner) –
The sword is great! Well made for the price. There are some downsides though. The factory edge is completely blunt and it’s weight is a bit heavy for an arming sword. I didn’t get it sharpened cause I wanted to use it at a renn faire, but even so it was blunt.
TLDR: good craftsmanship for the price, looks very nice, but is heavy for an arming sword, and got a blunt sword even with factory edge.
Jay –
I bought this sword at a Renn faire. Looks great, feels great, and the balance is seated nicely near the hilt. The sword itself is hefty but feels solid and smooth to swing—not a problem with the right conditioning. It’s overall a very comfortable and beautiful replica: the runes on the fuller and the blue grip and scabbard receive many compliments. For the price, it’s very good, easy to flow through arming sword forms with or without a buckler.
Two minor points of complaint which are purely about the scabbard: The leather straps for a belt are not at the right point of balance. Because the hilt is heavier and the straps are too far down the scabbard, the sword tips very far forward when wearing. You can wrap the top strap over a higher point on the scabbard, which works fine for costume but not for drawing the sword (the scabbard unrolls and then gets in the way). I’m planning to modify (remove and replace) the straps to adjust for better wearing balance. (This is easily done with a long sword belt worn traditionally wrapped around the scabbard.)
The other point of complaint is that the blue dye is not very solidly applied to the leather and needs to be sealed or else you’ll come back with blue fingers from handling.
This is overall a lovely display, costume, or light battle piece, though the scabbard needs a little work to make it fully functional. A good first sword, even with a few cosmetic adjustments needed.