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.
David H. –
What a sword! The 1796 Heavy Cavalry Sword is one massive, heavy brutal chunk of steel. And I love it! From what I have seen of originals, this is as nearly perfect a replica as one could ask for. The blade has a nice temper. The fit and finish is very nice, including reproductions of original makers’ marks. Despite its length and weight, it is surprisingly well balanced. And the price is right. I’m sure Richard Sharpe would be happy to use this sword.
Greg W. –
“A right butcher’s blade…” …as one of Richard Sharpe’s men described his sword. I’ve never held a real P1796 heavy cavalry trooper’s sword, but from photos I’ve seen this seems to be as accurate a repro as you can get. Nice markings; I don’t know if Universal Swords copied a real example of the J. J. Runkel mark, but Runkel of course imported a lot of blades from Solingen. I was surprised at the handling characteristics; it’s not as heavy or unwieldy as I thought it would be. I had the sharpening service done, so now to work on some melons!
David –
Its an okay-ish sword. Much like the real Sword, it’s very unwieldy, tip heavy and despite being a fairly strong fella myself, it’s a very demanding sword.
The scarbard isn’t great, matter of fact it had a piece of card stuffed down it to presumably to prevent the edge from scraping the naked rusted steel inside. This proved to be a real problem later as the card begun to rot and decay inside the scabbard causing the sword to stuck and on ocasion needed to be pried apart from its scarbard. The Scabbard was just pure steel. And should have been a WOOD WRAPPED IN STEEP scarbard.
Now this sword is not manufactured with an edge and this a critical point that almost ruined the sword for me. The edge provided by KOA wasn’t great or suitable to the sword. The edge bevels were clearly formed into the blade and I ended up getting a very steep chopping edge witch for this sword isn’t good enough.
The edge bevel wasn’t followed and left the sword to be a very poor performer.
To sum it up. The sword is okay. But it’s worth its current price at all. The steel for the blade bends and can take a very set.
However, if want to know what NOT to look for in a sword. This is it.
Larry –
Big and Brutal The pictures don’t do this sword justice! This is a big, brutal, utilitarian battle sword that feels great in the hand and looks impressive on the wall.
Ian Hall –
I know what you’re thinking. Will I feel like Richard Sharpe when I get drunk and wave this wildly in my backyard? Yes, yes you will. Solidly built and while a bit on the heavy side, I like it as a bigger guy. I had to put my own edge on it after the KoA approved edge didn’t go all the way down, but I guess I should have just put my own edge on it to begin with. Handle is comfortable given the weight and it feels great in the hand. Scabbard is nice and solid, I did not have any of the problems as others with this scabbard. very fun to play with. 5/5.
Mark –
I received the sword as a gift from my wife for my birthday. She paid to have it sharpened and I love everything about the sword. It fit the scabbard fine but the scabbard is covered in rust in two areas. We contacted kult of Athena about the issue, since we got the standard grade, and our only two options were to send both the sword and the scabbard back, which I didn’t want to do since she paid for sharpening, or get a whole 15 dollars for a refund. I thought that was pretty crappy but that is just customer service problems, the sword is great.
Ray –
Great service from folks at KoA. 2 thumbs up.
As for this sword. Keep in mind that USI makes reenactment focused swords, and so they tend to be thick and lack in distal taper, and I think in this case, profile taper. For this price point, this is the work they’re willing to put in. For sabers around the same price point, better tapered, AND sharpened, get the newest Cold Steel sabers.
Because this sword has little distal taper, and the bottom isn’t as thick as the originals, which helps to bring the balance toward the hilt, it becomes an unwieldy, orcish steel club with no hope of recovery once you commit to a single stroke. That’s exacerbated by the sore lack of profile taper, which really doesn’t help the balance. Thr fuller have too much thickness also makes this an one-shot crowbar of a sword. The slight unevenness of the fullers and the blade grinds done not by design is probably accurate to how these swords were made back in their day. For under $250, this is quality you’re going to get.
An excellent costume piece. Also great for strength training. For backyard cutting and sword practice, you’ll need a complete blade overhaul.