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.
Erekosë –
Lovely sword which is especially well made for thrusting.
The blade itself is flexible, no twists or bends, snaps back to true after bending, and features a nice even fuller. The center of balance is right on the money at 4.5″ and the center of percussion sits right where the fuller ends (on my own sword). The sword arrives sharp! It has a beautiful and simple satin steel guard. The grip is comfortable and finding the edge alignment isn’t too difficult as long as your leading hand is choked up to the guard, but swells into a round shape in the middle. The scabbard is great and will hold the sword in place when sheathed, but don’t shake it upside down!
Everyone complains about the RK medieval belt suspension system, but I’d say you’re not buying this sword for its belt…
The sword is a natural thruster. It easily passes through water jugs and tatami mat like butter. I had issues when trying to cut/slash though. Maybe I need to break out my leather strop because the blade feels sharp, but it doesn’t do well cutting through half tatami mats. I batted around 3 half mats before giving up and thought it could just be me (it could have been a bad day). So I broke out my Jian and katana
(Ronin Katana Dojo Pro) then proceeded to cut half and full rolled tatami mats with no issues whatsoever.
My only other disappointment is that the pommel digs into my hand while swinging. The edges on the pommel are rounded, but maybe not rounded enough (unless this is normal for fishtail pommels).
Overall, this is a beautiful, elegant sword and is gracefully shaped. Just don’t expect it to cut with the same authority as a falchion.
Ryan O’Donnell (verified owner) –
The pommel and quillon are not straight and some other non functionality related issues like epoxy tuning on everything, the big problem is the tip geometry is off in a way that will effect performance by deflecting a little. For this price it’s functional and pretty.
dijunian –
Blade was bent when i recieved it, guard loosened up and now rattles, and the scabbard scuffs the blade as well as leaving a weird white residue. Overall not happy with the purchase. The sword would handle well but you can feel the bent blade when swinging and is bent enough to throw off your point control.
pmccachren88 –
Great sword for the price. Cuts good right out of the box. I don’t have any fit and finish issues with mine. The blade is done well some waves but not much was expecting it to be worse.