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.
Bob C. –
Great sword but I really love the blade – it’s five star on it’s own. It’s very sharp ootb, the fullers are well shaped and the tapers are also well done. POB is 4 – 4 1/2 inches in front of the guard and COP is about 21 inches in front of the guard. There were some minor scuffs but nothing too bad. Subtract one star for the grip. It’s not badly done but it’s too small in circumference. I’m already thinking of ways to modify the grip to increase it but the problem is that doing so will probably make the grip over step the pommel a bit too much. Overall, the sword balances and flows well both one and two handed but it will probably be months before I can cut with it because of the local weather. The pommel is attractive and the peen is well done. The sheath is floppy leather so I’ll end up eventually making a wooden scabbard myself. Or maybe kydex. If you’re fat like me, forget about the belt. It’s not very good anyway. Shipping was dilatory, taking seven days even though it was in stock but once shipped did only take two days to arrive. KOA could have done a better job communicating. They did respond fairly promptly once I contacted them but it would have been nice if they’d been more proactive about the delay. Overall, I’m pretty happy and more than a little surprised that mine is the first review.
alientude –
I wish I could give this a better review, as the blade itself is excellent. But the pommel on mine is off center, and it has large ledges overhanging the grip, creating nasty hot spots that hurt my hand. I think this is a good candidate for heavy modification though – replacing the entire hilt would probably lead to an excellent sword.
Full review available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/I_FzxW4-4LU
L.V. –
Temper and grind is excellent. The fit on the guard isn’t pretty. Wear gloves and any problem I have with the handle is sated. This is a high quality starter blade. The sheath is good for storage only. Scabbard building is fun! I suggest kydex.
Ben Hudgins (verified owner) –
I bought the standard-grade version and I love it so far. It’s better balanced than most other budget swords I own, with the POB only about 2 1/2 inches from the crossguard. It feels sturdy in hand, and the pommel/crossguard is fitted well on the one I got. I’ve only done some light cutting with it at this time, haven’t done anything more strenuous than pool noodles and bottles yet, so I’ll have to see how it holds up to sturdier targets. The edge it came with wasn’t very good, but the grind was very well done, so sharpening it on a little belt grinder was easy to work. The things I like the most:
1. Easy to sharpen
2. Temper feels good, it’s not too flexible, with it having a nice consistent distal taper, it only flexes where it’s needed, but remains rigid.
3. Fun and excellent cutter. After I sharpened it up a little, it’s cutting as well if not better than some of my other swords that are much sharper. For instance, I own a Hanwei Rhinelander (which is a similarly priced sword), with a much sharper edge, and my cuts are probably better with the Ronin Two-Handed Saber.
4. Solid construction, feels like you can be fairly abusive without too many problems.
So far, I only have 3 issues with it:
1. Commonly what I’ve seen in other reviews is the same issue on mine, with the pommel being offset from where it meets the handle. It creates an uncomfortable edge. Putting a new handle on might fix it, but I’ve never done that before.
2. The bottom of the handle where it meets the pommel is VERY narrow. It’s a scent-stopper-style pommel, so the handle tapers down into a very narrow and round section. I have medium-sized hands, and it feels too small, making them uncomfortable when swinging around. With gloves on it’s less noticeable, but I find it more uncomfortable than the ledge on the pommel itself haha.
3. The crossguard isn’t very straight. When looking straight down the crossguard, past the blade, it has a noticeable bend to one side. I don’t know if that’s just a factory blemish, or it somehow took a strike when out for delivery.
4. I only have 3 main issues, this is more of a note, because it may relate to the crossguard, but a more experienced person may understand this better than me. The edge alignment seems to be off the way it fits in my hand when indexing the blade. Like, when you hold the sword in a way that feels natural to swing and you can hear the swish noting better edge alignment, it’s off. I have to intentionally alter my grip slightly, where it feels off in the hand a little, then it sounds perfect. I hope that makes sense, and it might just be the piece I own.
To anyone looking to get a budget two-handed saber-type sword or just something fun that looks cool for a good price, I can wholeheartedly recommend this sword.
Ethan Tripp (verified owner) –
I love the sword, I love how it feels to maneuver and wield. Yet, I, like others, have issues with the pommel. with how the pommel is designed, it does not work for the sword, where a smooth, rounded pommel would work very well for the design of the sword with the guard and potentially feel more comfortable to hold on to, especially if it matched up with the hilt/grip of the sword better, and if it instead of the flat peened part of the pommel you had a nice, rounded nub instead of a flat peen, it may also work with the sword better. mine could also have come with better stitching on the hilt, but that is tolerable and not uncomfortable.
I would be one of the first in line if KOA made a deal with RK to acquire blades and then put better guards, hilts and pommels on them with better quality control turning it from a $275 sword closer to a $400 sword easy! basically what alientude said.
Ethan Tripp (verified owner) –
Ethan Tripp (verified owner) – 02-07-24
My thoughts of the sword are mostly the same as Alientude; blade is wonderful, hilt could be better, and pommel could be different thus making it more comfortable in the hand.
if KOA came out with a blade like this that has both a better matching guard and pommel, and a better looking hilt, for $375, I would be one of the first people in line for it.