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.
PursuingThe KnightlyArts –
Knightly Sword My friend, Ben and I tried out this sword for use in Harnischfechten (harness fighting) and were pleasantly surprised. It handled for well within the bind and was plenty stiff to allow for proper leverages in the half-sword grip. Will eventually be getting another one from you, as you not only have the best prices we’ve seen and fast shipping too! You can see our review here :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLkhGMDbRN8&lc=z23oclzinru3ulx2facdp431knon23xms2jomxx0r2pw03c010c
Merick –
tl;dr Beautiful and well made, but too heavy/stiff for fencing I bought this sword about a week ago, and I immediately fell in love with it. Construction was good, handle was comfortable, and the balance was nice as well. It was great through solo drills, up until I took it to my local sparring club. When I compared it to the sparring swords that they had on loan, this sword was at a fairly major disadvantage with the weight, having significantly more heft to it than a longsword with a longer blade. It was also decided it was, for the most part, unsafe to use due to how stiff the blade was and nobody really wanted it out on the court. On the plus side, if you can condition yourself to swing this around with ease, then a dedicated fencing sword will likely feel like a feather in comparison.
Baron Cambell –
Takes punishment Rarely do I find a sword that both looks good and takes a beating, since i got this sword Ive trained with it in heavy sparring at least twice a week, and its been pitted against other swords, people would consider a “better make” and this sword just makes them look “over priced.” Ive also received many compliments on its looks and how it feels in the hand. It’s a great sword but it does have a few drawbacks for one, its a little too short for most people’s liking and it could do with a few more inches on the blade and handle. also the blade is stiff but in a way that makes it strong, it will bend but not that much, and lastly its a little too heavy for one handed techniques but that can be fixed by training with it.
Joshua G. –
“I got exactly what I intended to order.” – A humble, but exhaustively detailed impression Let this first paragraph be the summary statement you actually read, because clicking that “…Read More” button may be regrettable: this sword will make for a sturdy, decent quality trainer, and, while it’s fittings are secure, it’s other aesthetic and finish features are at the level you may expect for a sword in this price range (if not better).
I am a fledgling HEMA practitioner, only occasionally managing to meet with my group, somewhat underweight and probably of below average strength. My hands do not know hard work intimately, as I am an academic. Also, thanks to being an academic, I have not held or owned many swords in my time, so I am still depending greatly on video impressions to understand swords in their aspects of function and quality. My only other steel medieval sword at this point is a Hanwei Tinker Pierce Blunt Longsword. That shall define the single other sword I can measure this one against.
It made it to Virginia in the course of a business week; it was double-box packaged. Observing the features of this sword, as I would expect for the price point, the pommel and guard appeared to be an ordinary, mild steel with no particular finish to it. I would best compare it to being like the plain steel (non-stainless) pommel of a Pentti Synthetic Longsword. The leather wrap feels more secured and firm in comparison to my Hanwei, and while the seamline looked somewhat crooked, it all stayed on the edge of the handle and was clearly well-stitched. I’m far less worried about its endurance than the Hanwei handle.
Regarding the metal fittings of the hilt, the peen block on this sword is slightly OFF-CENTER, but the same doesn’t apply to the wheel pommel itself. The rectangular peen is visibly hammered down, though the work was not utterly crude and it is smooth on all sides. The guard has some gap access to the tang thanks mostly to the fuller that runs under the guard’s center protrusion. From the edge-side, one can see a slight gap between the guard’s protrusion where there isn’t such on the other side of the blade. This is, of course, very slight, and you’d never be able to tell simply by eyeballing the position of the guard itself. Looking closely, the protrusion also doesn’t exactly appear centered, though this may also result from the slight unevenness of the fuller grind that begins closest to the guard. The positions are slight enough for me to manage convincing myself that they are centered anyway.
Regardless, all the furnishings are tightly placed. Shaking and vibrating the sword revealed no amount of looseness or sound. Having said this, I have not attempted to contend with another steel sword with this one, nor do I actually intend to. This sword will not be damaging itself in the course of training, and that is perhaps more important than any aesthetics.
The scabbard’s lip fits well with the small protrusion of the guard, though, predictably, only when sheathed in a single direction. By this, I mean that, in the correct direction. Attempting to sheathe from the other side results in slight mismatching of the lip’s shape with that of the guard. The rest of the scabbard is colored to match the handle quite well, and the steel tip is secure with what appears to be two small pin rivets on each side. The inside of the scabbard is just bare wood, so the blade doesn’t really get hugged tightly inside with anything like the Hanwei scabbard does. You can certainly rattle the blade when sheathed and hear everything.
The blade is utterly straight as far as I can see. It is well-blunted, better so than the Hanwei based on the thickness and smoothness of the edges and the tip. People would probably still recommend adding a rubber tip if you intended to spar with this, but it certainly has a lot less penetrative potential than the Hanwei.
It’s in handling this sword that I really feel what I paid for: adversity. Being the lightweight I am, while I certainly can tire quickly from spirited swings of the Hanwei, as light and balanced as it is, this sword’s blade heft combined with less leverage felt quite less lively in the hand(s) upon trying it out. Emphasis on the parentheses, since I also tested its typology’s supposed versatility by trying to one-hand it; the Hanwei handles quicker, even in one hand, compared to this one… it’s kinda humiliating to the sword. It initially took quite a bit of effort to sequence my muscles properly to halt a sequence of zwerchhau at an appropriate termination with this blade… the inertia was like me trying to wield the Hanwei AFTER MY MUSCLES HAD FATIGUED… but I was doing this FRESH! I actually tested my cuts in quick succession between this sword and the Hanwei, and, sure enough, it wasn’t my muscles complaining… the blade is just hard to use.
… And that’s what I wanted. This is surely going to become a good moderator for my sword wielding behavior as well as helping me work out a little when I train. Accomplishing this, many other swords I will come to own in the future will hopefully feel easier in my hands by comparison to this weighty hand-and-a-half. I am completely satisfied with my purchase and every feature was as I desired it to be.
Illustry –
Nicely made, great looking sword Hilt construction is very nicely done, and authentic with the cord wrap overlaid in leather; better than most other swords at this price. Peen block is a nice touch too.
On the heavy side, but well balanced, and historically acceptable in terms of weight. I have children in the house, and it makes for a great looking, semi-safe display piece that I can swing around and practice with, without much worry.
I don’t do any steel-on-steel sparring, but I would stress that this is not a light sparring or fencing sword. You’d probably break a lightly built sword in half with this. Seems like it would fit the bill for heavy sparring and stage use.
All in all, very nice looking sword and very satisfied!
Eric S. –
Perfect for its intended use I bought this sword some time ago now. I used it as my go-to for my regular theater participation either as actor or director.
The sword looks fantastic, even close up. The blade gleams in the stage lights, and is blunt enough where the actors feel safe wielding it during stage combat practice and performance using choreographed combat.
Slightly heavy for its type, but not unwieldy. It feels good in the hand, and looks much better than the typical stage sword.
Scabbard is simple but hardy and effective. Looks fine on stage, though it does not come with a means of attaching to a belt. You will need a frog.
I will definitely be buying several more of these for the local theater armory.
Roger H. –
It could be worse This is a workable blunt that is satisfactory for the money. I would have liked both the blade and the grip to be a little longer. The 6 inch grip isn’t quite long enough for two hands. You have to slip the pommel to accommodate them both. If it had better blade geometry, it would feel less heavy and dead in your hands. But it is an adequate $200.00 sword. If you want something better, you will have to pay a lot more.
Brice L (verified owner) –
Pretty heavy, I have less trouble wielding my longsword (https://www.kultofathena.com/product/hanwei-tinker-pearce-blunt-trainer-longsword/) with one hand than this “hand and a half” sword