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.
Matthew C. –
Cold Steel Scottish Basket Hilt Broadsword Initial thoughts: Kind of heavy even for it’s size. Blade does not come very sharp and only cuts through soft materials such as cardboard and milk jugs. Excellent point for thrusting.
After handling it for a while and giving it a proper edge, however, I am very happy with this product. Once you get the edge properly honed it will keep the edge for a long time, assuming you don;t use it too much. After a few weeks of handling it you get used to the weight and it feels light as air.
My only issues with this sword are that the threads come out very easily, and because of the threaded pommel you have to screw it in a lot. Sometimes you get lucky and it stays there for a good while, but eventually you WILL have to fix it.
All in all, a very good product for the price. Cold Steel quality actually is on the lower end, at least for their swords, but for 240 dollars it’s a very good buy.
Glyn –
I bought two of cold steels broadswords and they’re heavy, the handles on both are fine. The reason I didn’t give it a better rating is because the scabbards don’t hold up. Prepare to fix the tip of the scabbard, or the throat of the scabbard. On one scabbard the throat came off, and an the other the tip came off. Both happened at two different reenactments. Neither saw any heavy use.