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.
Damon –
Well worth the $$$! I teach Kenjitsu, and torture-test my blades, so I’m not clueless on the subject of Japanese styled swords. (I say “styled” because these are not actually made in Japan) While this sword is too long for indoor use, & is heavier (and thus slower) than a traditional katana, it is indestructible for tameshigiri and other cutting practices. Its not pretty, but is very tough and would be hard to beat for the $. If you are looking for a blade which will stand up to serious abuse by students learning to cut traditional mats and other objects (animal carcasses are useful for this, but spendy) this sword is hard to beat! The added weight, and reach of this model enable some impressive cutting demonstrations, with none of the worry about what damage you may be doing to the blade.
If, on the other hand, u are looking for something light, quick, pretty, and of more traditional dimensions, this is NOT the sword for you…
PJ –
First Impressions I received this katana just today, all i can say is that it was not as bad as some people made it out to be on the internet, I trust Kult of Athena with my purchase and they delivered yet again. I bought this sword to offset my training and i believed that this would be comparable to the Hanwei Wind and Thunder, I was wrong, the wind and thunder is still more of a hog than this will ever be, the length is agreeable and the weight is very much like my Tori (at least to me). The saya dings are do able they are light scrapes you see when you shine light on it, and the koiguchi was a little mucked up but for the price i say it pretty good, the blade is unblemished and it makes a very nice tachi kaze. The hi lines are clean and crisp on my model.
Outlaw samurai47 (verified owner) –
The sword is great but I have some problems one the kashira came lose to the point it could move freely but it was tied in the traditional style so that was something not very one does and the kashira traditionally was not glued on but held on by the end knots and the scabbards lacquer work was a little thin for my liking it chipped to easily for my liking but I will say this aside from these minor inconstancies the sword is great the blade is a fucking monster that will go though pretty much anything you put up to it and in my opinion your paying mostly for the blade and the scabbard is an extra that is thrown in with your purchase but aside from the problems I came to have the sword is great and I would recommend it to anyone the ito was tight and the ray skin is real but I suppose I should fallow suit and say that for the 700 dallors that you pay for the sword you should get a full wrap of ray shin and not panels but that is a personal thing I could care less if the wrap is full or not but if anything else I would say you get a superb blade that is high quality and strong and if I had to say the price split for the whole sword then it would be 575 for the blade 100 for the fittings and 25 for the scabbard all and all I love this sword and if these minor problems are fixed then the sword would be perfect