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.
Capt J. –
Mayflower Militia Sword The English Half-Basket Hanger is the perfect sword for the an armed musketeer that were part of the militia of the Pilgrims that land in 1620. As commander of the Mayflower Guard I recommend this item for Pilgrim militia living history particiapnts.
Darius –
The sword is lovely but for the price I expected better. The halfbasket is attached with very obvious screws (that the coloration has been scraped off of) and the scabbard is only of so-so quality in my opinion (the leather isn’t that thick and the end with the chape on it can bend back and forth because the sword doesn’t go that far into the scabbard, mine is not dented because of this).
Donal –
Before I begin, keep in mind this is the cheaper end of the spectrum. So it does not have all the bells and whistles.
It is ugly. It is heavy. There is some roughness to the finish. Also the finish is not as shiny as it looks in the image. Which for what I do is actually a good thing.
All and all for the money it a decent sword for 17th century. The basket does not look heavy duty in the photos, but it definitely has some heft to it.
My only complaint that is a real complaint is that it definitely has a sheath that is maybe an inch or two, too long. For the price, it still gets 5 stars from me.
Jaxton (verified owner) –
This is a good sword. It has a really cool design and has a good grip.
My only problem is that the sheath came in slightly broke. At the end of the sheath, the stitching inside got tangled up and weakened the end of the sheath. I don’t think that this is fixable sadly, but besides that this sword is overall pretty good.
Dan D’Silva (verified owner) –
This is a flawed but okay product. The one I received has no distal taper until the last two inches; in spite of this, it weighs less than two pounds and thanks to the heavy pommel, it balances less than three inches from the point of the quillon block. The blade is very stiff but the last few millimeters of the point come to an abrupt obtuse tip.
On mine, the point of the quillon block is a poor fit with the scabbard throat, leaving a little of the blade exposed. The swellings on the basket bars have a rather ugly and somehow modern look. I’ve never seen a historical example that has the same arrangement of bars but I won’t say that one doesn’t exist.
The scabbard on mine is fair, with decently thick leather, but it’s a bit floppy. A scabbard for a blade this long should be hardened more, or else have a wood core covered in thin leather.
I bought this as a project blade with the intention of completely replacing the hilt, but after getting used to how it handles with the current grip and pommel, it’s grown on me as it is. I think it would be best reworked minimally with just a better-looking basket. For the price, I don’t regret it.