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.
T.S. –
Super Craftsmanship This is my only TFW item. I bought it after hearing glowing reviews of other TFW products, but there was nothing being said about their talibong. I chose the talibong for the handle ergos and elegant recurved blade.
The blade resembles a long, skinny khukuri. It even has a broad, shallow fuller between the spine and the start of the bevel. It’s got a double bevel, not a traditonal single bevel. Not historically accurate, but you can’t argue with a symmetrical bevel and I’m sure it reduces the amount of confused customers wondering why their Visayan sword has a single bevel like a sushi knife.
I gave the blade an etch in ferric chloride and, yes, it is forged and differentially tempered. I’m skeptical about the claims of “blended D2/5160.” Honestly I’d be quite happy with a plain 5160 truck spring. The smiths clearly know what they’re doing, so I’m willing to cut the copywriting department a little slack.
Next: the handle. This is a partial tang done right. The talibong has tight nylon wraps over a steel collar that compresses the wooden handle below the guard. The guard itself fits snugly. The decorative carvings on the handle were cut with a rotary tool rather than a chisel or knife and show some minor scorch marks. Otherwise I can’t complain. It’s real kamagong.
The scabbard is really neat to have, especially at this price point. Yes, it’s a little rattly. The steel belt clip / retainer doohickey works like a charm, nevermind the aesthetics.
To conclude, I’m very happy with my first TFW sword. I’d rather it had a single bevel, and I’d rather they weren’t so shady about “blended 5160/D2” but, dang it, the shop that supplies them are masters. The talibong’s shape makes me wonder how nice of a kukri they’d make. These guys are pros with water-quenched 5160.
Ryan M. –
Amazing quality So i have owned this blade for a bit over a year and it has turned into my go-to for anything i may need a machete type blade to do. The weight and balance lend itself to being a quick and agile cutter while also maintaining quite excellent thrusts due to the slender tip and the forward slope of the blade which keeps the thrust quite ergonomic as you dont have to bend the wrist beyond a handshake grip. The overall aesthetic is quite beautiful, even moreso in person than in picture. Ive done some rather abusive cutting as ive chopped quite a number of 8+ inch hard, dry logs, everything remained quite solid however due to the differential heat treat in which you can see a subtle hamon, the blade did take a minor set which took all of 5 seconds to remedy, this is not a problem for me as its somewhat expected that differentially hardened blades were designed to take a set under extreme abuse as opposed to breaking and i was abusively laying into the logs with each cut, seeing as this is a hunting machete first and foremost its not meant for processing larger logs for fire wood bur rather clearing brush and slaughtering game after youve shot and tracked the animal, this was the only time ive had the blade take a set and have used it numerous other times for rather abusive cutting with wood, that being said the edge never took any damage beyond slow edge dulling but no rolling or chipping, the only issue i have noticed is that the blade is slightly offset from the handle, the blade lines perfectly with the grip but the hand carved decorative “pommel” that kind of swoops out is the part that is offset as it swoops out at a slight angle but not in an extreme way and its not obvious looking at it but there will always be slight imperfections in almost anything that is hand made, this does nothing to take away from the fact that this thing is a solid beast of a blade and easily some of the highest quality work ESPECIALLY at this price point and thats just the blade itself, the scabbard is also of equal quality, the fit isnt perfect but due to the curve of the blade im not surprised, however the clip is a very appreciated addition as it tightly secures the blade and has a loop of metal in the clip to secure it to the belt and drawing the blade is no issue at all, overall this has become my favorite blade due to its use as an extremely formidable weapon and its utilitarian use as a tool