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.
Joshua Padron –
Amazing! So i got this blade for cutting purposes and it holds just great, came very sharp and clean out the box no visible damage/blemishes. All the fittings are very tight, the blade fits very snug in the scabbard no rattle or anything, wrapping is very tight as well. If you’re thinking on buying this one pls do it’s a great sword i love it and hope you will too
AJGBlack (verified owner) –
First, yes it’s a three star review but I want to make it clear that I love this sword and am keeping it.
The good: The balance is excellent. Moving from strike to guard is easy and kata are smooth. The grip is a little narrow, but comfortable in both one or two hands. Everything (except the kashira/end cap) is solid in place. The ito/cord wrap does not move without really reefing on it. This blade sings in the hand. Despite having no bo-hi/fuller you can get a good “whoosh” or tachi-kaze/blade-wind from a proper swing. The fit in the saya/scabbard is pretty much perfect. Once slid in all the way it holds solidly even when shaken upside-down but you can still push the tsuba/guard forward with your thumb to pop it forward before you draw.
The not good: The finish on this is kind of awful. There are scuffs on the blade. One that looks like a machine skip on the shinogiji/back where the polisher skipped off whatever wheel they were using and caught the blade on a machine. The etch on the hamon/temper line has a flaw near the kissaki/tip on one side that looks like a little piece of dirt got on the blade before etch and left a blank spot. The habaki/blade collar has an obvious thumb print and it as well as the seppa/spacer on that side of the tsuba/guard have a rough finish and are a bit dirty. The kashira/end cap has a little bit of wiggle, like the end of the tsuka/handle core was carved a little too small for it. There is a snag and some fraying in the ito/handle wrap midway down the tsuka/handle.
I know that this is a sub-$400 sword as of this review, but a little more attention to detail would have made this an amazing purchase instead of just a good one. One of the reasons I’m keeping it is because of a YouTube review where the owner scrubbed the black finish off the kashirai, which looked amazing, and the fact that I wanted to get the tsuka re-wrapped anyway if it’s what I wanted.
Q282 (verified owner) –
Solid katana. My sword had no loose fittings or wrappings. No blemishes to be found. The hamon looks bold and better than I expected (some earlier reviews on YouTube show only a very faint hamon)! It seems pretty sharp but I haven’t really used it for cutting practice. Tool steels like the T10 used in this blade are very tough so I expect it would hold up well. I feel like this is a very good katana for the price. I’m definitely satisfied with my purchase.