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.
Benjamin Mauss (verified owner) –
Personally, this longsword is a little on the heavy side and I wish the POB was a little closer to the hilt, but these nitpicks aren’t a deal breaker for me. I actually really like the heft of this blade. I had a Hanwei Tinker Pearce longsword and I was honestly concerned that I would break the thing; partially because those Hanwei Tinker Pearce’s had some quality control issues with the tangs not being properly quenched and partially because it just felt flimsy in my hands. I don’t get that feeling at all with this sword. This thing just feels like a beast. All of the fittings are tight, the lines are straight, no rattle in the scabbard, the tempering is great, everything about it just screams quality.
The blade is PROPERLY sharpened (another huge difference from the Hanwei Tinker which had an edge that felt like it had a single pass with a brick despite ordering the “sharpened” version; couldn’t even pass a paper test). The edge feels nice and clean, and best of all: It didn’t come drenched some nasty oil! It had just the right amount of oil on it.
I already knew that the grip was a faux leather and that the pommel is threaded and glued with Loctite, so that isn’t much of an issue for me right now. It seems to be holding pretty tightly. The one thing about the grip that worries me a little with the grip is the stitching. It just looks a little weak, but I’m no expert on that.
Overall, for a functional (unlicensed) replica of the Ranger sword, I’m extremely pleased!