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Post by ballistic_ken on Nov 28, 2011 3:15:01 GMT
I have a Cheness Katana I want to send out to get sharpened and have a new Tsuba installed. I'm not confident enough to try it myself, espescially the sharpening.
Who is recommended for sharpening work and general sword work?
I tried to search first, but sharpening got kicked back as too common a word. :?:
Thanks.
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Post by Voltan on Nov 28, 2011 3:42:44 GMT
My next door neighbor own a meat shop, so I sent my un-sharpened Coustille Dagger with him to work one day. He said his sharpening equipment cost him $1300, better than anything I have! He brought it back to me with a good edge, and suggested finishing with a stone. So, if you have any friends in the butchering business, see if they can help.
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Post by 14thforsaken on Nov 28, 2011 4:52:21 GMT
Tom K does sharpening and is renowned for his Tom sharp blades. Everyone that I have heard that has used his sharpening service have been very happy with the results.
One thing to consider is that sharpening generally costs $50 plus shipping each way. I don't know what Tom's rates are, I just know that this is close to the going rate. Sometimes its actually cheaper to buy a cheap blade like a low end Musashi for $50 or so and practice sharpening it. That way you can learn how to sharpen your own blades. There are various video tutorials on the sight on how to sharpen a blade including ones by Tom on how to use a belt sander to sharpen.
If you want to go the route of using metal files, sandpaper and stones, there are several people on the site that can help you with that as well. All of my swords are sharpened that way so if you want to try it feel free to contact me through PMs and I can walk you through it. Its always a good idea to know how to sharpen your own blades. You never know when you will find yourself in a situation like out camping or hiking and find out your knife is dull and needs sharpening. If that happens, its good to know how to fix it.
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Post by WEWolf on Nov 28, 2011 13:51:27 GMT
I freely admit I know nothing about replacing the tsuba, but I strongly urge you to watch Tom K.'s videos on sword sharpening and give it a whirl, I bought the forty dollar Harbor Freight belt sander and some belts, and now I get an edge that's shaving sharp, and I learned it all from Tom K.
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Post by Neil G. on Nov 28, 2011 14:15:22 GMT
Yeah, the Tom K. videos on sharpening were a godsend for me. I got one of the early Hanwei-Tinker Longswords and the edge was pretty bad. After spending a few hours practicing with some old cheapo blades I had (old Arkansas Toothpick from Atlanta Cutlery, MRL Evil's Bane) I was ready to give it a try... and I gotta say that now the edge is just about perfect for my needs, which is to say that it's just sharp enough to cut paper with. I tried it out on some pumpkins following Halloween and it just sailed through them, no matter how I was swinging it, and that's despite my trying out various different Meisterhau's from the German Longsword system.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2012 16:42:49 GMT
I myself started with a licensed chinese-made tanto from the "Last Samurai" movie to simply learn on. US $13.00 for a 8 1/2" blade. I'm hand sharpening the absolutely dull (and legal) edge with a very course whetstone and oil. As I meant to imply, it's a cheap learner's tool.
I live an a large American West Coast city which has more than one professional sharpening service. One of them, however, refuses to sharpen weapons of any kind. Kitchen blades and scissors, etc., only. Shop around if you live in a large city, otherwise ask a dojo instructor where you can find a good service.
YouTube has videos that promote one style or another on how to sharpen a Samurai weapon. You might try there?
--Lee
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Post by DMikeM on Apr 25, 2012 18:54:53 GMT
I am pretty sure a butcher's edge will be a totally different geometry than what you want on a Katana. I learned that way of old school sharpening which will put a 30° to 45° utility edge on a blade. The Katana had a full blade edge with what looks like a 60° to 65° finish on the last 1mm of edge
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Post by Voltan on Apr 28, 2012 21:33:54 GMT
Yeah, I probably should not have posted my comment about the meat shop sharpening. At the time I had just joined the forum, and the exitement and desire to help had gotten the best of me, especially in an area where I have no knowledge whatsoever (Japanese swords). Apologies for the lame suggestion... :oops:
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Post by DMikeM on Apr 29, 2012 16:21:31 GMT
Not lame you were just sharing with the knowledge you had at the time.
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