Sword sharpening service?

[The_Monkeyboy]

So, I have finally found a company in India that makes decent tulwar blades out of spring steel. The one problem is that due to their postage regulations, they have to ship them unsharpened. I have one now that I am using to chop up straw bales and other such targets to see how well it holds up to being abused. And to test my cutler's resin mix. So far, so good on both counts. I am most likely going to order another blade sometime soon to mount on another hilt. The thing is, I want this one to be sharp, so I can use it to test how well the blade shape of the tulwar cuts through 17th/18th century uniforms, versus European swords. Long story, but it is for research. Anyway, since the blades come unsharpened, who do you guys recommend for sharpening? I don't mean just whipping out a grinding wheel or dremmal tool and slapping a half-assed edge on it. I can do that on my own. I mean like a sabre-ground edge like you would find on, say, a saber? I have been told Arms and Armor is decent, but is there anybody else? And has anybody used Arms and Armor before?

-Mb

 

[The_Monkeyboy]

Nobody has any suggestions?

 

[horseclover]

I use a file and stones. Some adore cheap belt grinders from Harbor Freight. If you hunt around, there are some individuals that do sword sharpening. Track down Appleseed Sharpening, an internet id of Voltan on some boards. You might also bother to put in a Wanted post in the classifieds here.

A&A would want a boat load of money to re-grind the entire profile. Those sending in their Cold Steel 1796 light cavalry are ending up with spending far more than the sword cost originally.

I have no idea how well your source profiled the blade in the first place. Some thickness measurements of the blade at various points might indicate whether they bother to do historic work. Very often, modern made swords simply start with stock that is too thin.

I carved a lot of thickness off the foible of a typical India made sabre. Overall, the stock was too thin to begin with but it had virtually no distal taper.

Cheers

GC