I am planning on buying a Windlass sword on sale from Museum Replicas (Sword of the Mughals), and I am wondering if anybody has knowledge regarding the sharpness of their blades as-is (the catalogue states "these items already come with an edge"), and if the sharpening service is worth it. Somewhere, possibly on another forum, I read a post by one person saying that the MR sharpening was the worst sharpening job they had ever seen. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced that, or had a positive result from MR's sharpening service.

I believe that having them sharpen the sword will automatically void their warranty, thereby making a return or exchange impossible. Given MRLs spotty quality control having this option is important. I'd pass on the sharpening service.

What Patrick said. Being able to return is one of the most compelling reasons to buy from them.

i live rather close to MRL, so i can drive there easily, i took a friends MRL sword up there a while back to have it sharpened and i watched the guy do it, and critiqued him to improve it., the end result was a really sharp sword, but there is no way in hell i would order one and trust them to do that, I had to critique him a few times.

Hey all, i am so glad to see this topic. I am planning on getting an MRL sword sooner or later.
Hopefully Santa will be really nice to me this year! :D Anyway, i want a sharpened MRL, warranty makes little difference to me right now, and i was wondering if someone could give me some pointers on how to go about that. I decided not to tell my mom to have it sharpened, just because special ordering it that way would probably confuse her, and thus i would be less likely to get it. SO any way, guess sharpening it myself is going to be the best option at this point. Any suggestions on how to do so? :D

Thanks for all the replies. Question for you, David: did your friend's sword have any edge on it at all before you had it sharpened, or was it completely rounded or blunt? They say their products come with "an edge" already. Is the standard edge anything sharp at all? (ie: Would it cut anything besides warm butter?) Does anybody else have any info about this?

Also, if I choose to get it sharpened after-market, how would I find someone appropriate to do so? I assume the local knife sharpening place would be a bad idea...

(I live in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, so if anyone knows anybody capable in my neighborhood, or even south of the border towards Seattle or Tacoma, that would be a bonus!)

I just bought two of their medieval swords they had on sale. They came "unsharpened", but the edge was pretty narrow, .5mm or so. They also came with a point that could readily penetrate sheet rock. For practice work you'll have to file the edges and round the point, for cutting work you will have to shapren it up.

I ordered a sword 4-5 years back and the edge was feathered in with the cross section of the blade rather well. All in all, pretty dang sharp.

Do they have edges already? well....... does a butter knife? . yes they have an edge, as in they are not a 2mm thick rebated surface, but hardly something that could CUT.
what the MRL guys do is rather crude, they just put it on a belt grinder and create a rather WIDE secondary edge. rather sharp, but i have noticed my friends sword has dulled a bit, so i imagine the steel is not the best........ not bad for a $100 sword though.

I've bought five MRL swords and all arrived with pretty much the same edge, so I think they're consistent in this respect. These are NOT rebated or blunt edges, but you can run your hand down the edge without cutting yourself. In my experience, the tips of acutely pointed MRL swords are exremely fine-maybe too fine. Anyway, I find it takes only a short time with a file and stone to put a reasonable cutting edge on these (keeping in mind that sharper isn't necessarily better or historically accurate. If you want to shave, use a razor). Some research is valuable here, as not all swords in all periods would have the same edge. In addition to the reasons stated above, you can be sure that the MRL sharpener isn't going to research the edge geometry of the original on which your replica is based or even consider how the use of this weapon would differ from, say, a rennaissance cut & thrust weapon. DIY.

Thanks everybody...

I think I will order the sword as-is, and see if I like the edge without doing anything to it. Like you said, I don't need to shave with it! Thanks again for all the input.

I think you've got the same problem as I have ( see my Del Tin topic). Puttin on an "appleseed edge" seems to be the best
historicaly correct solution. Alltough I have not started to work on the edge of my sword becouse I'm still looking for someone to give me the proper advice how to act. I think it is better to use stones instead of starting with a file.That could caus scratches that are hard to polish out later.

Yes, a file works fast but it WILL leave scratches, especially if you're not too careful. I like the scratches because my sharpening is part of antiquing. If you want a pristine finish, filing is not a good choice.

i have one of these little dudes http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=productDetail...803-JIFF-S and they worked well on my peice of crap stuff, would they work better on mrl swords? also it i use a file and the blade gets scuffed and scratched how do i take care of that?[/img]