Didn't have time to answer in full last time.

Like i said before not using a slack belt sander is pretty crazy in terms of time consumption and edge quality (i wont go into detail), but if you want to regardless then the best method to sharpen a sword if your a newb or noob at it ^^ is a spiderco sharpmaker, it will be infinitely easier to use than free hand stones and will do a good job on most swords, the angle you should use is 40 degree's, don't use the SC however on thick swords like XVa's,XVII, XVIIIb, XVIIIe etc... they have far greater angles than 40 degree's and it will take ages to sharpen one and all in all it won't be the right angle for such a sword, so use it on thin swords, even if the angle is not exactly 40 degree's it will reform one relatively quickly.

Ben: Modern clothing is mostly cotton and polyester, those are easy to cut starting at 600-800 grit . Linen requires 1200 grit + stropping to cut effectively, ask around this forum, people who have cut linen will not have found it very effective below this threshold, and i would argue that 1200 is still not enough for linen as it lacks consistency.


Also to who ever brought it up, even a really poor 80 grit edge can cut paper... cutting paper is nothing impressive and definitively not overkill... lol, its the bare minimum, it means both planes of your edge meet, that's it... nothing special or magical about it.

Does your Constable have much distal taper?

Usually at HEMA cutting tournaments the loaner sword is a Crecy. I like the Crecy, it's a good sword that can perform all the cuts... I just wish it were scaled up to the Baron's size or just a little larger, art suggests XVIa's like that were used into the 16th c.

Found this on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATtDymVb0P4

Someone cutting a milk jug with his Agincourt.

Hector, I think you've just answered a question of mine about the Albion Mercenary family of XVa's, they do swell distally to reinforce the point? Thank you!

Oh, and I'm with you on the blade honing, a well polished sharp edge is vital to a clean cut, especially considering linen and wool fabric. A sharp edge does not in any way need to be acutely angled. I've got an axe that will shave arm hair, and it both chops longer and is easier to maintain.