[Chad Arnow]

And didn’t screw it up! I’ve had my Sovereign for a long time (it was one of the first several made). It’s cut melons, pumpkins, pool noodles, the PVC pipe that holds the noodles, the occasional hardwood chunk out of my cutting stand due to poor technique, etc. I’ve scrubbed fruit guts off it multiple times and between its use, those abrasives and how it rests in—and slides in/out of—my wooden display stand, a few parts of the edge had dulled a bit in the 17 or so years I’ve had it.

With a little trepidation, I set out to sharpen it. Due to some online research I viewed and good experience with some of their other products, I purchased Work Sharp’s Ken Onion Knife and Tool Sharpener with the Blade Grinding Attachment. With a coupon I found online, it made the setup likely no more expensive than insured shipping to and from Wisconsin for Albion to do it.

I used the machine exclusively with the blade grinding attachment. Prior to a few hours ago, I had zero experience with belt grinders of any kind. But, I watched a bunch of videos beforehand and (gasp!) followed the instructions. I practiced on other items first: 3 old folding knives kicking around in the junk drawer for years, an old hunting knife of my father in law’s, and an A&A dagger. I used the 2 belts they said would get it a toothy sharp level, same as everyday carry knives that’ll see some use. It came with both coarser and finer belts, which weren’t needed for this.

After my practice pieces, I started on the Sovereign. Sharpening both edges took a total of less than 30 minutes. This tool leaves a convex edge and I set it for 22.5 degrees per side. I hear that edge angle stated often for Albions in general, though Peter Johnsson used a more acute number in a post on this forum for the Regent. I figured 22.5 was good enough. It’s very sharp, paper-cutting sharp, now. I didn’t screw up the rest of the finish nor cut my finger off, so I’ll call it a success.

It’s definitely meant for smaller blades, but worked just fine for this purpose. If you’re looking to sharpen something, it’s worth a look.

[Joe Maccarrone]

Thanks for this, Chad. I use Spyderco rods for pocket knives, but don't really have anything good for touching up swords... I have eyeballed this sharpener a few times, but haven't pulled the trigger on it. You've given me a bit of confidence that I won't botch my own swords with it.

I also have some daggers/seaxes that I wouldn't mind putting more of an edge on.

[Edward Lee]

The last time I made this mistake my sword snapped in half at the tand, not an Albion though.

[Chad Arnow]

[T. Kew]

There's a special kind of terror the first time you take a thousand dollar sword to a belt sander, but it works very well in practice.

The cheaper and more flexible option is a 1x30 slack belt grinder (you can find them at Harbor Freight for about $50) and a batch of belts - it's pretty possible to get yourself set up for under $100 all in, certainly under $150. The main thing you lose this way is having a fixed angle guide - what most people I know in the HEMA world do is cut a block of wood to get a visual guide, and then just do it by eye. This has the disadvantage that your edge won't be quite as replicable, and the advantage that if you trip or otherwise drop the sword, it will generally fall away from the belt so the edge can't get messed up.

Mike Edelson has a youtube video explaining the normal method for using a slack belt grinder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dndjr3YXsLA

Karl Bolle also has a video which has some useful additional tips, particularly when doing the final passes at the finest grits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McJc_AXD7v0

[Chad Arnow]

T.,
I remember seeing Michael’s video. It clearly works for him that way. For me, the Work Sharp is more fool proof (and I can be a fool ) and flexible. I can quickly set any angle between 10 and 35 degrees, with two options for how much flex is in the belt. Then I just have to hold the item with the flat parallel to the ground (they provide a placement guide that helps) and bring it to the belt. It did cost me about $170 after the coupon, but I didn’t have to make any templates and the learning curve was short. In my first three hours of using it, I sharpened folding knives, a kitchen knife, a hunting knife, a hatchet, a dagger, and a sword. Belt changes are fast and the whole setup left this newb feeling pretty confident.

For people more comfortable with belt grinders, I’m sure there are cheaper options.

[Jean Thibodeau]

Chad, I must admit that using a belt sander of any kind on an expensive sword can be nerve wracking, but at least you where using a good and specialized grinding tool with guides that make sure that the grinding angles remain the same and consistent.

I must first admit that I never used power tools when sharpening " expensive swords " but I do use a cheap belt sander on some knives freehanded, but unless I'm grinding an edge on an unsharpened false edge, I do most sharpening by hand.

For knives I mostly use a Spyderco Sharpmaker, but for sword length blades this doesn't work.

Now, I don't really do any test cutting, but I do have some less expensive production swords that may have needed a little work to get them paper cutting sharp.

So for long sword edges that are close to the sharpness that I want I use diamond or ceramic hones by using the hones along the length of the blades from guard to tip and held free handed.

This seems to work fine if one is only refreshing a slightly dulled edge, or giving a final polishing to the edges of a fixed blade knife or folding knife ..... Doing this for decades also helps having the angle almost programmed into one's honing hand ....

[Chad Arnow]

An update. Good heavens, is the Sovereign sharp. I was just oiling it and it bit through two layers of my oil cloth and just nicked a finger, like a paper cut. I had a dirk by Tinker years ago and some stuff by Tod (har) that was that sharp. Now this sword is, too.

I’ve had good success with our kitchen knives with this setup as well. Overall, I’m quite happy with it and may tackle the Baron next. Or the Sempach…

[Jeff Cierniak]

Nice, glad to hear it!

I don't have a ton of experience but have done a relatively cheap, but decent bladed katana from my youth practice of kenjutsu a couple of times. Waterstones and patience worked well for me free hand. Sit in garage for a while with a glass of something nice or a cigar, or a favorite album or two...

I may not be so bold with a piece of that quality, though.

[Chad Arnow]

I tackled my largest sharpening challenge tonight: the 37"+ blade of the Albion Baron. This blade, from the factory, never seemed as sharp as every other Albion blade I've owned and held. From poor technique, it had picked up the slightest burr (baby nick?) in one edge from a follow through that briefly met my concrete patio. It was barely visible at all (I had to really look for it to find it) but it would slightly snag my oiling cloth. No flaw in the blade design, steel, heat treat, or original edge/edge geometry, just the natural result of me being a doofus and concrete being hard...

I used the same 22.5 degree (per side) angle that I used for the Sovereign. The total time was around an hour, plus or minus. For each edge, I started off with a few passes of the lowest grit (120) to establish the angle and remove the burr on one side (which it did easily). Then four passes per side with 220 and four with 1000 grit. These are Work Sharp stock abrasive belts and this progression and number of passes is what they recommend to establish and get a slightly toothy edge. I then did a couple of passes with a leather stropping belt with white compound (not a Work Sharp product but made to fit this rig). I've found the leather stropping belt to be a great finish to any blade sharpened on this machine.

The end result is a paper-cutting edge for the last 1/3+ of the blade. I started sharpening around two inches down from the guard both to keep from cutting a finger if I loop it over the cross and because the guard kind of gets in the way of the rig when sharpening in one direction. The lower part of the blade is less sharp than the last third but is more sharp than it was. My guess is that the edge geometry (like the blade) is thicker there. The factory angle seems a hair steeper than 22.5 in that part.

I will say that this blade was much harder to handle during the process due to its size and weight than the Sovereign was. This is, after all, a knife sharpener and a 4 foot sword isn't exactly what it was designed for. It works, but you need to be careful and take your time. Your milage may vary, of course.