sword sharpening

Creating and maintaining a razor edge on a sword by mechanical means is an art that has been practiced through the millennia by craftsmen and artisans. As in many endeavours, war and strife have fostered this art yet its principles can be applied in equal measure to instruments produced for creativity: medicine, culinary endeavours and cabinetry to name but three.

A sword's long edges, excluding the pommel and hilt used for grasping the device, comprises the cutting component of the weapon. Swords, such as a katana or a sabre have a strong false edge, designed to provide strength to the actual cutting edge of the sword.

The sharpness of a sword, and ability to keep that edge, is a balance between the volume of material supporting the edge and the thinness of the cutting edge while taking into account the chemical composition of the metal, generally steel, of which the blade is composed.

An ideal sharpness involves metal that tapers to a thickness measured in molecular widths with chemical bonds that provides strength without brittleness; tendencies that might cause the edge to chip on contact with resultant dulling of the edge.

Achieving and maintaining sharpness requires the use of grades of fine abrasives to hone the edge as well as oils to repel water that causes pitting of the metal due to oxidation. Progressively finer grades of abrasive, either artificial or natural, in the form of flat ceramic blocks or wheels are used with lubricants to abrade the cutting edge and remove scratches, pits and imperfections that mar the uniformity of the blade. Blades are held at an optimal angle to the abrasive compound as the mechanical abrasion is performed.

Sword Sharpening

See also