Hi Daniel.
Kinda in a hurried state of mind here right now, so I'll settle with tipping you off about a rather good chapter in David Lindholm's book
Sigmund Ringeck's Knightly Art of the Longsword http://www.thearma.org/spotlight/srlspro.htm that tells how to properly sharpen a sword and what tools to use (which is important).
I think you have to be careful to
not sharpen the edge into a "knife edge" as that will be too weak. I think the proper angle best used for a sword would be about 45-50 degrees. That's at least the angle Peter Johnsson recommended I should stick to when doing maintenance on my swords.
Hope I managed to answer at least one of your questions. But perhaps some less stressed out forum members can provide better answers for you. <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />
Regards,
