Broadhead Sharpening - What I'm doing

[nchunterkw]

As it's time for us to be getting ready, I thought I'd share my latest efforts at sharpening up my single bevel Grizzly heads and my Magnus Stingers.

I use a KME sharpener. If you don't have one, thay are pretty awesome, and quick.
First is a medium Arkansas stone to shape the edge if necessary.
Next I move to a fine (white) Arkansas stone and go back and forth slowly lightening pressure as I go.
Then I strop on a rough piece of leather with Herb's Yellowstone generously rubbed into it. At this point they will shave you.
But......
I next move through a series of 3M lapping Films that I had on hand sitting them on top of a smooth piece of leather on my desktop.
12 micron followed by 5 micron followed by 0.3micron. Maybe 20 or 30 strokes on each

Now the edge is polished and shines like a mirror and is ridiculously sharp. Like when you test it you don't just pop a few hairs....you literally shave off everything.

My single bevels are set at 25 degrees and I can easily match this on the KME. But the Magnus come from the factory at 19 degrees I think, and I can't quite match it exactly (or I haven't figured out how yet). So I just put on a 25 degree micro bevel on the edge following the same procedure and the results are just the same.....ridiculously sharp.

KME Broadhead Sharpener (https://www.kmesharp.com/broadhead-sharpener.html) there are links here too to Dan's Whetstones, but any bench stone will do

Lapping Film (https://psidragon.com/products/MA/MA_LF.aspx) I just bought some 9 micron, 5 micron, 3 micron and 1 micron. That will be my new process. Truth is you could stop at 5 micron if you want to save a few bucks.

Enjoy

[longbow joe]

Over the years when l shot the zwicky of course l had the special files that reduced the angle ...they were ok.
I went the snuffers and they were awsome 3 blade because you could sharpen em on a stone and a diamond stone and get a perfect edge..just spinning them ,then l got the reduction files that changed the angle to a much sharper angle definitely worked but honestly they killed deer no better than the old lesser angle. The gargantuan 2219 shaft and 200 grain broadhead went through basically all but a few.

[longbow joe]

[url=https://postimg.cc/y3PZ49FZ]
When l went to my favorite, the Simmons intercepter it had an odd concave blade believe it or not a common nice n new made for idiots accusharp was capable of putting an ungodly sharp edge on them.
Being nice and patient the accusharp would put this "nasty" unrefined edge on that simply just killed deer.
A lot of times you would even get more edge on one side than another but you still ended up with this nasty maby even a serrated edge but a shaving sharp edge more the same.
All l can say is that it simply killed and cut like no other method l had tried.

[longbow joe]

[url=https://postimg.cc/R60F68fN][
After killing my first deer with them and witnessed the bloody carnage l was a believer.
I went on to kill over 80 deer with this head and sharpening technique with very few lost.The intercepter had a way of the "hook" in the back grabbing the flesh and making a hole bigger than the broadheads themselves also if you shot one at an extreme angle it would kinda hook back into the animal. Basically doing the damage of a broadhead like a swat expandable does.It just kills deer no other words.
We used to hunt this awsome property in NJ and in order to hunt there we had to shoot a minimum of 8 doe
A year to hunt there and back then l even reused many of them over the ten years l hunted there.
The late fred bear used to sharpen his razorheads with a new high quality mill basterd file and l now know why.
Sometimes it's just as easy to get weird and overthink sharpening l know all the time l spent honeing and being anal only to find the almighty savior my accusharp.

[W.Miguire]

Hi Joe , can you tell me where you found those Simons I let mine go when I sold my recurve.

[longbow joe]

[url=https://postimg.cc/FYLpJCmF]
Used to use the massive tree shark on a rainy day for better blood trails and that it did.
(This head was never sharpened)
Mr. M you can still buy all of the Simmons heads on line at Simmons archery. Com l bought a pretty heavy supply years back.
I have been shooting my longbow a lot lately and my shoulder is doing well Also I'm gonna shoot a couple doe in early season l feel l will never be the archer before my injury but l think l got a few stickbow kills in this old body left.
I simply love hunting and whatever weapon l use is just fine l really enjoy my crossbows just the same.
I have such a high respect for these animals l have grown fond of the efficiency and accuracy of the crossbow not that the stickbow is not effective but there is no comparison to the crossbow.
Over the years l have had to pass on many giant bucks that were say 10 yards outta range now they are in range ...I'm old and impatient l guess.lol. lt was a lot of fun playing little "Indian joe" and don't regret it ever.

[W.Miguire]

Thanks Joe I’ll give them a try

[longbow joe]

[url=https://postimg.cc/jD7JRLYC]
I have a reciprocating knife that we use at work for cutting bonded windshields that only has a bevel on one side .
In 30 years l have gotten very very good in the every day of sharpening the single bevel with a Good quality mill basterd file.
I have used a 2 blade grizzly and grande beveled blade broadhead
a few times and can say nothing bad about the single bevel it is also a very deadly weapon l also used a file on them also.
With practice a file is capable of an awsome cutting edge on carbon steel that won't roll over it just takes time and patience.
I know all the nonsense about scalpel sharp yada yada but we are going thru thick hide and hair killing deer not removing a man's appendix.
If anyone has used the shwacker it is definitely not known for its sharp edges and to be honest l wasn't impressed with the swats sharpness but l can not argue with the way these products kill the deer.
Sorry for the long post was baby sitting tonight and was stuck with nothing to do and had to be quiet l guess the only point was that there are many was to achieve a sharp killing edge and that there are also different kinds of sharpening procedures find one that you are confident in that's the most important thing l think in the end.Thanks for sharing your method Keith and l hope you have a great season .
I used to take great pride in sharpening my knives to a stropped edge now l have the outdoor edge replacement blade knife...its sad.

[nchunterkw]

I sharpened my RamCat blades using one of those accusharp things. It was better than nothing and improved them over factory sharpness. I never got real proficient with a file either. Had a Lansky system that worked well, then got the KME...which is excellent. So no need to try with a file I guess. And that concave bend on the Simmons is why I have not tried them...I don't want to buy another sharpening system...same goes for Tooth of the Arrow.

Anyway.....I hope everyone that reads this pays attention that even though you didn't strop your blades to a mirror finish....ALL of your blades were hair popping, shaving sharp....you just used a different method.

That is the real takeaway....Broadheads need to be really really sharp.

It's not that hard of a skill to learn really and one every bowhunter ought to have in their tool kit IMO.

[longbow joe]

You are correct the accusharp will not work well or at all on the stainless it's probably as hard as the file.
On the snuffers l used to just torch the edges till they lightly blue and that makes sharpening easier but your right the stainless is just too hard.
I Should have mentioned that.

[grouse]

I like all of my knives and broadheads to be sharp. Like LBJ, back when I hunted with a recurve longbow I used to shoot Zwickey Black Diamonds and Black Diamond Deltas and I sharpened them with a small file (I don't remember if it was bastard or just s.o.b.) but they were plenty sharp. Today I have a small interrupted diamond file I use to touch up broadheads when necessary. If they will easily cut paper they're sharp enough. Sharpness is one of the things that we can control, so we need to be sure our broadheads are sharp.

[nchunterkw]

I like all of my knives and broadheads to be sharp. Like LBJ, back when I hunted with a recurve longbow I used to shoot Zwickey Black Diamonds and Black Diamond Deltas and I sharpened them with a small file (I don't remember if it was bastard or just s.o.b.) but they were plenty sharp. Today I have a small interrupted diamond file I use to touch up broadheads when necessary. If they will easily cut paper they're sharp enough. Sharpness is one of the things that we can control, so we need to be sure our broadheads are sharp.

Spot on. Our BHs need to be very sharp. Personally I've not had anything I bought be sharp enough for me out of the package.

Another thing is how much sharpness you lose by shooting a BH even 1 time into something like a Rhinehart. That's good to do all during the season to continually check your zero, but IMO you should touch them up (only takes a second) after that practice shot.

[robertyb]

I use one of these on broadheads and it sharpens then well. I don't have to remove the blades either.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144155224535?hash=item21905229d7:g:yawAAOSwr-pgwCiB

[wheelsquad]

I just bought one of these to try with my Sevr.

https://staysharpguide.com/products/replacement-blade-version

[nchunterkw]

I just bought one of these to try with my Sevr.

https://staysharpguide.com/products/replacement-blade-version

I like these! May have to get one or 2. Very similar to the KME....same concept. Should give a perfect angle and razor sharp edge