testing broadhead sharpness

[Bisch]

Shave hair and thumbnail for me. I want them as close to a scalpel as I can get them!!

Bisch

[styksnstryngs]

It's really easy to make a sharpening jig with some metal brackets and a piece of wood, plus a clamp, using fine sandpaper glued to a flat piece of wood or metal.

[Sam McMichael]

Like many, I use shaving sharp as a guide. If it will shave, it will kill. I have used all these other methods mentioned as well, but shaving is just an easy reference point for me. Basically, if it will poke a hole through the lungs and/or heart, it will kill an animal, whatever sharpness test is used.

[madmaxthc]

I like them to shave hair too.  I normally test them on my leg so people don't look at my arms and wonder what in the world is wrong with me 

LOL, I'm with you. A colleague of mine looked at my arm and said "... Uh... are you by chance fond of knives? Are your legs shaved as well, like my crazy husband's?"

  

[gvdocholiday]

Run them on the callused skin in front of my finger nails. 

[pavan]

With single bevels, I make them shaving sharp first, my arms have no hair after i am done, then I serrate, and then I strop.  However, with some typed of head I just use a file and just touch them, you don't really need to test everyone, just a touch will do for a comparative, after you know what sharp feels like.

[smokin joe]

If it shaves it is sharp -- I don't get carried away and shave a whole bunch of hair, just a bit.

Also, if the edge feels like the edge of broken glass it is sharp. And, I agree that with experience a person can learn what sharp feels like.

[Pfranchise]

Do any of you guys use whetstones? That is what I just used to finish my new Cutthroats. I have a 1000/3000 combo stone I sharpen my kitchen knives with. Start with 1000 grit to profile them then switched to 3000 grit to hone. After the whetstone I run them on a stiff leather strop coated with green media to take off the burr. End result is a mirror finish that shaves hair. I don’t want the durable rougher edge I put on my meat cutting knives. I want something that is scary sharp it’s only going through the deer once, I don’t need the edge to be durable for multiple uses like a knife.

[89redtruck]

I don't think anything sharpens as well as a "good" butcher's steel.  A bad one is worthless!  I've been using one for over 40 years and you can pop the hair off your arm with very little effort.
Jim

[Charlie Lamb]

I don’t want the durable rougher edge I put on my meat cutting knives. I want something that is scary sharp it’s only going through the deer hair, skin and bones first  once, I don’t need the edge to be durable for multiple uses like a knife.

Sorry! For every pro there is a con.

[David McLendon]

1 Fingernail drag test

 2 Arm hair shave test

 3 The rubber band test

  4 Pigs, the ultimate test.

[pavan]

If your broad heads are not sharp enough to shave your cat, they are to dull to hunt with.  Good thing I don't have a cat, so I don''t have that to worry about. 

[Pfranchise]

What con would that be Charlie?

[Charlie Lamb]

For everyone who likes a polished razor edge there's somebody who swears by file sharpened or serrate.

[Pfranchise]

Very true. Too each his own I guess. Just like most stuff in Traditional archery it’s subjective depending on the user. It is always interesting to see and hear everyone’s preferences.

[89redtruck]

I started shaving my thigh instead of my arm or calf so I don't look so weird!  I hadn't thought about the cat..
Jim

[SlowBowinMO]

I prefer a "sticky sharp" filed edge as well.  No problems with blood trails or quick kills, and they seem to hold up better and are easier to touch up in the field if need be, at least for me.

[Sam McMichael]

Maybe the best way to test sharpness is to shoot an animal. If it dies, your arrow is sharp enough. Seriously, I think any of these sharpening methodologies will work just fine. Personal choice will lead us one way or another, but I don't think we will go wrong whatever the selection.