I've always wondered....

[Curtiss Cardinal]

Why broadheads are in general about 44 in the Rockwell scale? A good knife is at least 55 on the same scale and a great knife is around 60.
There are other things I wonder about, a lot of others, but this one is appropriate for tradgang.
I might even get an answer.

[Jedimaster]

I've wondered about this too.  I assumed that the broadhead was softer to make sharpening easier/quicker.  After all it only has to be sharp once and not hold an edge like a knife.  That is just my speculation though.

[George D. Stout]

Broadheads can be too hard for ease of sharpening in the field.  I have an idea that has something to do with it.

[R H Clark]

A broadhead is about as hard as a good machete because you don't want either to chip or fracture with a hard impact.

Now a laminated steel broadhead with two soft sides and a very thin, very hard center might be an idea worth looking into, especially if folks are willing to pay Silverflame prices.

[Earl E. Nov...mber]

Up to about 48 Rc C you can file sharpen them too,, Over 50 you are looking at stoning them.. Long slow process to get an edge to work with.
You expect a knife to stay sharp for considerable use.. A broadhead only needs to stay sharp for a single use. I believe a lot of the replaceable blade heads are into the 50's

[Falk]

I think it has a lot to do with welding and brazing them heads together.
Higher carbon steel would get harder (and brittle - okay) but not without propper heat threatment and anealing = time consuming. But then, your silver solder is already liquid again - and so on - I guess ...

If you look at those plastic ferrule broadheads for example, you often find spring steel or better quality blades. Apart from those ferrules questionable durability, the molding process allowed for a better grade of steel being used. Just an other observation ...

[wtpops]

A broadhead will get a lot more damage than a good or great knife. You dont through a good knife into a dirt or rock pile and then try to resharpen it. thats my thoughts anyway.

[Curtiss Cardinal]

I pretty much thought of all this within my ponderings. It would seem that the new injection molded broadheads like Montec G5s and the new one coming from Canada now, that Bob Morrison told us about, may be the best type of technology for producing heads. The new stainless steel heads offer a harder steel. However as it is clear with knives you can get carbon steel sharper than stainless.

[ChuckC]

As you can read above, there is a difference between the two (knives / broadheads).  These differences may not be immediately descernable, but they impact on the physical needs of the metals used.  Almost like a 1/2" socket and a 1/4" socket.  They are used for different things.

Knives... well they are used for a variety of things, but typically they are not stuck into objects at 150 -300 FPS. They slice, they carve, they do a number of things that require sharpness.  They are typically not great for prying things (breakage) or for use as an ax (again, breakage.  They can be sharpened once in a while and it doesn't matter how difficult it is do do this as they usually hold onto their edge quite well.  

A broadhead now, it does its job by impacting skin and meat and bones and rocks etc.  By necessity it needs to be relatively small and light weight.   It is sharpened all the time (heck.. it is carried in a manner that makes it more likely to dull even before it is used than a knife). so ease in sharpening (softer metal ??)is important.  

Impact of any kind can cause a very hard metal to break, so a degree of hardness that can keep a reasonable edge and not break on contact is important.

This same thing would be expected with rock such as flint and obsidian.  Sure, an obsidian flake is as sharp as it gets, but it won't stand up to the shock of hitting a deer's side most times, like a broadhead.  An obsidian broadhead (bifacially worked) is nowhere near as sharp as a flake, but it is sturdier and holds up to the impact fairly well.

From my point of view, they are different tools, requiring different qualities.

ChuckC