how sharp do you like your broadheads

[bornagainbowhunter]

I am going to be the odd man out here.  I used to get my heads so sharp they would cut your eye if you looked at them.  Not any more.  I get them file sharp.  
Now when I say file sharp, I mean sharp for a file...  they will still shave arm hair, but they have a rough kind of edge.  I like the wound channel better with this edge.  
Let me also say, my son shoots lighter poundage, 46# @28 and only pulls about 25". I get his Eskilites sharp sharp sharp.  I want a super fine and razor edge on his heads to help with penetration.

BAB

[Todd Cook]

File then ceramic croc stick. Takes about 1 minute, shaves hair, kills really dead.  

[Gooserbat]

No such thing as to sharp.  I want it to at least shave.

[Bob B.]

I get mine to really grab a fingernail.  If they do that, they will shave hair well.  Then I am done, the are sharp enough.  Also, when they need to be touched up it is easily done.

Bob.

[Doc Nock]

I always liked the quote Born Again used, about so sharp they cut your eyes to look at em!      

That's where he and I diverge. The biology training tells me that any ragged edge on a cut artery/vein means it's a place for clotting platelets to grab ahold and start a clot.

I don't want clots. I want profuse bleeding that doesn't stop.  Clean cuts are reputed in the medical community to heal quicker, hurt less but don't stop bleeding well.

I will not go afield with a rough edge blade. I make sure it's finely sharpened, then polish it out with continuing finer grits and strop on cardboard against the corrugation.

Lots of guys like the file sharp rough edge, but I can't ignore what I know about bleeding and clotting so I personally won't go that route.

Great thing about what's still alive in this country is: Personal Choice!

Go with what your gut tells you!

[JimB]

[Valkyrie]

Originally posted by bornagainbowhunter:
I am going to be the odd man out here.  I used to get my heads so sharp they would cut your eye if you looked at them.  Not any more.  I get them file sharp.  
Now when I say file sharp, I mean sharp for a file...  they will still shave arm hair, but they have a rough kind of edge.  I like the wound channel better with this edge.  
Let me also say, my son shoots lighter poundage, 46# @28 and only pulls about 25". I get his Eskilites sharp sharp sharp.  I want a super fine and razor edge on his heads to help with penetration.

BAB

This is interesting as I have a crazy talent for sharpening things.  I learned to make a pocket knife shave when I was in grade school and there isn't a cutting edge in the house that isn't shaving sharp, I'm a little obsessed you might say.  

There is a debate out there on how fine your broadhead edge should be.  Let me start by noting that obsidian is capable of being flaked to an edge of one micron.  That will cut better than a scalpel.  None of us get our blades near that sharp but with such a fine edge, the tearing of soft tissue on the cutting edge is reduced and the claim is that this reduces the ability of fibrinogen to form clots as easy as it might on rough or not so fine cuts.  

While shaving sharp with  file is just fine, I believe that a razor sharp blade, one as fine as can be achieved, results in better penetration and better performance altogether. Simply put, sharper tools stay sharp longer and perform better as they pass through the medium they are cutting. Just my thoughts.

[Slasher]

Shaving arm or leg hair sharp is easy...

KME, Lansky, and wicked edge are probably phenomenal... I probably have over $200 in stones.... but use a rada wheel sharpener with the washers and then just hit with a belt or ceramic...

As sharp as i can do with those dusty old stones that haven't seen the lite of day in 5 or 6 years since I discovoered the $5 RADA wheelie sharpener... 2-3 min per head is better than 30-40...

[CRS]

I always tell people that I like my broadheads scary sharp.

 I like shaving sharp with a fine edge as I agree 100% with Doc Nock. I like it when the edge pops the hair off my arms.

I have used many different methods to get there.  But lately it is a file to set the angle, then on to diamond stones, ceramic stick and finally a leather strop.

I have also used just a file, ceramic stick and strop to get the same results.

Another method that has worked is a diamond file and steel.  As that is all I use to sharpen my knives.

Method is not a big deal, as long as the end result is scary, hair popping sharp.

[John3]

"Scary" sharp is your goal.  I use a rubber band held loosely as a test. Run the broad head theough the rubberband.  If the band is just pushed out of the way you are not sharp enough.  Use the Tru-angle system to sharpen.  The best I've ever found!

[Sharpster]

As my buddy Jake says- "I've never lost an animal because my broadhead was too sharp".

My own often repeated quote is- "I don't care how sharp your broadhead or mine is, ...it's not sharp enough".


Ron

[Doc Nock]

Originally posted by Valkyrie:
  I believe that a razor sharp blade, one as fine as can be achieved, results in better penetration and better performance altogether. Simply put, sharper tools stay sharp longer and perform better as they pass through the medium they are cutting. Just my thoughts.

My only comment there is to question the FINE part?

I used to use a Redi Edge pull thru sharpener. I got lousy blood trails, few pass thrus and yet, it would shave hair like a banshee!

Turned out that sharpener created a very sharp, but flimsy 19* bevel...so "thin" (ergo my question on FINE?) and just pushing it thru a hair on hide would dull it considerably.  That is when I was introduced to Ron at KME.

I researched the blade competition and they either use a 25* or a 25*/30* compound bevel for super sharp and durability to STAY sharp.

Sharp is established, I had to learn, using the coarsest stone or grit you have...when that wire edge is there, then you move to another "grit" and start over... and each level hones it finer in the sense of less imperfections on the bevel cutting edge till it looks mirror sharp like a true scalpel!

Alas, different 'strokes' (  :rolleyes:  ) for different folks. I just copy those that do sharp for a living! Or to win endurance competition.  I personally stick with 25* and while the compound bevel is intriguing, having been El Presidente' of Can't Sharpen ShiX Int'l and founder there of, compound bevels is a bit much.

Have fun. Hunt smart!

[tracker12]

I like to rough edge of a file sharpened BH.  No clotting problem with a hole in the lungs.

[bsv]

K.M.E SHARP and it's FUN

[m midd]

Mine are so sharp they will cut your eye if you look at them. My sharpening method is a file and a filament out of a high pressure sodium light bulb.