Staying sharp

[GG]

Which broadheads hold their edge better after penetrating an animal? Seems to me that the sharper it is coming out, the better the bloodtrail. The heads I have used are dull after exiting. I understand that this is to be expected to some degree, but was wondering if some broadheads held there edge better, but didn't require a second mortgage to purchase.

[Sharpster]

GG,

Very good point. If a broadhead is dull after the shot, the question "when did it become dull" needs to be answered... was it instantly as it passed through the onside hair/hide? or after hitting an onside rib? or a little going in and a little more coming out?

Heads with Rockwell hardness above 50 are usually pretty good at holding their edges but, even those can fail if the bevel angle is too low. (I like 25 degrees or so).

We can increase the durability of the cutting edge even on softer heads with Rockwell hardness in the mid 40s to some extent by raising the bevel/sharpening angle from say 20-22 up to 25 degrees or even a bit more.

Ron

[Bonebuster]

This MAY be one of the most important qualities that we should all be considering when choosing a broadhead.

It seems to me, also, that the sharper it is coming out, the better off we are.

All broadheads are not created equal.

My experience is limited, but I can tell you, Abowyer, and Grizzly heads are made of harder steel than most of the other common names.

[Daddy Bear]

I've had good luck w/ sharp Grizzly 190s which end up in the low to mid 170s(25degree). Not only do they seem to hold an edge going through game, they hold an edge when banging around in my backquiver. I've noticed that softer heads dull just from using the backquiver.

[GG]

Which broadheads have a Rockwell hardness above 50? what is the Rockwell hardness of the Magnus1?

[bowhunterfrompast]

I bumped to the top two threads already started that have great info. Check them out.

WW..how sharp can we get it..let's try by wingnut and broadhead toughness by Gapmaster.

[Mamba]

I have German Kinetics, they arent cheap, but they will still shave hair after a pass through, even if they hit ribs on both sides.

[Sharpster]

GG,

Another important factor is the method used to do the sharpening. There are lots of different ways to sharpen a broadhead: Files, carbide pull through type sharpeners, diamond/ceramic/Arkansas stones, etc. In other words, coarse sharpened or honed and stropped edges.  

Some of these  will  yeild more durable edges than others.

No secret which camp I'm in there...  :D  

Ron

[Old York]

GG, thanks for posting this. It's been knocked about a bit here & I too have wondered what the minimum hardness can be & still get the job done.

Seemingly good lethal hits with animals not recovered...broadhead dulled upon entry??????


Have I damaged my broadhead's temper with too much heat [hotmelt glues]? I just read that tempering is in the 450º to 500º range [???]

[GG]

Sharpster,

I purchased a KME broadhead sharpener about a month and a half ago and am extremely pleased with the ease and the sharpness I get with your product. I prefer wide 2 blade broadheads, and am searching for the best steel I can find at an affordable price.

[SlowBowinMO]

Tuskers and Grizzlies are good hard steel, about 52 rockwell, Eclipse are above average but I don't know the exact hardness.

Magnus are fine heads and much easier to get an edge on then some of the others, partly because they are about 48 hrc and partly because the factory grind is excellent.

[amar911]

Ron,

I can't seem to get "honed" into which camp you are in.       Would that be the coarse sharpened group? Please don't strop me for saying that!

I really like the knife sharpener set I got from you. Great design and function. None better in fact, and I think I have seen almost all of them.

Allan

[Bill Carlsen]

The best I have used are Razorcaps and Phantoms.

[Sharpster]

Allen and GG,

Thanks very much for the kind words...  

GG,

Slowbow mentioned Grizzlies, Tuskers, Eclipse and Magnus which are all good heads.

You said you were looking for a "wide two blade at an affordable price". The first one that comes to mind is the Tusker "Delta". It's a wide design with very good steel, and how much are they Slowbow? around $22 for 6 I think? You'll need to be at least fair with a file to get them beveled though. (or spend another $50 on a good x-coarse/coarse diamond stone). Certainly, there are others too, that's just the one that popped into my head when reading your post. You might want to have a look at the Zephyr "Sasquach". I've heard good things about them too.  

Ron

[Sharpster]

Originally posted by Old York:
GG, thanks for posting this. It's been knocked about a bit here & I too have wondered what the minimum hardness can be & still get the job done.

Seemingly good lethal hits with animals not recovered...broadhead dulled upon entry??????

Have I damaged my broadhead's temper with too much heat [hotmelt glues]? I just read that tempering is in the 450º to 500º range [???]

Another very good point Old York.

I've seen glue on heads mounted on adapters and shafts with the paint burned off them and the steel all discolored... Yea, it's  very  easy to over heat them!

Which brings us back to the broadhead's steel hardness, If a broadhead is very easy to sharpen...well I'll just quote Dr. Ashby. (hope he dosen't mind):

 Ed Ashby- "That's the biggest problem with BH's that are 'easy to sharpen". I've not yet seen an 'easy to sharpen' BH that stayed 'truly sharp' all the way through the penetration-cycle; and the question becomes, "At what point during penetration did the BH quit cutting as it should".

 "Seemingly good lethal hits with animals not recovered...broadhead dulled upon entry??????" -Old York
 
Ed Ashby- "There's not much doubt that the degree of BH sharpness hugely affects the degree of blood trail; and even more so when its still sharp at exit".

Ron

[amar911]

If you use screw-ins, one model that I have used that starts sharp and stays sharp is the new 150 gr Stinger 2 blade. I bought a bunch from Tim Harms at Braveheart and have been very pleased with them. I also got a bunch of the 300 gr Tuskers from Tim that are very nice but require some extensive sharpening before use. I have not used the smaller Tuskers, but they seem to be well made with good steel and they are inexpensive.

Allan

[SlowBowinMO]

Ron, one of the reasons I'm so high on the Tuskers is the quality   and value is there.  

The screw ins run $14.99 for 3 and the glue ons are $2.99 each which translates to $17.94 per 6.    :D    

Now that's a deal  especially when you consider how good of a head you're getting.        You'll be seeing even more Tuskers at Braveheart in the future like the Delta and Aztec glue ons which have wider cutting diameters.

Like Allan said, they do require some sharpening effort, but they are worth the trouble IMO.  

[La. bowhunter]

This season I have killed 3 deer and 2 hogs with the Steelforce Hellfire 150's and have been very very impressed with how sharp they are out of the box and how sharp they are after the shot. 2 of the heads I shot the deer with were still shaving sharp after the shot the other wasnt sharp on one blade due to sliding down a rib. The hog shots were both pretty dull afterwards but they werent pass throughs so they stayed inside and cut more while the hogs were running off. I will say that I that I am pleased with them enough to keep on shooting them.

[Sharpster]

Originally posted by SlowBowinMO:
Ron, one of the reasons I'm so high on the Tuskers is the quality   and value is there.  

The screw ins run $14.99 for 3 and the glue ons are $2.99 each which translates to $17.94 per 6.     :D    

Now that's a deal  especially when you consider how good of a head you're getting.         You'll be seeing even more Tuskers at Braveheart in the future like the Delta and Aztec glue ons which have wider cutting diameters.

Like Allan said, they do require some sharpening effort, but they are worth the trouble IMO.      

Tim,
Couldn't agree more, any of the Tusker broadheads are hard to beat in quality, edge holding or price. They can be some work to get sharpened the first time but, according to Dr. Ed (and I agree), that's realy another "plus" because it's an indicator of the high quality steel John uses.

Great heads and a great price too.

For the sharpening impared, La Bowhunter picked another great head. I believe that Steelforce is second only to the silverflames in "out of the pack" sharpness, and Nick takes great pride in delivering a top quality product too. Not as inexpensive as the Tuskers but, they won't break the bank either.

Ron