File sharpened “toothy” edge vs razor sharp polished edge?

[primal.wanderings]

In the past I used to be a fanatic about having my broadheads sharpened to a razor honed mirror polished edge. I always hated spending the time honing my broadheads but thought it was absolutely necessary. However over the years I’ve had multiple shots where I’ve recovered my broadheads after the shot only to find them really dull, and upon butchering the animal found that they only hit the on-side ribs. In other words, the broadhead ended up passing through the animal as a dull broadhead. So now I’ve been hunting with good old Zwickeys for the last few years which I’ve only file-sharpened to a “toothy” edge and haven’t really noticed too much of a difference in effectiveness. What are your experiences with the two edges?

 

[nevadabugle]

I guess I would say I use a third edge. Not "mirror honed" by any stretch but a fine edge that shaves hair and bites into a finger nail. Have never lost a deer, elk, or antelope, even with a not so ideal hit. I have recovered them all. Broadheads are fairly sharp in the dirt after unless they hit rocks or gravel.

I would say steel hardness and quality play into this. Softer stamped steels vs harder stainless (or tool) steel. My examples are all harder heads like Day Six, Cutthroat, or Steel Force. The cutthroats are a tool steel I believe.

 

[smoke]

I second with Nevadabugle wrote - pretty much spot on!

 

[Beendare]

I've tried Every possible edge...including serrated. I don't have any scientific double blind results to point to better or worse results.

Worth considering; The knife testing where they cut manila rope indicates that the polished edge is far superior.

I do think having a BH that stays sharp through the animal is critical.

The Animals that opened my eyes on BH design;
I had a couple short Slicktricks in my compound years ago dull something terrible on a hog and Elk that had been wallowing with mud and dirt in their thick hides. I mean dull as heck. The elk wasn't a pass thru...and the hog had its guts pushed out through the hole without cutting. It was obvious the Very thin beveled edge at a shallow angle actually created this dulling by design. The sort shallow angle put the edge plowing in with a lot of hair, hide and bone contact.

I have since gone to a steeper angled head [2 blades and the original Thunderhead] and have not had a head dull in decades. Its been proven that those old school designs have more mechanical advantage slipping into the critter but the key factor is that longer sloping design puts less pressure on the edge.

Yeah, good steel is a factor....but I think it's less of a factor in the longer sloped heads. I've had relatively cheap heads stay sharp with this design.

 

[GreenNDark Timber]

Pretty much the same as Nevadabugle for me. As long as they'll shave hair with ease, they're sharp enough for me. That usually means finishing them on a fine diamond stone and a few stops over leather. Zwickey Delta 2 blade, 4 blade and VPA 3 blades.

 

[Longbow Lunatic]

Nevadabugle nailed it on the head. We used to teach in Bowhunter Education classes years ago that you want a broadhead to easily cut through a few stretched rubber bands, as blood vessels are similar. Heads that shave arm hair easily will slice through a rubber band (and a whitetail) like a hot knife through butter, so that is sharp enough in my book.

 

[Wilderlife]

I've experimented with different edges and they've all worked fine. Flat Stihl chainsaw files are a favourite of mine, especially when I need to bring an edge back after it's hit dirt.

At the moment I typically use a diamond steel that is fairly fine after years of use, and it brings the edge up nicely. It's not a mirror polished edge but it also doesn't feel quite as grabby as one that's purely been made with files. I do like to feel a broadhead grab my finger nail as I push or drag it across and that's a happy place to be.

Sometimes I give my broadheads a strop if I feel like it but it doesn't always happen. I also can't say that I've noticed much difference between all the edges on game, stropped or otherwise.

 

[Tradchef]

I file sharpen and use my stones that I use for my work knives. I use ACE Standards and they sharpen super easy. Touch up with diamond steel and every now and then and have never had an issue on any deer, bear or elk.