Sharpening Brand New Broadheads?

[timber_ghost]

Do you sharpen brand new, from the factory broadheads that have never been shot? I typically will have brand new broadheads on my first few arrows in my quiver during elk season (overkill I know but I like the added mental confidence of an arrow that looks perfect on the spinner). I go back and forth on whether I sharpen and tune the factory edge or not when they haven't been shot yet.

 

[bowhuntercoop]

Every single time from Magnus, to vpa, to iron will. They all get a initial bevel set, then diamond stones, then leather stropped and polished.

 

[ATL]

I have always used replaceable blade fixed, and more recently, mechanical broadheads. I sharpen every brand new blade before hunting. Very Sharp blades are one of the most important elements to a successful hunt is what I have found. Most blades from the factory are not sharp enough for me.

 

[Dennis]

I sharpen and strop each of my heads before the hunt and touch them up every few days during the hunt. Broadhead steel quality and durability makes a difference in the broadhhead maintaining it's edge quality throughout penetration. The way I look at it is the first thing the broadhead encounters is elk hide which thick hair full of mud, then meat and ribs before the arrow reaches inside chest cavity. The sharper it is upon reaching the chest cavity the quicker the recovery is my goal.

 

[TaperPin]

I always prided myself in being able to sharpen knives or tools, until seeing microscope images of knife edges. This video or others like it take the mystery out of a good durable edge that’s ridiculously sharp.

There’s no way around a strop or ultra fine stone for the final edge. Every auto parts store will have 2000 or 3000 grit wet/dry sandpaper in the painting section. When attached to a backer like plexiglas or even a piece of smooth wood or aluminum with spray adhesive it starts out overly aggressive until used a bit, and smooths out enough to be a simple strop that brings out a mirror smooth edge. Small micron diamond powder on a leather strop is definitely faster/better, but the wet/dry paper is about 7 microns and smooths out as the grit breaks down, so it’s very close to what guys use on diamond impregnated stropes.

 

[Read1t48]

I always sharpen out of the package. It makes a world of difference!

 

[roosiebull]

Do you sharpen brand new, from the factory broadheads that have never been shot? I typically will have brand new broadheads on my first few arrows in my quiver during elk season (overkill I know but I like the added mental confidence of an arrow that looks perfect on the spinner). I go back and forth on whether I sharpen and tune the factory edge or not when they haven't been shot yet.

Depends, I usually strop everything at least, but several heads I like don’t need to be from the factory (like GK’s) I recently bought some omegas and they were sharp but the bleeders were rough so I stropped the main blades and actually sharpened the bleeders, they were very rough and toothy.

Just got some Jekyll wydes and strop was all that was needed

 

[ResearchinStuff]

i sharpen every blade that goes into my quiver for hunting.

 

[BigK421]

I'm not a sharpening guru like some guys so I just use one of those Accusharp sharpeners. It's quick and seems to make a nice edge. Anything is better than the edge that was on the china made shuttle t-loks for a number of years.

 

[Jbehredt]

I won’t carry a broadhead that hasn’t been shot. How can you be certain they fly true? Quick touch up on the arrow after confirming poi is a must.

 

[bowhuntercoop]

Paper wheel with some buffing compound is the ticket imo. I will use a bastard file if they are really beat up or dull then it’s straight to the paper wheel.

Pretty crazy how easy it is. With a quality head they hold an edge extremely well. I’m a big fan of vpa, cut throat and terra firma broadheads. All get extremely sharp, have a good Rockwell and hold an awesome edge.

 

[Wilderlife]

I've mostly used Australian broadheads - Outback, Crafted, Kayuga, and Extract. Besides the Outbacks, they all advertise 'sharp from the packet', but I put an edge on all of them anyway. Some of them appear polished and they may cut paper OK, but if I drag them along a finger they don't really grab the way I want them to.

I normally give them a hit with a flat Stihl chainsaw file, then run them over a fine diamond rod, and then maybe strop them on some leather or cardboard and run them over a polish steel. I don't necessarily do all of these all the time but they're just examples of how I normally go about it. I'm not an expert by any means but without question, the edges I have on my broadheads is superior to that edge they come with out of the packet, and if there are any limitations in my bowhunting setup, the sharpness of my broadheads isn't one of them.

 

[dtrkyman]

I have never sharpened a brand new broadhead! Think I started bowhunting in 1990? Thunder heads and Muzzy were sharp as heck out of the box back in the day!

Maybe I am lucky, heave shot animals with dozens of different type heads over the years, I may have not used some that were dull out of the box but I can't really recall doing so?

I have sharpened used blades many many times and killed with them again, I shot 90 grain Muzzy for a lot of years and using blades again after touching them up was the norm, I hunted in the Midwest so after a pass through there was rarely much damage to blades!