I have some of the original woodsman that did not fly well out of my old bow but they shoot great with my new set up what is the best stone to get them sharp. Thanks as always
Sorry I haven't tried them all so I don't know which is best, but my diamond stones did a fine job after initially running them on a big file.
The ceramic stones KME sells work well.
Anyone use the G5 stone?
Diamond - any that is large and flat works. Get a medium grit so you can remove material if needed with pressure and lighten the lode to hone. Strop to finish on cardboard pulling backwards
The woodsmans I used didn't have very flat edges. Start with an aggressive stone like a diamond stone and grind away until the edges a true. Then sharpen them with the same stones you use to sharpen your knife.
I'll add my opinion on diamond stones. I believe even the finest diamond stones are way to aggressive to use as your sole sharpening device and they leave a toothy unpolished edge. You must follow them up with stones and polish them down to get a polished knife quality edge. Diamond stones are best for establishing an edge.
I have always had good luck with Norton stones. That is what I sharpen my 3 blade heads on.
The one that looks like a file!
I really like the G5 stone and the hewlitt jewel stick that 3 rivers sells.
If they are the original Wensel Woodsman I'll second what BigBadJon said, get the edges flat before you bother with a stone. The only thing that worked for me was a 12 inch mill file clamped to a bench. Get the edges true on the file, then go to the stones for the final edge. The original is a great head but every one I had needed quite a bit of truing up before the edges were flat, all were lower in the middle out of the box (concave).
I think any stone will work, but make sure you have multiple grits. After the file I went right to a medium, then a fine with very light strokes. I like oil on my stones better than water, have never had a diamond hone although I'm sure they're great.
I tried for the first time the other day on some Razor Caps. They are harder than the Woodsman,but they came out good for me. I started with a number of strokes on a file and then went to a medium-fine stone and then onto a very fine arkansas stone and they came out great. I just had the arkansas stone around,but if you didn't want to buy one of those you could use leather on your final light strokes.
After years of shooting 3 blades I have found the Jewel stick the best and easiest to use. Don't need 3 or 4 stones of different coarseness and I finish off with a ceramic rod which I really could skip.
I true the blades up with a large file then mark the edges with a marker and use the file like a stone to cut the angles. Then switch to a two sided Norton stone that KME sells.
12" file and strop on cardboard, when done correctly will give you a shaving edge. WW are soft and super easy to get hunt ready.
Easykeeper and Baithlonman hit it on the head.
I have strayed from WW original once, and when I didn't get near the quality blood trail I was used to, I returned and now that is all me and my boys use. Easy to get razor sharp, spin true and fly great with everything I have put them on. File the needle point down a little to a chisel point so the tip doesn't roll. I use a set of triangle shaped sharpening sticks I got years ago after using a diamond stone to true up the edges. I hope they never stop making the original 125 grain Woodsmans, love em'!!
Check out the 3Rivers web site - they have a video on sharpening the Woodsman. Dito on Longbow- the standard Woodsman have a needle point that should be reshaped to a chisel point. I think they have an "elite"(?) Woodsman for a few bucks more that have the chisel point already.