sharpening Grizzly Broadheads.

[THE DUDE.]

First off i hope im in the right forum for this, every room is so specific.I have grizzly broadheads they are single bevel 125 grain. I have tryed a file and a wet stone, and i think im starting to get them sharp, but i dont understand the sharpness factor. Meaning when i sharpen my pocket knife it will cut right through fabric after i sharpen, and i can not acheive this with the single bevel broadhead when i test it. Does this mean it is not sharp? Or is that just part of the science of haveing only one bevel. Ive read a little on ashby report thing but i dont remember coming across this. And also these broadheads did not come out of the package very sharp and the tips are kind of blunt where the steel is welded together.  

thanks

[vermonster13]

Try this.

http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000053

[THE DUDE.]

Wow thanks alot for that info. I guess i was just thinking that i would buy some broadheads slap them on the shaft and start hunting, obviously not, i got some work ahead of me tonight. This is the fun in trad shooting and hunting, i guess we all chose the hard way. Before when i shot compound i would buy mechanical broadheads and kill deer everytime. Thanks again.

[SOS]

Here's a homemade jig that will grind them close.  I use a GATCO/Lansky type sharperner for the final edge.  
http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=060487#000000
I may have found a good method for the final edge, will have to take some pictures.  This is a start, though.  Steve

[kibok&ko]

to attack the edge to get the good angle before to make the final sharpening you can try this also , it's in french but there is good pictures

here :  http://archasse.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=20135&st=0&p=470091588&#entry470091588

[Bjorn]

I am a former Grizzly fighter!    
Since I discovered STOS I now have time for dinner with the wife!  :cool:

[Soilarch]

You all know I'm still kinda new around here.

How popular are strops around here?

Have no experience with grizzlies but I've had a lot of fights with "modular" broadhead blades (Muzzys and Thunderheads).

A strop does not HAVE to be leather!!!
I have yet to get my hands on a good piece of leather.

But since I started stropping my knives and broadheads "razor sharp" has a whole new meaning!!!

I use computer paper...that's right, plain old 20# computer paper!  The second secret is a mousepad.  The foam type.

With knives or broadheads (even an axehead...just for kicks one time) I go ahead and file/grind/stone as best I can.  In fact, on knives I usually skip the "fine" stone.  

When I have the best edge I feel I can get, I note the angle that the edge has been created on.
I place the computer paper on the mousepad.  Then making the angle just a few degrees higher I "pull" the edge across the paper.  If it feels like nails across a chalkboard sounds... get back on the finest stone you used and give it a few VERY light strokes at your new "stropping" angle.

Then back to the paper-mousepad strop.  It can feel gritty, that's fine.  Keep at.  Light pressure.  Soon, it'll feel baby smooth.  If you've kept your "stropping angle" consist, you'll be amazed when you test the sharpness.  If you held the angle too high or too low...you've just wasted a few minutes.  

This is soo very worth it once you "get it" the first time you'll be addicted to how truely sharp metal can get.


For the single bevel heads file/grind/strop on the same side all the time.  When it's pulls smooth on the side you've been working from the start.  Turn the head to the un-ground side and give it a few LIGHT strops as flat as you can.

For knives or normal bevel heads you sharpen however you normally do, but when stropping it is best to do 10 strops one side, flip and do 10 on the other, then 9 and 9, then 8 and 8...etc, etc, until you've gone back and forth ONE TIME on each side.


It's so hard to explain, but you have to "feel" a lot of this stuff.  You'll know when it "feels" right.

Sorry for the long post.  Hopefully it helps.  All my knives have made lightyears of improvements since I discovered stropping...without ever having to buy a strop.


Sidenote:  Strapped for cash like me?  No need to buy expensive stones.  I freehand most my stuff now with automotive sandpaper laid over the mousepad. 600-800-1500-2000grit. (The mousepad "smashes" a little and forgives errors in form.... a mousepad compared to a hard stone is like a 68" bow compared to a short little horsebow.)

THE KEY IS LIGHT PRESSURE!!!  Make the stone/paper do the work.  You might save a little time but you won't get the results, and you will get sore thumbs, by using pressure to do the work.

[amicus]

I think the hardest part is doing the intial grind. After I use SOS jig I then file sharpen the rest of the way. It only takes a few minutes after you get the right angle.

Gilbert

[Chris Lantz]

+1 on using strops for finishing. A leather strop treated with honing compound has worked wonders for me, you just have to be careful not to roll the the edge when using a strop. Maybe I'm doing something wrong when honing but I have never been able to get a finished edge as fine I can with a strop using stones alone. I've tried tried ceramic sticks, Arkansas stones, ceramic hones and water stones up to 8000 grit, nothing works as well as a strop for me when finishing.

The honing compound seems to cut surprising fast considering how fine it is. I have used a strop on some broaheads that felt pretty dull after finishing on a stone and got them sharp in little working time on a strop. Usually a strop is all I use to touch up my broadheads (the ones that have been sitting in my quiver, not broadheads that were shot into anything) throughout the season as well.

[forrest-hunter]

I finally bought a wet grinder  http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95236
and solved the problem. It also worked with ax, garden tools, woodman's pal and all the kitchen knives that aren't serated.

[Flt Rck Shtr]

I just got done sharpening a half dozen 150gn. El Grandes. Worked them over with a file for a few minutes apiece and ran them about 15 times on each side through a Rada Cutlery sharpener, And now they will shave hair! Took about 20 min. to do them all. Best broadhead sharpener I've tried, and I've tried alot of em'. Works great on Simmons heads too. The best part about it, they only cost $5.00. Hope this helps,
                                    James

[Hot Hap]

The Rada sharpener? Is that the one with the two wheels? Thanks Hap

[Ray Hammond]

then you are defeating the single bevel aspect of the head, by putting a double bevel sharpening on the head with the Rada.

I've got to find someone with a video camera. This is not rocket science..its actually really easy.

[Bill Tell]

My secret is strop with leather and a little of the ol yellowstone strop compound.

[Bowferd]

Just a ton of good information. Just rec'd my new 190's and brought out the shop tools.
Experimented with the files and ended up using a hobby set of diamond files that I've had forever.
It took that intended angle down in no time, and then finished off with my tristone #2 and swipes on my ceramic steel.
My favorite Levi belt doesn't look too good right now though.

[Sharpster]

Basic sharpening theory states: "Raise a burr, then remove it".

We have all heard this a thousand times but it is even more critical when we're sharpening single bevels.

It's the presents of the burr that tells you when you have filed/ground the bevel down to the point that there is a true intersection of the two bevels (25 degrees on one bevel and zero degrees on the other).

First, flatten the unbeveled side so that it is actually flat and true. On Grizzlies it's a good idea to remove the excess braze from the tip section of the broadhead too.

It doesn't matter if you're using a file or sandpaper or stones or whatever. The next step is to work only the beveled side of the blade until you can both see and feel that a pronounced, well developed, and fairly heavy burr is raised on the unbeveled side, running continuously from tip to heel. The burr should catch your fingernail when you drag your nail straight off the cutting edge.

Now all we have to do is remove this burr to reveal the fully formed sharp edge hidden beneath it.

You can file it off by laying the file flat on the unbeveled side and making just a couple of light strokes along the edge. Lots of guys file the burr off by moving the file parallel with the cutting edge but, I often end up chasing the burr back and forth from one side of the blade to the other when I try to do it like that. I prefer to move the file diagonally- both along and into the edge at the same time. This produces a scissor effect and shears the burr off cleanly, often with just one stroke.

The same idea applies if you are using sandpaper or sharpening stones. Do all the work on the bevel side, raise a big heavy burr and then make just the minimum number of passes needed on the unbeveled side to take the burr off.

That's it. Done!... well, not quite...

As many have said above, stropping on leather, paper, cardboard, etc. can make a huge difference. You can jump from shaving sharp to hair plowing sharp with just a few light strokes on any of these materials. I like corrugated cardboard the best. You can raise a burr on an edge working in any direction you like- into the edge, along the edge, even away from the edge BUT, stropping is always done with an "away from the edge" motion. Hope this helps.

Ron

[Dr. Ed Ashby]

Ron, that's a concise and perfect description. Depending on circumstances, I use a number of different methods to sharpen the Grizzly, but that's the essential sequence of events that needs to occur in order to get them truly sharp, regardless of the tools you use to accomplish the job.            

Ed
TGMM Family of the Bow

[WidowEater]

I have used SOSs design and it made using the KME sharpener loads easier.  Getting a 25 degree bevel or close to it is important for use with the KME.  I have gotten awesome results from this combination.

[Sharpster]

Thanks Ed,

Coming from the master himself, that is quite a compliment.
           

Ron