Sharpening Theory - Broadhead How To...
Different broadhead styles require slightly different techniques, especially for the initial out of the box sharpening. There are three basic broadhead/blade designs. Some brands are combinations of these, and some brands have a chisel tip resulting in a double angle blade- you can sharpen any of these by tailoring your sharpening technique to your particular broadhead style.
Sharpening Techniques:
TIP: Before you begin sharpening any broadhead take a magic marker and color the factory bevel on both sides of your broadhead from end to end. This will allow you to see exactly where you are working the blade. We recommend dark blue but, black or even dark red will work.
PLAIN STRAIGHT EDGE- STEEL FORCE, ZEPHYR, STINGER, TUSKER, PHANTOM, RIBTEK, & CHEETAH
These are the simplest blades to sharpen. Always Color both sides of the factory bevel with a magic marker before you start. This will enable you to see exactly where you are sharpening, and enable you to track your progress at a glance.
1. Install the angle jaws in the clamp assembly.
2. Place the broadhead in the clamp with the ferrule resting against the front edge of the jaws, and the tip of the broadhead sticking out about 3/8” beyond the side of the jaws. (see drawing in your written instructions that came with the sharpener)
3. Screw the bass slack adjuster fully into the frame. Not tightly!
4. Insert the clamp assembly into the frame.
5. Back the slack adjuster out slightly to remove any play between the camp and the frame. You want the clamp to spin freely, but it should not have more than 1/32” of in/out travel. This should require less than one full turn of the slack adjuster.
6. Place the sharpener on the stone, roller first and tip the sharpener forward. The clamp will automatically rotate and align the blade with the stone.
7. For initial, out of the box sharpening we suggest that you use a very coarse stone and run the sharpener forward and backward up and down the stone. Flip the clamp frequently to give equal treatment to both sides of the blade. This will quickly grind the bevel.
TIP: Check your color line frequently! If either the tip or the heel of the blade continues to show color, reach up with your index finger and apply light, off center pressure to the clamp to favor the end of the blade that needs more attention.
About 1 minute of this technique should be adequate. Before switching to a finer grit stone, make a series of Forward only passes up the stone, rotating the clamp between each pass. This will remove the burr from the edge. At this point the blade should feel only slightly sharp.
8. Now switch to a fine grit stone and finish with the same technique - one forward stroke, flip the clamp, one forward stroke, flip and so on. About one minute or less of this will get the blade truly sharp. To get the blade “hair mowing sharp” finish with an extra fine grit stone like a soft Arkansas or extra fine diamond, or India stone, whichever you prefer.
PLAIN STRAIGHT EDGE WITH LAMINATED TIP- ORIGINAL MAGNUS BROADHEADS, ZWICKEY "DELTAS", STOS (MADE BY MAGNUS), & THE ORIGINAL GRIZZLY BROADHEADS, ETC.
This type of broadhead is also very simple to sharpen. The only difference is that the laminated tip requires some special attention on the initial sharpening.
1. Install the angle jaws in the clamp assembly.
2. Place the broadhead in the clamp with the ferrule resting against the front edge of the jaws, and the tip of the broadhead sticking out about 3/8” beyond the side of the jaws. (See drawing in your written instructions that came with the sharpener)
3. Screw the bass slack adjuster fully into the frame. Not tightly!
4. Insert the clamp assembly into the frame.
5. Back the slack adjuster out slightly to remove any play between the camp and the frame. You want the clamp to spin freely, but it should not have more than 1/32” of in/out travel. This should require less than one full turn of the slack adjuster.
6. Place the sharpener on the stone, roller first and tip the sharpener forward. The clamp will automatically rotate and align the blade with the stone.
TIP: At this point, because the laminated tip is double thick, only the tip and the heel of the blade are actually touching the stone. Before you can sharpen the blade you have to machine the laminated portion of the tip down to align with the main blade. Here’s how to do it-
When sharpening a plain straight blade you keep your index finger on the frame. This allows the clamp to rotate an automatically align the blade with the stone. Always Color both sides of the factory bevel with a magic marker before you start. This will enable you to see exactly where you are sharpening, and enable you to track your progress at a glance.
On the initial sharpening of a laminated blade you want to concentrate on the laminated portion of the tip, so move your index finger up onto the clamp and apply light pressure to the side of the clamp that the tip is sticking out of. As you do this, if you look you will see the heel and main blade lift off of the stone, which is exactly what you want.
7. Use a very coarse stone and keep the stone flooded with lubricant. Roll the sharpener forward and backward on the stone. Use short strokes and keep your finger on the clamp to favor the tip and just work it. Flip the clamp frequently to give equal treatment to both sides of the tip. This will quickly grind the tip down to match the bevel of the main blade. About 1 minute of this technique should be adequate.
TIP: At first the color will be machined off of the tip. As you continue to sharpen, the color will gradually be removed all the way to the heel of the blade. That is when you know that you have a straight, uniform bevel from end to end.
8. Now that the tip has been ground down to match the main blade, take your finger off of the clamp and let the clamp rotate and align the blade from tip to heel. Roll the sharpener forward and backward up and down the stone. Flip the clamp frequently to give equal treatment to both sides of the blade. This will quickly grind the bevel. About 1 minute or less of this technique should be adequate. Before switching to a finer grit stone, make a series of Forward only passes up the stone, rotating the clamp between each pass. This will remove the burr from the edge. At this point the blade should feel slightly sharp.
9. Now switch to a fine grit stone and finish with the same - one forward stroke, flip the clamp, one forward stroke, flip and so on. About one minute or less of this will get the blade truly sharp. To get the blade “hair mowing sharp” finish with an extra fine grit stone like a hard Arkansas or extra fine diamond, or India stone, whichever you prefer.
CURVED (CONVEX) EDGE- BEAR RAZORHEADS, WOLVERINE, MA-2, TUSKER "AZTEC", & THE COMBINATION HEADS WHICH HAVE CURVED BLADES AND LAMINATED TIPS, ZWICKEY "ESKIMO", ALL ACE BROADHEADS, ECLIPSE-2 BLADE BROADHEADS, ETC.
For combination broadheads which have curved blades and laminated tips see the section on sharpening straight blades with laminated tips. The procedure for the initial sharpening of both styles of broadheads is the same. After you have machined the laminated tip bevel to match the main blade bevel sharpen the broadhead as outlined below
These broadheads are also pretty simple to sharpen but require a slightly different technique.
1. Install the angle jaws in the clamp assembly.
2. Place the broadhead in the clamp with the ferrule resting against the front edge of the jaws, and the tip of the broadhead sticking out about 3/8” beyond the side of the jaws. (See drawing in your written instructions that came with the sharpener)
3. Screw the bass slack adjuster fully into the frame. Not tightly!
4. Insert the clamp assembly into the frame.
5. Back the slack adjuster out slightly to remove any play between the camp and the frame. You want the clamp to spin freely, but it should not have more than 1/32” of in/out travel. This should require less than one full turn of the slack adjuster.
6. Place the sharpener on the stone, roller first and tip the sharpener forward. The clamp will automatically rotate and align the blade with the stone.
7. Start with your finger resting on the top of the clamp at one side or the other. Roll the sharpener forward down the stone. At the end of this pass tilt the sharpener back to raise the blade off of the stone, and roll the sharpener back to the starting point.
-Next tip the sharpener forward to again bring the blade into contact with the stone. Now shift your index finger to the center of the clamp and make another forward pass.
-Repeat the process but this time shift your finger to the opposite end of the clamp from where you started. Make another pass.
-Each time you make a pass shift the position of your finger slightly. First pass one end, next pass center, next pass other end, and so on. The result will be a perfectly uniform bevel from end to end because the passes overlap each other. Additionally, since this technique results in less surface area contacting the stone curved blades will actually sharpen faster than straight edged blades.
-Curved blades rarely require a coarse stone, even for the initial sharpening. Start with a medium grit and finish with a fine or extra fine stone like a hard Arkansas, or an extra fine diamond or India stone for “hair mowing” sharpness.
BLEEDER BLADES & REPLACEMENT BLADES
These are absolute simplicity to sharpen in less than one minute each.
1. Install the straight jaws in the clamp assembly.
2. Place the blade in the clamp with the edge to be sharpened positioned roughly parallel with the front edge of the jaws sticking out about 3/16” beyond the edge of the jaws (see drawing in your written instructions that came with the sharpener)
3. Screw the bass slack adjuster fully into the frame. Not tightly!
4. Insert the clamp assembly into the frame.
5. Back the slack adjuster out slightly to remove any play between the camp and the frame. You want the clamp to spin freely, but it should not have more than 1/32” of in/out travel. This should require less than one full turn of the slack adjuster.
6. Place the sharpener on the stone, roller first and tip the sharpener forward. The clamp will automatically rotate and align the blade with the stone.
7. For sharpening very dull or damaged blades we suggest that you use a very coarse stone and run the sharpener forward and backward up and down the stone. Flip the clamp frequently to give equal treatment to both sides of the blade. This will quickly grind the bevel. About 1 minute of this technique should be adequate. Before switching to a finer grit stone, make a series of Forward only passes up the stone, rotating the clamp between each pass. This will remove the burr from the edge. At this point the blade should feel slightly sharp.
Tip: For out of the box blades or for touching up, skip the coarse stone and go directly to the fine stone and sharpen as outlined below...
8. Now switch to a fine grit stone and finish with the same technique - one forward stroke, flip the clamp, one forward stroke, flip and so on. About one minute or less of this will get the blade truly sharp. To get the blade “hair mowing sharp” finish with an extra fine grit stone like a hard Arkansas or extra fine diamond, or India stone, whichever you prefer.