aged or extremely dull edge. This type of sharpening is done
with a sharpening tool which will remove metal while still
maintaining the correct degree cutting angle. Sharpening tools
for this type of operation would probably not be taken to the
field but used at home on the shop bench or kitchen table.
Field sharpening: To keep broadheads “hunt ready” they
should be touched up daily even if they are being carried in a
quiver. This is normally done with a file or a strop.
Principle of sharpening
Techniques differ but the principle of sharpening remains the
same. What happens when a blade becomes blunt is that the sharp
edge becomes rounded or nicked. To restore the edge, material
must be removed until you get down to a fresh edge. The secret
of sharpening is very simple. First you put the burr on, then you
take the burr off. A burr confers two pieces of information to
you. First it informs you that you have removed sufficient metal
to have arrived at a fresh edge and secondly that the new edge
lies just under the burr. Put the burr on, take the burr off and you
will have a new sharp edge (Figure 6). You can tell when you’ve
raised a burr by feeling for it with your thumb or forefinger.
You can also tell when it disappears this same way. You can test
for sharpness (i.e. whether or not you’ve removed the burr) by
laying the edge on your thumbnail and, resting its weight there,
dragging it across the nail. If the edge bites the length of the
blade, it is sharp. If it skips, either the burr is still upon it or the
burr never got raised in the first place. When sharpening work
from the back of the broadhead towards the front (Figure 7).
The angle at which blade edges are sharpened is important.Sharpening angles
Single-bevel broadheads are much easier to sharpen and are
generally sharpened to an angle of 25 degrees. Double-bevelled
broadheads are generally sharpened to 20 degrees^ on each side,
Figure 3: Blood on a broadhead giving a total of 40 degrees for the edge. The larger the angle the
Figure 4: Broadhead containers
Figure 5: Broadhead sharpness effect on bleeding.