Bench Grinder vs Broadhead

[doug krueger]

#2367

I was curious to see if anyone has ever used a bench grinder to remove stock from a new broadhead. If so what wheel would be recomendeed. I have a bunch of tusker concords (single Bevel) that have a long way to go before they would be sharp enough to hunt with. I was looking at a small 6 inch grinder with variable speed settings. I want one for a few other reasons but am looking for another excuse to buy one.

Thanks

DK

[James Harvey]

#8736

What are the Concordes like Doug? Gary Pitt very kindly did up a half dozen single bevel for me to try out last year but he put a very steep angle on them and it took a good while of filing them to get them down to around 25 degrees where I wanted them.

He’s been nothing but helpful and accommodating though.

Jim

[doug krueger]

#8757

I think they are big and bad ass! I originally bought them just to try a 300 grain broadhead (200 head/ 100 adapter)to see how it would fly without spending a lot of money, they are inexpensive. They dont have the mechanical advantage of a grizzly or a tuffhead. They fly great and i want to use them on turkeys and I think I will hunt mule deer next fall, they will be adequate. It takes me a half hour of draw filing them on a bastard file just to think about getting a bevel on them though. And they usually all come out at different weight and shape. I dont have it in me to sharpen six more without some grinding!Once they are sharp they hold an edge and do get very very sharp. Hopefully that answered your question.?

Doug K

[David Petersen]

#8783

Doug, I never had that much trouble getting Tuskers into shape, but it’s been several years. If you think you had trouble with varying weights using a file, just wait to you touch ’em to a spinning grinder wheel! On the one hand, I always say that for turkey, anything sharp that flies well is a go. On the other hand, my limited experience putting broadheads into turks says you want the biggest heads you can find. So bottom line, so long as the weights don’t come out so radically different that they don’t fly consistently, arrow to arrow, I’d say add a penetration limiter behind them and away you go.

Far more difficult around there in many years now is finding any accessible turkeys to shoot at. All our public lands birds seem to have moved year-round to private land where the ranchers feed them and don’t allow hunting.

Best luck–it’s definitely not too early to start thinking turkey.

[doug krueger]

#8816

Dave,

I am sure the answer to all this is to just buy the tuffheads but I have not learned my lesson yet. It takes me forever to get concords sharp on a 12 inch bastard file. I was hoping I could lightly make a pass or two on the grinder and them finish them with the KME on wet dry sand paper.

As far as the turkeys go I packed in west of the lake a couple years ago and saw a bird but didnt hear any gobbles. There is an outfitter on the east side of the lake who has friends/clients come up and shoot five or six a spring. I am sure he feeds them all winter. I heard that from a pretty reliable source who thought it would be a cool story to share with me. He is one of those really cool new Durango people who is having his great western adventure and needs everyone to know about it. 😈 Anyway I am not sure what I will do with these heads.

Take care and let me know if you want to do a turkey hunt this spring.

DK

[Troy Warner]

#8868

In my 13 1/2 years with archery equipment early on I decided to go with the same rule I use with knives, if I have to work hard to put an edge on it, it isn’t an investment I am willing to indulge in.

I have some very good top of the line hand made hunting knives. All of them came with the correct bevel for best edge retention with heavy use and I have never had to sharpen them more than 15 minutes at the very most after hard bone splitting use to get them razor sharp again.

Of the broad heads I have used in those 13 1/2 years, the ones that meet the criteria that I hold dear, have been the ones that have been most recommended by the “old timers”, that have tried every thing from the original muzzy’s to the latest in the heavy 2 blade, 3 to 1 broad heads.

I don’t like to plug products for any one, so I won’t say which I have come to rely on for all my hunting needs…. but some old, opinionated elk hunter, who shall remain nameless (Dave):D, has influenced me, as well as others, plus my own experience with the 225 gr version of his recommended 300 grain broad head has sold me on “tuff” quality.

They’re worth the expense, remember you get what you pay for.

Troy

[Jason Wesbrock]

#9439

When I shot Zwickey Deltas I used a bench top belt sander to put a straight edge on them before sharpening. Go slow so you don’t overheat the edge and ruin the temper and you should be fine.

[Ed Ashby]

#9459

J.Wesbrock wrote: When I shot Zwickey Deltas I used a bench top belt sander to put a straight edge on them before sharpening. Go slow so you don’t overheat the edge and ruin the temper and you should be fine.

Sound advice. In the testing I had an enormous number of arrows to sharpen, and many were the ‘old style’ Grizzly heads, which need a huge amount of work. I routinely did the initial sharpening on a belt grinder (one made for shaping/edging knife blades). I kept a large bucket of water right beside the grinder and cooled the head frequently during sharpening. Having water on the blade while sharpening also gave me an idea of how hot the blade was becoming. When the water evaporated off the blade it was time to re-dip the broadhead in the water. Be sure to use a LARGE bucket of water or the water becomes pretty warm after doing several broadheads.

Ed

[David Petersen]

#9461

Doug, you bet I do!

[doug krueger]

#9489

Thanks for the advise, I have a friend who has a bench top belt grinder. I will give it a try.

Dave, the best opportunity is opening morning. You have some time to think about it. Last year was the first year in probably a decade that was unsuccessful. This was due to another hunter. But it is a very good hunt and we should hear several gobblers. It would be fun to get together.

DK

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