Grizzly tough!

[J-dog]

#6591

Forget about single bevel and all that jazz – was shooting 160 grizzlys practicing yesterday evening when arrow went through arget and struck a brick. I saw the sparks fly and figured what happened – found arrow lating on ground with a brick sticking out of the dirt that had about a quarter of the brick knocked off.

That grizzly didn’t have one lick of damage -NONE – not even a curled tip and it looked as though the brick was hit side on square. Shot alot of BHds in my day – never found one this tough – seen videos of many shot into bricks and such but they were worth litte after the shot – I can sharpen this grizzly and take it hunting.

Not a single bevel – double bevel arguement or statment . I was just like WOW – that is tough steel.

Shoot straight,

J

[sharpster]

#53098

Yea, they’re tuffer than nails that’s for sure. The other thing I’ve found is that the Grizzly’s hard steel really holds an edge. We sharpen them for people and last year I bought a bunch of unground blanks to experiment with. I had sharpened one blade of an El Grande but the other was blade still blank. The broadhead had been laying around my shop for a couple weeks like that and even had some minor rust on the sharpened blade. I was about to start on the other blade but the sharpened blade was too sharp to be messin with so in attempt to purposely dull it a bit, I made 4 deep cuts into a solid block of aluminum. It still shaved! I made like 3 more cuts into the aluminum and it still shaved. I ended up taking the edge to some sandpaper to make it safer to handle. You’re right, single bevel or not, they’re tuff heads to beat.

Ron

[Treetopflier]

#53255

Sharpster — the “accepted knowledge” I’ve always heard is that broadheads can be too hard, making them brittle and easy to break. Correct me if I’m wrong but the Grizzly at something like 56 Rockwell (along with the ABS Ashby head, which is about the same hardness but much thicker) is the hardest head available. Yet for years now I’ve heard similar reports to J-dog’s, with Grizzlies shot into cinder blocks etc and little if any damaged. What’s the scoop? But little matter, since Grizzly offers heads now only in left bevel and way too dull for me to mess with in a progressive market offering many similar quality heads much sharper (for example, Abowyer Brown Bear). So much for a simple man to think about! Thanks, snuffy

[J-dog]

#53313

Snuffy I looked at that brown bear! looks good. But I hope grizzly is coming out with a friendlier head soon. I found it a little time consuming to get these right but I got em there and sharp. I have no experience with what they do on animals yet as first season with them.

J

[sharpster]

#53321

Snuffy,

You are correct in your assesment. Depending on the type of steel, carbon content, and a few other factors, it is very possible to make a blade too hard and therefore brittle. But if the hardening/tempering is done just right for the steel being used, then you can get the best of both worlds. Very hard but not so hard as to be brittle. If either of the heads you mentioned were excessivly hardend, say to 65 Rockwell then they would indeed be prone to breaking. I think both these manufacturers have the recipe for their steel/hardening/tempering pretty well “Tuned” or we’d be hearing about them breaking instead of blowing through bricks, or even concrete. Thanks,

Ron

[Treetopflier]

#55169

Makes good sense. Thanks for the explain. S

[MontanaFord]

#55407

I just got my 5 grizzlies in the mail from StandingBear, and am thrilled to have the opportunity to hunt with them this fall. However, I do run across one problem. I don’t know how to sharpen a single bevel broadhead. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Michael

[sharpster]

#56505

Michael,

Sharpening single bevel blades is actually easier than double bevels once you understand what needs to be done and how to do it.

The first thing I do with Grizzlies is to flatten the tip section. The bulge at the tip is actually excess braze that has bled out during the lamination process. I do so many of them that I use a belt sander but, if you’re only doing a dozen or so a file will work just fine. Just be careful to file the tip perfectly flat.

Soon as you get through the paint you’ll see that the metal beneath it is brass. Just file the brass off till you see nothing but steel.

[sharpster]

#56523

Next, remove any factory burr from the unbeveled side of the blades with a file or coarse stone. Just lay the file flat on the blade and make a few passes along the edge.

Then start on the bevel side with a file or coarse diamond stone. Grizzlies have been through a few different factory bevel angle changes over the last few years. Depending on how new or old yours are you may need to remove a heck of a lot of material or if they’re more recent issue, maybe not so much. If you look at the above photo, you’ll see that the bevel extends slightly passed the center of the tanto tip. This is how I estimate a 25 degree bevel. They can be sharpened at other angles but this is Ed Ashby’s “optimum” bevel angle.

Work the bevel side with a file till you have raised a burr again on the unbeveled side, then switch to a coarse diamond or ceramic stone and continue to polish the bevel. Use as many or few grits as you like. As you do this the burr will continue to get bigger and heavier. Then with a fine grit stone, do just the minimum necessary to remove the burr from the unbeveled side of the blade. Strop the head on a piece of leather or better yet plain old corrugated cardboard and it should shave hair easily. Sounds complicated but after you’ve done a few it’s pretty easy. Let us know how you make out.

Ron

[MontanaFord]

#56584

Ron,

Thank you for the advice. I did notice the bulge at the tip of the broadheads and wondered about that. Anyway, I’ll give it a shot and let you know how it turns out.

Michael

[David Petersen]

#56600

Thanks, Ron. Even though I’ve been doing it for a while now, I still need an occasional refresher course from the Master. I might add that this same method works equally well for all double bevel broadheads I’ve tried it on. Half as much sharpening, twice as much sharpness (due to the single bevel).dave

[mudfish99]

#49225

Very new member, but have been a traditional archer all my life(not that this is relevant). Having said that, I was wondering if “sharpster” would elaborate on “stropping” a single bevel head with cardboard? Do you use the corrugated end of the cardboard or strop down the smooth length of the cardboard? As an afterthought, I personally shoot the Abowyer Brown Bear(left). Mucho devastation!

[IronCreekArcher]

#54391

I would be interested in that too Ron…after using your system I don’t know how much sharper they could get but if the cardboard could I would be all over it.

Mudfish – I too shoot the Abowyer Brown Bears and am very excited for the upcoming season as I have yet to shoot at a game animal with them. I have heard good things though!

[Chekmate]

#61287

I’ve been shooting Grizzlies for years. There is nothing I haven’t shot through yet. Acouple of years ago I took a 300lb Black Bear. It was quartering away at 15 yards. I was shooting a 65lb recurve, carbon arrows and the 190 Griz with 100gr adapter. The arrow past through the offside shoulder and stuck into a log. I had to wiggle the arrow back and forth for a minute to get it out of the log. The bear only went 15 yards before expiring.

Straight Arrows & Good Hunting for today and Always
Chekmate

[Buckhorn73]

#62166

The information contained in this segment is quite beneficial. Thanks to all. What I have discovered after many years of an “off-on again” relationship with “Grizzlies” is that after the bevel angle is set and the required degree of sharpness attained, the cutting edge is really brought out by light pressure, then lighter pressure strokes with a file, then steel, then a strop, all lighter and lighter and that head stays sharp. Even after the broadhead has made contact with the ground, wood, or bone, many times all it requires to touch it back up again is the steel, followed by lighter and lighter pressure on the strop.

[smiley1]

#63393

This is the second year I have used the el-grande. Just yesterday I harvested my 8th whitetail with the SAME broadhead! Even after shooting through bones the broadhead has not been damaged. Most of the time I can still shave hair without doing a thing to the broadhead. It only takes about 5 minutes to touch up the head using my KME broadhead sharpener to make it hunting sharp. Yes Grizzlies are tough as nails!

[DaveT]

#33804

Hello guys….are the new left bevel El Grandes available yet?

Dave

[Daniel]

#19422

I really like Kingwouldbe’s pictures of his hogs and the Grizzly broadheads, yeap, they are a great broadhead. I think the only difficulty these broadheads have had in the past, was the fact that people had a hard time finding the way to get them real sharp. Today, with all of the sharpening tips and treads on how to get them sharp, I know, they will be, and remain one of the top heads in this industry. IMHO of course.

SB

[Author]

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