[sharpster]

in reply to: Ashby on sharpening — posted! #44507

Thanks very much Ed,

If you want to sharpen the edge of a lazagna noodle, doing it dry, (before cooking) is cheating! 😆 Actually, I’m working on a few different sharpening tutorials but, nothing complete just yet. (need to add some pics).

Patrick, are you shooting single bevel or double bevel heads? A good tutorial on sharpening either type of blade will be fairly lengthy. I do plan on posting both but which are you looking for right now? Thanks,

Ron

[sharpster]

in reply to: Mountain lion vs deer #17976

Hate to be the killjoy here but, that photo has been circulating around the internet for a couple weeks now. I’ve seen it claimed to be from PA, OH, WV, Texas, and a few others. Even made at least one newspaper in OH. There is also some question whether the pic is even real… may be a photo shop job. Sorry fellas.

Ron

[sharpster]

in reply to: Ashby set-up on elk — success report #16143

Well, I’ve been checking daily waiting for that pic to show up… Congratulations Dave! Now about the story???

Also, I hope you guys don’t mind but I invited a compound shooter to share his experience with his Ashby inspired set-up with us here on Tradbow. Yes, he was using a wheel bow but a very heavy shaft and an Abowyer Brown Bear. Took a very large bodied Iowa doe with incredible results.

Ron

[sharpster]

in reply to: Right or Left #22363

I figured that most of us here were aware that Ed won’t accept a dime from anyone but, on some other forums there are underinformed/misinformed folks who think it is Ed’s broadhead and that he’s getting a piece of the profits.

Ron

[sharpster]

in reply to: Right or Left #21418

Dan, I believe Michael has is right. If you sight down the shaft with the nock end up to your eye, the far end of the feather will be to the right or left of where it’s attached at the nock end. If it’s to the left it’s LW, to the right- RW.

One other note- The “Ashby” broadhead is not realy Ed’s broadhead. It’s made by ABS and they only named it after him. He doesn’t get a dime from the sales. I only point this out because some people on other forums who are uninformed are saying that the testing and reports were done just to promote “his” broadhead. Can’t figure for the life of me why some people feel the need to discredit our friend and his life’s work.

Ron

[sharpster]

in reply to: New Grizzly coming soon! #15352

Dave D. (King), Man am I happy to see you posting here again! What I posted was a very basic “this is how to sharpen a single bevel” but you’re right, if you polish both sides of the blade all the way to an X-fine black or translucent Arkansas stone, often there is no need to strop at all. By working both sides alternately, we prevent any burr from forming and the result is a well developed blazing sharp blade. Still need to go through the steps above with the coarser grits first though.

A note on water stones- the grits used to market them are based on the Japanese scale, not the US and the two don’t equate. A 4000 grit Japanese water stone is similar in grit to a 2000 grit American ceramic stone. Personally, I have never found a better finishing stone than either the black or translucent Arkansas. They’re both in the 3000 grit range and it’s an either or choice. (no need to have both). The biggest difference between the two is the color. The translucents are more expensive because pure translucent noviculite quartz is rarer in its raw form.

Dave P., I’ve been using a light coat of chapstick ever since Ed informed me about the perils of vasoline. Hope that’s not a clotting agent too! Oiling the foam in the quiver is a great idea.

On the oxidizing/rusting thing causing blades to go dull: When I was a kid learning gun safety, cleaning and care, my Dad taught me that rust, in its early stages invariably begins as superficial deposits on the surface of steel and even if neglected, it takes quite a while before the rust/oxidation will begin to degrade (pit) the surface of the steel. (We were trying to clean/restore a heavily rusted rifle he had bought in what I thought was hopeless condition). This lesson came back to me a couple weeks ago so I tried an experiment: I found a sharp broadhead that had gone dull from oxidation after laying around the shop for at least a couple of weeks, and did nothing more than strop it on a piece of cardboard. To my amazement, after only a few passes, the blade was right back to its original hair mowing sharpness. I guess the old man actually knew what he was talking about!

Point is, heads which that have been “dulled” from putting them in/out of our quivers often are actually still very sharp but the cutting edge is likely buried under a microscopic layer of oxidation. This means we probably don’t even need to use stones on them at all. Just a quick stropping will bring them right back. There’s a tip for next month. Thanks Dad!

Ron

[sharpster]

in reply to: New Grizzly coming soon! #12329

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 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… 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. One other thing, just as when sharpening, holding a consistent angle is very important when stropping too. Hope this helps. Let us know how you make out.

Ron

[sharpster]

in reply to: New Grizzly coming soon! #9251

I put a call in to Shawn last week. So far no reply but, I have an ace up my sleeve… I owe him money! He’s gotta call me soon. Then I’ll get the latest and report back. 🙂

Ron

[sharpster]

in reply to: Sharpening question for Standing bear or Ron #9243

Dave,

I’d have difficulty using the words “amateur” and Dave2old in the same sentence. 🙂 I’m planning tutorials on both subjects you mentioned- single bevel sharpening and basic knife sharpening. Please bare with me though as it’s our busiest time of year and I barely have time to check the threads. I want to use pics at minimum and better yet video clips. I have the text mostly written but if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a short video clip must be priceless. Stay tuned.

As for blade positioning in the clamp, give me a call about that … wouldn’t want to highjack Jon’s thread.

Ron

[sharpster]

in reply to: Sharpening question for Standing bear or Ron #9005

Way more than enough said about me ‘rick… Now about those pictures…

[sharpster]

in reply to: Sharpening question for Standing bear or Ron #8727

[quote=StandingBear]All I can say is Ron’s sharpener will amaze you in ways it can sharpen. A genius of a man, a kind hearted soul and great product developer. quote]

Dan, You must have me confused with someone else! 🙂

Can we see some pics of how you’re doing this?

Ron

[sharpster]

in reply to: Sharpening question for Standing bear or Ron #8591

Standing Bear,

You may have the angle on the sharpener set at 22 degrees BUT… if you’re sharpening two blades at the same time, you’re still sharpening them at 30 degrees per bevel (60 degrees included/total angle).

Ron

[sharpster]

in reply to: Sharpening question for Standing bear or Ron #8034

Hey Jon,

How the heck are ya man? Good to see you posting here. I’ll be honest, I can’t get a conventional 3 blade anywhere near as sharp as a two blade. Back in the late 70s I had some of the original Snuffers that I was able to get “off the scale sharp” but it took a very long time. Never been able to reproduce those results since though. We had radius tooth files and stones of every grit on the table at Denton a couple weeks back and I had every 3 blade shooter who came to our table sharpen a Woodsman, explaining their individual techniques as they workd and not one of them could get the head to shave cleanly. I think from a sharpening theory standpoint, everything about sharpening two blades at the same time is just wrong. Hopefully Standing Bear will enlighten both of us.

Ron

[sharpster]

in reply to: Need to choose a wooden arrow #59575

Hey There Standing Bear,

We were set up next to a very knowledgable wood shaft maker at Denton Hill a couple weeks back. I’m not a wood shaft specialist but this gentleman is. His Name is Duane and his business is Dink’s feather shop. Ph: 304 273 3485 Email: duane@dinksfeathershop.com . Give him a call or send an email. I’m sure that there will be other recomendations too but he’s the best I know of.

Ron

[sharpster]

in reply to: Bear hunting #59445

Greatree,

If your bear population in Maryland is anywhere near as dense as it is here in NW NJ, you should be able to find heavily traveled trails leading to/from crop fields or other food sources. You could set up a tree stand or ground blind and hunt them just like you would deer. Our east coast suburban bears frequently don’t travel great distances if there is a readily available food source and they can be fairly easy to pattern.

A few years back when we had a bear hunt scheduled here in NJ, my son and I had the routine of a huge boar worked out to within a few minutes. Every night he would travel about 1/4 mile down a steep forested mountain side, cross a small road and spend all night in a corn field about 1000 yrds away. Then like clockwork, at first light he’d head back up the mountain (large hill to you western guys/gals).(This was right below the Appalacion Trail BTW). His routine was unbelievably predictable. For two months he traveled the same trail, stepping in the same footprints morning and evening. (two trails, one uphill, and one downhill). We had placed a blind on a small flat about half way up the ridge along this trail and had watched him waddle passed us on several occasions. This was gonna be too easy. Then 3 days before the opener, the peta people succeeded in getting a judge to block the hunt…

At least your Governor has enough sense to listen to the biologists rather than the PETA nuts. Good luck and let us know how it goes,

Ron

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