In our factory we have CNC tool sharpening machines in our tool department. They sharpen compound angles on a helix and all sorts of weird profiles and diameters. Several of the operators are bow hunters and many times I have seen their broadheads being sharpened, knives, lawn mower blades, whatever. They made a custom chuck and jig to accomodate 2 or 4 bladed heads. Then I have seen them go through the heat treat shop where the cutting edges are hardened and carburized with carbide dust then tempered . Management doesn't mind as long as it's done on their time and doesn't affect production. I will video them one day and post it. It's impressive.

Been shooting magnus for years, great company best customer support ever!!! I was tuning a few years ago and stuck a head into my barn wall. I dug it out and broke it, sent it back and recieved a new one in a week. Durable and deadly.

Best hunting show I’ve seen on teaching what people truly NEED to know . I’ve used my palm and even that newspaper to strop. I sharpen until the weight of the head can shave your arm .

Warb is so right! It took a very long time with my Cutthroat's. Like him, I thought I was doing something wrong. Until... it was there!! Patience is key. Feels good knowing I was not alone in my experience.

A knife maker tip for sanding bevels is to use windex. Spray the sand paper and the blade. The grit will cut better and will help keep metal from building up on the sand paper. Most sand paper you get for metal working is meant to be used wet (NOT ALL Sand PAPER) but this could help you in preparing your broadheads before the season. This is not a way to use one piece of sand paper for an entire broad head but it will help make it a LITTLE faster process. Wish you all luck in the coming season.

Great content from THP & RF. Both great channels. Being a traditional archery hunter myself I find these channels to be very helpful.

The point made by Troy to strop the edge to eliminate meat and fat particles that clog the cut edge turned me around and back to stroping. Thanks!

I've always shot fixed blades. Saw so many failures with the expandables. Was shooting the G5 Montecs and switched to the Magnus Stingers (150 gr.) Got a couple stones from 400 grit to 2000. Got a strop coming. Since your videos last year, I've went from shooting 340 spine, 450 grain w/125 gr Montecs to shooting a 300 spine, 610 gr arrow with 250 gr up front and crazy sharp Magnus Stingers. It matters. My arrows are flying beautiful and my broadheads will be ready for an elk.

"If you dropped your bow and killed a deer"... "hoorah for you" LMAO

I am so glad to see you guys honing your skills. I have sharpened my broadheads for years. Poor boy I could not afford to keep buying them. You guys are doing it right. Love the show.

One of the most profound statements from this video (paraphrasing) 'the broadhead was still sharp and intact after cutting through one shoulder blade and lodging in the other and this was something I haven't seen after killing many deer with archery equipment'. This should tell people that they are commonly using substandard equipment in terms of arrows and broadheads.

2 nights in a row!!!! Oh boy I'm happy!!!!

Keep in mind that the lower the angle (20 to 30), the easier it is to damage and dull the edge. Stark angles are harder to get sharp, but they are tougher.

Great video guys, thanks for the sharpening discussion. I just got my 1st three VPA single bevels and I shot one and took a fletching off the adjacent arrow. Now I have to get the jig Aaron showed and get to finishing up the sharpening. Troy underplays being a DR in the respiratory area, but all his expertise helps us understand exactly how cutting instead of pushing or tearing is far better for us and the animals we are after.

This takes me back to my trad days with Zwickeys. I’ve been preaching this stuff to people for years. I’m excited to get back to this!

For burr removal, you can run the edge across the end grain of a piece of lumber. Takes the burr off and saves the flat side of the edge. Learned that when I was taught how to sharpen scissors.

Great info. Tnx guys! I’ve been shooting three blade mechs for yrs. I have a lot of deer that there’s no pass through even with 70lb draw(primarily from Tree-stand& 1/4 away ….I’ve been impressed w the fixed blades. What really sold me is my 12yr old killing his first deer w magnus stinger and ultra low poundage…..

An old wide belt from the charity shop works really well as a strop. Just like my grandfather used to sharpen his straight razor.

Just got my cutthroats and I tried to cut paper with them. Wasn't as sharp as I get my woodworking chisels so I will definitely be sharpening them.

I have almost 30yrs in the beef slaughter house skinning cattle and I LOVE a single bevel knife. Once you get the bevel on your edge it is really easy to maintain. Double bevel you have to be very careful not to get your edge to thin. You will roll the edge over and it be junk then.

Awesome information guys. If I may add from years ago, the sharper the blade, the cleaner the cut. It is harder for platelets to adhere to the cut surface not allowing the clot factor to occur as quickly. As always, you guys rock and thanks for the excellent info.

A lansky sharpener has worked well for me. I like the jig idea though. May have to give that a whirl this year. Amazing how little deer react sometimes to a surgical sharp broadhead. Liver shot a doe this past season that ran 15 yards and just stood there bc she had no clue what happened. I watched her get wobbly and face plant. I sharpened my heads like y'all did after watching last years video.

Wonderful information! Ron Kulas must be driving up a wall again with you guys sharpening a single bevel into a double bevel for two years running (about 36 min into the video) :P It's a small detail, and you guys are doing very enjoyable and helpful work. Thanks for more good stuff.

Fun fact: as we move along with broadhead tech solid BHs are transforming into the same style of heads the Natives used, but we are using Stainless Steel instead of Flint or hard stone....just a fun thought.

Another great video on the subject. I struggled to really get the 100 grain Stinger Buzzcuts to feel and act sharp and I bent the tip over on one. I wanted 125 or 150s but they were all gone including online stores. I may try again, but I currently have the G5 Montec CS and M3 100 grainers for my 510 grain arrow build. I will have to look up how to sharpen those solid one piece 3 blade broadheads. I have looked into the single bevels as well even before last year's videos. Those Japanese single bevel kitchen knives are wicked sharp too, but obviously different purpose even though both slices through meat 🍖. The Snyder Core system from Iron Will looks incredibly tough as a system. Plus the ones that you all are running. If I do go single bevel I would have to either get a right helical jig or have someone build them for me. I am mainly a ground hunter and recently bought a Tethrd Eberhart Signature Saddle for certain situations. So I am hopeful to get up close and personal once again this year.

Just wanted to say that after several years of not using a bow, I am now back into archery hunting thanks in no small way to the Montana Bowhunters Association for purchasing, adapting it for my needs and helping me sight in. I may have Muscular Dystrophy but I am damned sure going to keep trying!! I admit, previously I was of the sharp for the season crowd. That said, I have been watching your videos and have made a commitment to make sure my broadheads are sharp. I am using 100gr Magnus Stinger blades. I have purchased the jig from Stay Sharp that you showed on the Hunting Public episode. I also have sandpaper in grits up to 15000 on the way. I am very determined to have scary sharp broadheads for hunting! Since I admit that my limited experience sharpening broadheads is l non existing, am I going overboard with the idea of going to 15000 Grit? Or should I stop and strop earlier? Either way, this decrepit old man is going to TRY!

A bur is only good on a cabinet scraper. Using the tip of your thumb nail is a really good way to feel that bur. Running the cutting edge across your thumb nail is a good way to feel a rough non sharp edge. It will feel like a saw blade going across your nail.

what i did was buy some cheap broadheads and convert them from double bevel to single bevel. i went with tuskers and at $24 per 6, they are decent to practice with.

When I went back to bowhunting in the early 70's I bought replaceable with chisel point heads. I hit one through the lungs and never did find the arrow as it went through. Later I was practicing and decided to shoot through a straw bale sideways. The arrow went through and the blades stayed in. I threw them all out and went back to Bear two bade and Zwickey. Years later I screwed up and had one jump the string and drop back and down. Hit it right in the flat part of the shoulder. I broke out a hole in the shoulder about the size of a silver dollar and the head was in the heart and coming out the other side. I have had two people tell me that chisel point heads they used literally bounced off the shoulder of a deer. The only bad thing of two blades I experienced was shooting across a small creek one morning. An air current will take hold of it and the heads will wind plane faster than a three blade will.

I'm glad how he brought up in the last video about how a sharp head doesn't necessarily feel sharp when u touch it. Bcs I know for me, someone that just got back into archery and basically is a beginner I was having an issue bcs I'd buy new heads and feel them and they didn't feel sharp to me. Basically what I'm saying is, it's hard to know what sharp is when your not experienced with it

Really enjoy watchingTroy talk his knowledge..

Already know it’s gonna be a banger vid!!

Once again great video but you said about rust broadheads use Vaseline on them it keeps them from rusting and water won't take it off

Troy is a genius that could explain this to a 5 year old.

me, a shotgun hunter: this is some really good information. Very helpful. (I really wanna try bow hunting and I have absolute mad respect for them.)

Here's a helpful tip for all Bowhunters looking to quickly sharpen their single bevels. Get one of the sharpening jigs that roll... you can use the stay sharp guide jig or the KME jig. I personally use the stay sharp jig. Also, instead of using sand paper to sharpen these hardened steels, purchase the 5 pack of diamond sharpening plates from stay sharp guide. Using those and the stay sharp single bevel jig properly will give you shaving sharp results without using a leather strop. You will get better sharpening results if you use a leather strop and some buffing compound. You can even use cereal box cardboard and buffing compound as a replacement for the leather strop. If anyone has other methods of stopping the blade leave them as a response comment and let's start helping each other more.

Bought the sharpening kit for Iron Will broadheads from Innovative Outdoorsman. Stay sharp jig with diamond plates and buffing compound. Works fantastic once you get the hang of it.

I’ve always followed Fred Bear’s advice to file the pointed tip of cut on contact heads to a flattened/rounded but sharp tip to help eliminate bending of the tip on impact with bone…along with using a fine mill bastard file lightly on the edge…giving it a micro serration. Works well for softer steels used in other “traditional” heads like Zwickey, Magnus (old styles), and even the original, aspen green Razorheads. I still have some 150gr Patriots and have done the same to them. Haven’t tried single bevels yet, but if they get as sharp as a Mora auger blade…I’ll be happy!

Also wanted to mention that im a knife collector so sharpening is something ive seriously been working hard on for a long stinkin time ive gotten pretty damn good at it, so when i was watching this video i had to smile when you talked about the strop and rubbing compound or what i call jewlers rouge. I use the stuff on my Bark River knives and a few others with convex blades, they have no bevels but with the strop and compound they get sharper than anything you have ever touched, especially my favorite steel Elmax. I think with my background with knives and sharpening ill do fine with the single bevel deal, hshs. Yall take care and again good luck brothers.

Fantastic video. Love what you guys do and Troy is such a great wealth of knowledge!

Great stuff my friends 🙋🏻‍♂️💁

Another surface that works well for a finisher on your blades is denim.you can tighten up and take the wrinkles out of your jeans on your thigh and make your blades surgical sharp by running the blades over your jeans to finish the sharpening process.its scarey how sharp they get.i never heard of the cardboard method and buffing compound.pretty sweet

Stropping is a must. Denim also works good. We all wear it. I just flip the blade over my thigh a few times and it's good.

4 days trying but i got it! Bust Those pigs 4x more them last year Thanks guys The journey continuous

Sharpening starts around 14:30

yes the cutthroats take a lot of effort to get them shape but once you have a system they go very easy and quick and the edge you can get is CRAZY sharp. and they stay shape and are very easy to strop back to tip top shape. Once I sharpened and stropped mine to just stupid scary sharp with a mirror edge i sharpened my buddies heads as well. early last season when he was heading back to the truck he picked up his bow by the quiver and didnt think anything of it. well 5min and 100plus yards later he started to notice his hand started to feel wet. luckily it was only a small nick but it bled for almost an hour b4 he was able to get it to stop bleeding and even at that point in time he said it never once hurt. and his only comment to me was that i was right in telling him that i was scared of how good the edge turned out.

I got my Cutthroat shaving sharp in about 20 mins per head. I have a really coarse, 150ish grit stone, about a 400 stone, and a 1000 grit stone. The really coarse stone will burr the edge in about 40 or so passes. After that, its just running it through the gambit. I strop on my leather belt at the end. Simple, quick and effective. And ive had them for years

I really enjoy the gatherings of archery gurus that are improving on the most effective methods for killing a big nasty (fill in the blank) with sharp sticks 😂 ! 🏹🐗🏹🦌🏹🐗🏹🦌

Love the videos! Can’t wait for my second season, I’m switching to high foc single bevels!

One thing to consider is to use the flattest surface to sharpen from, the easiest is to use a mirror since glass is usually flat

The best videos are those that include everyone who has the same thought process and data to prove this all works!

Start with 220 grit to apex the edge faster and get the burr, use 400 grit to remove the burr and then start stropping with green polishing compound on stiff leather or cardboard. It takes for ever to raise a burr on super hard steel starting with 400 grit. If you have nicks for damage start with 150 grit to repair damage.

Well I’ve been sold on the two blad setup. Nugent shoots them and has forever but never really understood why … until this channel. I’ll be picking up my bow in a few days and will try out Magnus 2 blades … see you out in the field.

To show rough sharp vs smooth sharp run the edge over a cotton ball. You'll clearly see it pulling the cotton fibers. When sharpening good quality hard steel (60+ Rockwell) you really need good stones or diamond. Sandpaper is just a waste of time and money at that point. You can get there with high quality expensive paper, but it's still a consumable. Troy is spot on on stropping nightly. Processing deer shows you what you need to know on edges and steel. My good knives (3v @63) will go through 3 deer before I have to sharpen or my cheaper stuff (1095 @54-55) might do 1. With either, I can strop a few strokes every 10 minutes or so and do 10 or 20 deer before they go back to the stones. Lesson, get good steel and maintain the edge!

A few suggestions: 1) spend some time on badger & blade to learn how to shave with a straight razor and all the required blade sharpening and maintenance, 2) search for whippeddog's Norton Quarter hones for $60, a set of 220/1000 and 4000/8000 hones in a smaller size to wet hone, and 3) grab a $10-$15 handheld 60-100x illuminated microscope off Am0zon and then you'll see what sharp looks like and when you have a ton of burrs. After you've stropped, you can paper cut, but the 60-100x microscope will let you know what impact you are making on a blade's edge. Thanks for all these videos. Hope my suggestions can help.

Have watched this vid several times and can really identify with sharpness and what many people do not understand is that flesh and bone do not want to be cut. This is evident when doing lab blood draws with new needles, I have had vascular, obvious large veins roll sideways when trying to insert an 18ga needle. You have to pinch grip the vein to force the needle into the vein. Granted this is not true of all people, some are easier, and some are tougher tissue, and animals are the same. You never anticipate the "durability" until you attempt the procedure. This is even more evident if you cut yourself with a circular saw or router. Through no fault of my own and impact by a fellow worker I had three fingers go upside down through a table saw blade. My middle finger now has the nerves in a ball on the side of my finger because they were torn out rather than cut off. It balled the nerves up in a ball so when it healed touching my fingertip is felt on the side where they were balled up. This was a new sharp carbide sawblade nowhere near razor sharp as a broadhead should be. The rationales mentioned here cannot be overstressed because the "caulking" or plugging up of the edge is very real and certain tissues and structures are very durable and resistant to injury.

Obviously the 3 thumbs downs are the people that think you shouldn't harm animals..you should buy your meat at the grocery store where no animals were harmed. You guys are awesome! Thanks for the video's

I just bought my first compound bow, its apparently really old. Its a Darton 300wx i got for 60. It has no peep, I also don't have a release aid. I can't wait to hunt with it.

Been using MA-3s and Montec M3s for years gotta sharpen them out the box but either are tanks and drive through anything but rock

Was hoping we'd get back to back nights of videos. Thank You guys!

I fought with cutthroats until i stepped up to 120 from the start i also put the point in the jig and hit it with spray paint so I'd be able to put it in the jig the same way the next time

VPA broadheads are strong, sharp, affordable and 100% made in the USA. Not many people realize they manufacture coc fixed blade heads for some of the most well-known companies on the market.

Getting broad heads really sharp is very satisfying when you finally get a hunt ready edge

Just ordered that KME jig. Looks like a winner.

Just my .02, I’ve worked in the steel industry as a machinist for almost 10 years and we sand steel daily. On harder steels that don’t want to sand we have really good luck with putting cutting oil on the sand paper and it will usually sand faster. Maybe that will help speed the process up some

Really helpful was just talking to the guys at the local bow shop about switching to these exact blades.

As a knife nerd i can attest to how much steel quality/heat treat matters. Ive had so many garbage junk steel knives come tru for sharpening thats nearly impossible to get a good edge on and make the edge actually last a little. While good steels just are crisp on the stones and stay sharp for longer And no it should not take very long. Its a little amount of steel being removed. Get good stones for example gritomatic or shapton pro. When i can sharpen a whole magnacut knife at 64 hrc in under a hour including thinning. Sandpaper arent good get some good stones much more economical too. Also one can get diamond paste to strop with also. So you can literally split hairs with a broadhead And to get rid of the burr just drag it into some wood before stropping to not scratch the strop so much A gritomatic 1000 and 2500 or a shapton pro 1000 and 4000 would be perfect for theese

I almost always sharpen my broadheads when I get them . I used mostly two blade fixed heads for 30 years or more . I was struggling with a certain bow for broadhead flight and switched to Rage for a few years. Mostly I was satisfied if I sharpened them . I went to the big large cutting head . Like 1.5” or something. Had a giant of giants come out and shot the scapula. The arrow had 0 penetration. Lost a 200” plus with an easy kill shot . I’ve shot other big deer with the old fashioned dual edge Magnus heads . Not the Stingers they are pretty weak . I shot the Magnus 125 , 1.25” cut and 135gr 1.5” cut ( bad ass head ) But after loosing the giant I’d hunted for years. I switched to single bevel heads made from high quality steel. Shot Bishop Archery heads and Abowyer . The flight and penetration is crazy good . The single bevel really can help accuracy. I learned to sharpen broadheads in the mid 1970s along with knives in the early 70s . I good long edge not steep cutting edge is best for blood trails . I’ve shot a lot of deer with a bow and know . Period I know and listen to me because broadheads especially cut on contact it’s about hemorrhage. Fred Bear always cut the tip off his broadheads so they didn’t curl. The new thick tanto knife style tips are super nice for bone penetration. Too steep on some I done like too much . I want cut on contact but just steep enough not to curl . Cut n split is the $#!+

Good used pair of work boots work as a A leather strop use my heal to boost my edge on my knife for years!

I love when you guys get with Troy. He is more genuine with you then even on his own channel. Keep em comin fellas.

you dudes should look into a straight razor technique for final sharpening. I know because I use this on my straight razors. balsa wood diamond compound strops in in .5u .25u and .1u or........ 50,000 grit.....100k grit.....and 200k grit. set up with insustrial diamond paste on a perfectly flattened piece of bals a mounted to a sturdy substrate. mirror finishes. always polishing edge trailing not leading. scary ninja sharp. email if you have questions. you can thank me later. camo

As long as we're talking math and science- it doesn't matter at all how far up the tree you are. If a deer is 20 yards from your tree you use your 20 yd pin no matter how high or low in the tree you are as gravity is a constant.

trihone sharpening stone from amazon works sweet! Make sure you put enough honing solution onto the stone. The stone will soak the solution in so it'll take it a bit until you start getting solution to "float" on the stone. I found it easier to use then the sandpaper technique

Love the channel ! You guys ever thought about cutting an 6inch peace of an old arrow, to put your broadhead in, will give you something to hold on to without having either the whole arrow dangling or nothing to hold on to. thank me later.

Steele Force is another Single Bevel. The Phat Head is a thick blade. Yes, that is how an arrow/ broad head kills. It is by hemorrhage. which includes cutting veins & arteries. Great info!!! Oh, FYI- Magnus will sharpen the blades for you.

Just a tip If you want to use a hard steel broadhead that needs sharpened but dont want to sharpen it then take them to bass pro. They will sharpen them for a couple bucks each.

I generally use a a pair of vicegrips to hold the heads vertical, and run them over my Spyderco Triangle Sharpmaker. Hair splitters EVERY TIME

I absolutely love this video! When I get the question “mechanical or fixed?” I’ll alway tell them fixed blades always cuts

3 blade muzzy with sharp blades is hard to beat by anything. Bone crushing point and never had one problem with these. Shot bear and deer and broke shoulders with this head. I use in treestand I shoot 3 blade spitfire when using expandable on spot and stalk. Awesome blood trails. Did hit shoulder blade once. Only got 6 inches of penetration. I shoot 70lbs. Deer was recovered at 400 yds though.

Man I love the ranch fairy videos!

"It's better to be a little high" ☺️

It takes a lot of practice but if you start sharpening by hand with some decent stones it will be faster. If you use a non adjustable jig you have to change the angle of bevel on every new blade to apex the edge. If you free hand it you can match the factory angle right away.

I have supper fine stones. I clean them onto my strop the supper fine particles imbedded in my strop really took me to the next level. give it a try.

Have you ever heard of waxed arrowheads and greased arrow shafts? They may or may not have done that in medieval times, so Tod's Workshop here on yt tested it with a wooden shield and it increased penetration significantly!

Troy was not going off the rails by adding weight, just back in time. I bought new bows over the years but killed more bucks with less tracking when I hunted with dad's old left over arrows and 145gr razor back 5's. Changing bows did not increase my tracking abilities. The common arrows and broadheads available to me in my local shops Changing over the years increased my tracking ability.

Hey guys.i think you should be using Emery cloth verses sand paper.you can use cutting oil with Emery cloth been doing it for years.emery cloth last alot longer listen guys if you use double face tape on smooth boards the same size as the as the Emery cloth and stick them on each it's better yet.i want too hear comments please

KME has great sharpeners and they have jigs and methods for ANY KIND of BH and knives. They are a great company

Hope y'all are doing well.. God bless every one in y'all's group 🤘

Much like sharpening a wood chisel. Best place to sharpen a wood chisel or planner blade is on a floated glass table. You know the surface is as flat as can be and there is no deviation on the surface. I buy really good cloth based emery it will last long.

Paper wheel on a bench grinder is way easier for me.

When you get at the end and feel the burr you HAVE to flip it to the other side and then flip it again and again until it falls off by itself THEN youwill have your cutting edge you may smooth it out after but do NOT leave the burr on.

Ron from KME is a Good Friend of mine!

man that is some good info definitely gone up my game on my broad heads

What seems to be contrary to this demonstration /discussion is the Serrated edge broadheads, which to me probably impede penetration a lot especially coz its difficult to sharpen those too. I have had good success with 3 blade heads on 120 to 180 grit..

On the cardboard, you might consider shipping paper instead. Add some 6 micro diamond compound. The paper acts as a carrier for the compound.

My only problem with RF, outside of his presentation, is his comments on that the bow, stabilization, release, etc doesn't matter. I'm calling BS the number 1 thing is to hit where you're aiming and have the confidence to do so. Stabilization is huge and so is anchor. If a nose button makes you anchor properly on that weak side shot then I'd say it's worth $10. It all matters.

All these sharpening processes are the same as with knife sharpening. I agree totally that there is sharp and then there's stupid scary sharp. The last one will cut without effort. Thank you for applying sharpening processes to broad heads!!

Yep i started bowhunting in 94,, id been gun hunting since 1980 so i knew a little about hunting but i really didnt know shit. I wanna say up front that i learned more about hunting in one season of bowhunting than in all my previous years of hunting put together. Now fast forward nearly 30 years of experience with the Bow and oh what ive seen and learned. Mechanical heads were all the rage haha and yeah they do work but so many inconsistencies are there and when your a semi perfectionist like me it will drive you nuts. Well i always liked to paper tune and even bare shaft tune but shooting a fixed blade head would never work for me because I expected to much out of it, way to much. Now when i started getting serious and wanted to start shooting to kill and not for a blood trail, really i was just tired of being scared of the shoulder, i wanted to hit what was under the shoulder and no i dont go trying to shoot sn elk in the shoulder. Anyway I wanted to shoot single bevel and move up in arrow weight so i watched a bunch of shit on them, a bunch of your videos and now im getting there, its something i should have been doing long ago, it just works better. And im still shooting 100 grain heads, i moved up in arrow weight so now im around 500 grains total instead of almost 400. I put some brass in the front so i can still shoot all my 100 grainers , i have so many you see. I went a little stiffer on my arrows and made sure my vanes were right offset to match my Helix single right bevel broadheads and they fly wonderful out to 80 and beyond and its amazing how much damage a single bevel broadhead does to soft tissue, but its unreal how much damage they do to bone. Keep talking, ill keep listening guys, thanks, good luck this coming season.

Could you guys set up a test, like take the bones from a kill and shoot the different heads into the bone to show what they do?

I agree, the cutthroats are hard and take time to get to that razor edge. Tuffhead meatheads sharpen faster for me. But I like both heads and got them where I like em sharpness wise.