Sharpening single bevel broadheads?

[Mick Smith]

I'm the proud owner of some new Outback Supremes. I opted for the single bevel heads because I what I have heard about their superior penetration and ease of sharpening.

I'm having a little trouble getting my new broadheads really sharp. I started off by stoning the factory edge with a course aluminium oxide stone to take out any irregularities and true up the bevelled edge and make it perfectly straight. I continued stoning until all the factory grind marks were gone and the grind appeared to be perfectly uniform and straight. I then took out the course stoning marks with a finer aluminium oxide stone until the bevel was uniform and shiny. By this stage I had developed a large burr on the edge that turned over to the unsharpened side of the blade. I took the burr off with a fine bastard file back flush to the flat surface. I then honed the bevelled edge on my medium Arkansas stone using oil and then again I took off the minor burr that developed yet again on the flat unbevelled side, using the same stone. I then graduated to my fine Arkansas stone and repeated the whole procedure. At all times I have maintained the original angles.

The result is a sharp edge, but it's nowhere near as sharp as the edge that I've applied to my Outback Hunters and other double bevelled broadheads that I use. They certainly aren't razor sharp.

What am I doing wrong?

Mick

[jindydiver]

Your problem comes from the combination of the relatively soft steel used in the heads and the sharp angle of the bevel.
This causes a burr to form very easily and to knock it of you need to finish the sharpening job properly.
There is more than one way of doing this, but what I do is strop the edge on a belt that is stretched on a piece of timber. You could also steel the edge, being light in your touch and changing the angle of the cut so it is courser than the bevel and wipes the burr off.

I suppose in simple terms what I am saying is that you don’t need to preserve the original bevel angle that comes from on the head when you get it from Woody, you can make it courser and avoid the burr. Just don’t cut a bevel on the back side or it will negate the effort made to give you a single bevel.

[Mick Smith]

Thanks mate, I'll give it a go.

Mick

[piggy]

Mate I sharpen mine on a flat bastard file and keep the original angle.
I file both sides the same amount of times unitl the original grinding marks canot be seen and you have a nice uniform edge.
I then simply strop it about 14 times each side on a piece of leather and they are shaving sharp, this process only takes me a few minutes and is much easier then sharpening any other broadhead I have used

[ssga]

I too must admit it took a while to figure it out!

"figure what out" you say .......the fact that the head is designed to rotate through flesh which gives it the "extra" penetration . I keep a really really shaving sharp burr on the unsharpen edge. This slices like a scalpel when slowly rotated on skin <OUCH> .

SSGA

[Naphtali]

Oh my lucky stars -- a single-bevel Outback Supreme thread.

With the arrow facing down range how do you helical fletch -- that is, what axial rotation, clockwise or counterclockwise, for right-hand bevel? And how can you identify right-hand bevel from left-hand, right-hand helix from left? As you can tell, I'm more than a little confused about this.
***
Regarding the Supreme 160's ferrule, how durable is the crimp -- that is, are there many reports of blade and ferrule separating or becoming a non-rigid connection?

I am in Montana, USA, and obtaining Outback Supreme broadheads is difficult. I have not seen one, nor do I know anyone within 250 miles who has used one. Pete Ward's review of a lighter weight version prompted my strong interest.

[Mick Smith]

Naphtali

I too had some concerns the the Outbacks might break where the steel blade meets the alloy ferrule. My concerns were unfounded. These broadheads are as tough as nails.

I do lots of rabbit hunting and the point of my choice is an Outback 125 grain Hunter on carbon shafts. My rabbit arrows would be shot at least 10 times as often as your average big game arrows would. I've shot Outback Hunter shafts into rocks, gravel, rock hard clay and even into a few rabbits. I've never had a single blade separation. I've slightly bent a couple, but these impacts would have totally destroyed almost any other broadhead. These broadheads take a good edge and they don't "gap" easily either when they hit stones, so reshapening is always straight forward.

I haven't used my single bevel Supremes as yet on larger game. I have sharpened them to my satisfaction though. I found the answer in the making and using of a leather strop. My strop is just a piece of leather, about 8 inches long and 2 inches wide, that I've screwed to a piece of timber that's a couple of inches shorter (6 inches long). I folded an inch over the end of the timber and screwed it with 2 screws at each end. I then applied automotive duco cutting compound to the leather. A few strops of my already reasonably sharp Supremes had them about as sharp as you can get.

If you wish to contact Woody (the manufacturer of Outback broadheads), there's a link on the Ozbow home page (on the right hand side, near the top). It's ... http://users.ncable.net.au/%7Ewoody/index.htm . Woody offers excellent sales service and posts worldwide. I'm sure he would be only too happy to assist you with any enquiries too.

The vast majority of Outback users in this country (and that's plenty) wouldn't dream of using anything else.

Mick

[ssga]

Naphtali

I too had some concerns the the Outbacks might break where the steel blade meets the alloy ferrule. My concerns were unfounded. These broadheads are as tough as nails.

I do lots of rabbit hunting and the point of my choice is an Outback 125 grain Hunter on carbon shafts. My rabbit arrows would be shot at least 10 times as often as your average big game arrows would. I've shot Outback Hunter shafts into rocks, gravel, rock hard clay and even into a few rabbits. I've never had a single blade separation. I've slightly bent a couple, but these impacts would have totally destroyed almost any other broadhead. These broadheads take a good edge and they don't "gap" easily either when they hit stones, so reshapening is always straight forward.

I haven't used my single bevel Supremes as yet on larger game. I have sharpened them to my satisfaction though. I found the answer in the making and using of a leather strop. My strop is just a piece of leather, about 8 inches long and 2 inches wide, that I've screwed to a piece of timber that's a couple of inches shorter (6 inches long). I folded an inch over the end of the timber and screwed it with 2 screws at each end. I then applied automotive duco cutting compound to the leather. A few strops of my already reasonably sharp Supremes had them about as sharp as you can get.

If you wish to contact Woody (the manufacturer of Outback broadheads), there's a link on the Ozbow home page (on the right hand side, near the top). It's ... http://users.ncable.net.au/%7Ewoody/index.htm . Woody offers excellent sales service and posts worldwide. I'm sure he would be only too happy to assist you with any enquiries too.

The vast majority of Outback users in this country (and that's plenty) wouldn't dream of using anything else.

Mick

Count me in on all of the above!

SSGA