Different broadhead styles require slightly different techniques, especially for the initial out
of the box sharpening.
There are three basic broadhead/blade designs. Some brands are combinations of these, and some
brands have a chisel tip resulting in a double angle blade- you can sharpen any of these by tailoring
your sharpening technique to your particular broadhead style.
Sharpening Techniques
TIP: Before you begin sharpening any
broadhead take a magic marker and color
the factory bevel on both sides of your
broadhead from end to end. This will
allow you to see exactly where you are
working the blade. We recommend dark
blue but, black or even dark red will work.
Plain Straight Edge- Steel Force, Zephyr, Stinger, Tusker, Phantom, Ribtek and Cheetah.
These are the simplest blades to sharpen. Always Color both sides of the factory bevel with a magic
marker before you start. This will enable you to see exactly where you are sharpening, and enable you
to track your progress at a glance.
1. Install the angle jaws in the clamp assembly.
2. Place the broadhead in the clamp with the ferrule resting against the front edge of the jaws,
and the tip of the broadhead sticking out about 3/8” beyond the side of the jaws. (see drawing
in your written instructions that came with the sharpener)
3. Screw the bass slack adjuster fully into the frame. Not tightly!
4. insert the clamp assembly into the frame.
5. back the slack adjuster out slightly to remove any play between the camp and the frame. You
want the clamp to spin freely, but it should not have more than 1/32” of in/out travel. This
should require less than one full turn of the slack adjuster.
6. Place the sharpener on the stone, roller first and tip the sharpener forward. The clamp will
automatically rotate and align the blade with the stone.
7. For initial, out of the box sharpening we suggest that you use a very coarse stone and run the
sharpener forward and backward up and down the stone. Flip the clamp frequently to give equal
treatment to both sides of the blade. This will quickly grind the bevel.
TIP: Check your color line frequently! If either the tip or the heel of
the blade continues to show color, reach up with your index finger
and apply light, off center pressure to the clamp to favor the end of
the blade that needs more attention.
About 1 minute of this technique should be adequate. Before
switching to a finer grit stone, make a series of Forward only
passes up the stone, rotating the clamp between each pass.
This will remove the burr from the edge. At this point the
blade should feel only slightly sharp.
8. Now switch to a fine grit stone and finish with the same
technique - one forward stroke, flip the clamp, one
forward stroke, flip and so on. About one minute or less of
this will get the blade truly sharp. To get the blade “hair
mowing sharp” finish with an extra fine grit stone like a
soft Arkansas or extra fine diamond, or India stone,
whichever you prefer.
Plain Straight Edge with Laminated Tip- Original Magnus Broadheads, Zwickey "Deltas", Stos (Made by Magnus), and the original Grizzly Broadheads, etc.
This type of broadhead is also very simple to sharpen. The only difference is that the
laminated tip requires some special attention on the initial sharpening.
1. Install the angle jaws in the clamp assembly.
2. Place the broadhead in the clamp with the ferrule resting against the front edge
of the jaws, and the tip of the broadhead sticking out about 3/8” beyond the side
of the jaws. (See drawing in your written instructions that came with the
sharpener)
3. Screw the bass slack adjuster fully into the frame. Not tightly!
4. insert the clamp assembly into the frame.
5. back the slack adjuster out slightly to remove any play between the camp and the
frame. You want the clamp to spin freely, but it should not have more than 1/32”
of in/out travel. This should require less than one full turn of the slack adjuster.
6. Place the sharpener on the stone, roller first and tip the sharpener forward. The
clamp will automatically rotate and align the blade with the stone.
TIP: At this point, because the laminated tip is double thick, only the tip and the heel of
the blade are actually touching the stone. Before you can sharpen the blade you have to
machine the laminated portion of the tip down to align with the main blade. Here’s how
to do it-
When sharpening a plain straight blade you keep your index finger on the frame. This
allows the clamp to rotate an automatically align the blade with the stone.
Always Color both sides of the factory bevel with a magic marker before you
start. This will enable you to see exactly where you are sharpening, and enable
you to track your progress at a glance.
On the initial sharpening of a laminated blade you want to concentrate on the
laminated portion of the tip, so move your index finger up onto the clamp and
apply light pressure to the side of the clamp that the tip is sticking out of. As you
do this, if you look you will see the heel and main blade lift off of the stone,
which is exactly what you want.
7. Use a very coarse stone and keep the stone flooded with lubricant. Roll the
sharpener forward and backward on the stone. Use short strokes and keep your
finger on the clamp to favor the tip and just work it. Flip the clamp frequently to
give equal treatment to both sides of the tip. This will quickly grind the tip down to
match the bevel of the main blade. About 1 minute of this technique should be
adequate.
TIP: At first the color will be machined off of the tip. As you continue to
sharpen, the color will gradually be removed all the way to the heel of the
blade. That is when you know that you have a straight, uniform bevel from
end to end.
8. Now that the tip has been ground down to match the main blade, take your
finger off of the clamp and let the clamp rotate and align the blade from tip to
heel. Roll the sharpener forward and backward up and down the stone. Flip
the clamp frequently to give equal treatment to both sides of the blade. This
will quickly grind the bevel. About 1 minute or less of this technique should be
adequate. Before switching to a finer grit stone, make a series of Forward only
passes up the stone, rotating the clamp between each pass. This will remove
the burr from the edge. At this point the blade should feel slightly sharp.
9. Now switch to a fine grit stone and finish with the same - one forward stroke,
flip the clamp, one forward stroke, flip and so on. About one minute or less of
this will get the blade truly sharp. To get the blade “hair mowing sharp” finish
with an extra fine grit stone like a hard Arkansas or extra fine diamond, or India
stone, whichever you prefer.
Curved (Convex) Edge- Bear Razorheads, Wolverine, MA-2, Tusker “Aztec”, and the
combination heads which have curved blades and laminated tips-
Zwickey “Eskimo", All Ace broadheads, Eclipse 2-blade Broadheads, etc.
For combination broadheads which have curved blades and laminated tips see the
section on sharpening straight blades with laminated tips. The procedure for the
initial sharpening of both styles of broadheads is the same. After you have
machined the laminated tip bevel to match the main blade bevel sharpen the
broadhead as outlined below
These broadheads are also pretty simple to sharpen but require a slightly different
technique.
1. Install the angle jaws in the clamp assembly.
2. Place the broadhead in the clamp with the ferrule resting against the front
edge of the jaws, and the tip of the broadhead sticking out about 3/8”
beyond the side of the jaws. (See drawing in your written instructions that
came with the sharpener)
3. Screw the bass slack adjuster fully into the frame. Not tightly!
4. Insert the clamp assembly into the frame.
5. Back the slack adjuster out slightly to remove any play between the camp
and the frame. You want the clamp to spin freely, but it should not have
more than 1/32” of in/out travel. This should require less than one full turn
of the slack adjuster.
6. Place the sharpener on the stone, roller first and tip the sharpener
forward. The clamp will automatically rotate and align the blade with the
stone.
7. Start with your finger resting on the top of the clamp at one side or the
other. Roll the sharpener forward down the stone. At the end of this pass
tilt the sharpener back to raise the blade off of the stone, and roll the
sharpener back to the starting point.
Next tip the sharpener forward to again bring the blade into contact with
the stone. Now shift your index finger to the center of the clamp and make
another forward pass.
Repeat the process but this time shift your finger to the opposite end of
the clamp from where you started. Make another pass.
Each time you make a pass shift the position of your finger slightly. First
pass one end, next pass center, next pass other end, and so on. The result
will be a perfectly uniform bevel from end to end because the passes
overlap each other. Additionally, since this technique results in less surface
area contacting the stone curved blades will actually sharpen faster than
straight edged blades.
Curved blades rarely require a coarse stone, even for the initial sharpening.
Start with a medium grit and finish with a fine or extra fine stone like a
hard Arkansas, or an extra fine diamond or India stone for “hair mowing”
sharpness.
Bleeder Blades and Replacement Blades:
These are absolute simplicity to sharpen in less than one minute each.
1. Install the straight jaws in the clamp assembly.
2. Place the blade in the clamp with the edge to be sharpened positioned
roughly parallel with the front edge of the jaws sticking out about 3/16”
beyond the edge of the jaws (see drawing in your written instructions
that came with the sharpener)
3. Screw the bass slack adjuster fully into the frame. Not tightly!
4. Insert the clamp assembly into the frame.
5. Back the slack adjuster out slightly to remove any play between the
camp and the frame. You want the clamp to spin freely, but it should
not have more than 1/32” of in/out travel. This should require less than
one full turn of the slack adjuster.
6. Place the sharpener on the stone, roller first and tip the sharpener
forward. The clamp will automatically rotate and align the blade with the
stone.
7. For sharpening very dull or damaged blades we suggest that you use a
very coarse stone and run the sharpener forward and backward up and
down the stone. Flip the clamp frequently to give equal treatment to
both sides of the blade. This will quickly grind the bevel. About 1 minute
of this technique should be adequate. Before switching to a finer grit
stone, make a series of Forward only passes up the stone, rotating the
clamp between each pass. This will remove the burr from the edge. At
this point the blade should feel slightly sharp.
Tip: For out of the box blades or for touching up, skip the coarse stone and go
directly to the fine stone and sharpen as outlined below...
8. Now switch to a fine grit stone and finish with the same technique - one
forward stroke, flip the clamp, one forward stroke, flip and so on. About
one minute or less of this will get the blade truly sharp. To get the blade
“hair mowing sharp” finish with an extra fine grit stone like a hard
Arkansas or extra fine diamond, or India stone, whichever you prefer.