[BigD_N_Cherokee]

A friend of mine, a traditional only archer, was telling me yesterday that years ago he was contemplating the effectiveness of different sharpening methods on broadheads.

He took two broadheads to an E.R. Doctor. One was razor sharp which would shave and the other was sharpened with a file. The file sharpened head was sharp yet a little "rough & toothy" for lack of a better description.
My friend handed the heads over and asked the doctor which one he thought would do the most internal hermoraging on an animal. After the Doctor looked them over he handed back the file sharpened head and said that one will do more damage.

His justification was that over his years of experience he had seen knife stabbings and bullet wounds where the weapon pierced the flesh only to "roll" the veins & arteries away. However the file sharpened head would have some grab and actually pull the veins or arteries into it causing it to more likely cut and hemorage the surounding tissue.

Would a rougher puncture be less likely to clot?

I have a hard time believing a file sharpened edge would be more lethal than a razor polished edge. When using the rubber band test my polished heads perform great. The fact that they shave like a razor also gives me a confidence factor I don't get with a rough edge.

I'm wondering if all the stab wounds the Dr. was seeing were from dull knives?

I got all my broadheads razor sharp by finishing them with a leather strop & yellowstone compound using Jerry/NJ's video. While I'm not a doctor, I have stayed in a Holiday Inn Express! I think I'm going to stay with my razor sharp heads!

Are there any doctors in the house? What do you think?

Big D

 

[Huaco]

Dull or Sharp?

I have always heard that a sharp blade on a knife will cut easier and leave a clean wound (less scarring). While a dull blade will actually do more damage.

 

[affe22]

I'd stay away from that doctor!

A vein or artery that is torn will clot a lot faster than a vein or artery that is cleanly cut. It has to do with the amount of surface area that is damaged and your bodies receptors to it, etc. A rough edge is more likely to tear if it doesn't roll the vein or artery. A razor sharp edge will slice.

The reason I said to stay away from the doctor is, if that is a true story, he somehow translated bullet wounds to a discussion on sharpness and said they prove a rougher edge was more effective. Last time I checked, bullets weren't made to be sharp.

 

[the-ghost]

interesting topic. steak knives are serrated, they seem to cut clean. i shoot steel force sabertooths, and hellfires, they cut clean as well. a burr sharp broadhead like the zwickeys and magnus heads i used to shoot with my traditional rigs cut just as well, they act like little saws. they didn't tear like you would think well maybe they do but you'd need a microscope to see the tissue damage. i'd say you can use a file to get a pretty dang sharp head. i'd also say a burred head will cut through a steak just as good if not better than a stropped smooth head. might have to do some testing before i grill up sundays dinner. as long as its sharp it'll get the job done.

 

[Snood Slapper]

A vein or artery that is torn will clot a lot faster than a vein or artery that is cleanly cut. It has to do with the amount of surface area that is damaged and your bodies receptors to it, etc. A rough edge is more likely to tear if it doesn't roll the vein or artery. A razor sharp edge will slice.

The reason I said to stay away from the doctor is, if that is a true story, he somehow translated bullet wounds to a discussion on sharpness and said they prove a rougher edge was more effective. Last time I checked, bullets weren't made to be sharp.

Agree with affe22. I would also say that your statement questioning if they were dull knives is highly possible. Most stabbings are done with cheap and/or inexpensive knives that are just within easy reach during the heat of the moment...or, for that matter, not even a knife at all (screwdrivers, scissors, ice picks, etc.) The "rolling" of the veins he descirbes probably occurs more on the backstrap of a single edge knife as well. If a knife is razor sharp and the vessel comes in contact with that edge it ain't gonna "roll" out of the way...except in two pieces. Think about it for a second. If vessels "rolled" out of the way and didn't get cut when passing through flesh, would we have much of any blood trail on anything other than heart shots or shots that pierced a vessel?

 

[mike-uswest]

The sharp blade will bleed longer, and the reason for this is a dull blade going through a vessel will pull and snap the vessel, and the inner layer of the vessel, the intima, will rollback in making a smaller hole that the platelets have to fill to cause a clot and stop the bleeding. The intima itself will close off the smaller bleeders. This is used in surgery for hemostasis, if you have a small bleeder, you grab it with forceps, pull and twist to break the vessel off, and that will stop it from bleeding. This is on the small bleeders only, but it gives you the idea that I am talking about. Where a clean cut will leave the full diameter of the vessel to bleed, and take longer for the body to close it off using it's internal hemostasis. I hope I have illustrated the point adequately.

Mike

 

[BigD_N_Cherokee]

Mike,
That makes sense.
Thanks
-D

 

[Snood Slapper]

The sharp blade will bleed longer, and the reason for this is a dull blade going through a vessel will pull and snap the vessel, and the inner layer of the vessel, the intima, will rollback in making a smaller hole that the platelets have to fill to cause a clot and stop the bleeding. The intima itself will close off the smaller bleeders. This is used in surgery for hemostasis, if you have a small bleeder, you grab it with forceps, pull and twist to break the vessel off, and that will stop it from bleeding. This is on the small bleeders only, but it gives you the idea that I am talking about. Where a clean cut will leave the full diameter of the vessel to bleed, and take longer for the body to close it off using it's internal hemostasis. I hope I have illustrated the point adequately.

Mike

That is the best explanation of that I have ever heard!:thumbs_up :thumbs_up

 

[AK in PA]

Clean cuts from sharp objects don't clot as quickly as ragged cuts from duller instruments. I prefer sharp broadheads, though I'm sure there is a point of diminishing, if not defeating return. There is shaving sharp, and then there is scapel sharp. I have to wonder whether scapel sharp (with an extremely shallow blade angle) isn't reduced to ordinary pocket knife sharpness after mearly passing through the skin and perhaps nicking ribs.

Please note, file sharpening does NOT have to be equated with dull. I do all of my broadhead sharpening with just a file (and occassionally leather stropping) to a shaving sharp edge. I haven't been able to do as well with a variety of other gadgets, including Lansky's, ceramic deals, and tungsten Vee's. IMO, the other stuff complicates the heck out of an otherwise simple process, without achieving the same results.