Post by Ron Kulas on Jan 16, 2021 17:47:13 GMT -6
In nearly 50 years of bowhunting Ive had success with all manner of commercially available broadheads. Ive taken game with 2 blade, 3 and 4 blade heads. All will kill if sharp and well placed. Blood trails will vary based on a lot of factors. Ive also taken deer and bear with homemade 2 blade broadheads of my own design and construction and all from a homemade longbow I made. I enjoy taking game with tools I invent or craft.
I have a desire to craft another broadhead. This broadhead of my own design will be a bit different than my prior heads in that it will be a 6 blade head. Since Ive long been a heavy arrow guy, Ive never had a problem getting a pass through on even the largest game. My current setup is a 770 grain arrow from a 64 pound compound so Im steeped in momentum which means getting a pass through and two holes for blood trailing and quickly putting an animal down is never an issue.
With that in mind, I hoped to increase the lethality of a broadhead by designing and making a 6 blade head. This IS NOT the first 6 blade head concept but its a little different from prior attempts in that the blades WILL NOT all enter the animal at the same time. The blades will be staggered to enter at different times along the insertion. Prior 6 bladed broadhead designs positioned the blades to enter at the same time, I fear that is a lot to ask and requires a great deal of momentum to successfully pass through hide, meat and bone. I fear some sort of "Wedging" took place and was the downfall of earlier attempts.
This will be a chronicle of efforts that go into creating my own head. I cant say if it will be a success or not. I do know that it will not be a failure because I will learn along the way and enjoy the process and there is no failure in that because the joy is in the doing. I enjoy finding an idea rattling about in my head and taking it from concept to CAD to prototype, to drawings, to first run parts, to testing, revising, improving and so on until I either end up with a finished product I like, or a head full of knowledge from the process. (again, there is no failure in that)
This head is not meant to be for public consumption or for sale at this time. Its too soon to know the validity of such a concept. This just a personal project I wanted to undertake. This head will be far to heavy for the masses. There is only a very small (but growing) number of bowhunters that would even consider using a 250 grain broadhead or a 6 bladded head or a head (dut to low product) that would cost more than the norm
The concept:
When I started, bowhunting, the common broadhead weights were 160 and 150 grains, By today's thinking, those are too heavy for most, not because these weights are actually too heavy but rather because of silly marketing focused on speed, a generation has been tricked into thinking speed kills. As time went on, 145, then 125 then 100 grains head became popular (in keeping with the silly speed fad that results in more wounding losses). Then for some odd reason people thought 95, 85 and 75 grain heads were a good idea. (they were not). Because this head is for me and my need, Im not burdened with coming up with a head for those who mistakenly focus on speed but give little thought to what happens when the arrow actually reached flesh and bone.
For many years, my own personal bowhunting preference has been between 225 and 250 grain broadhead so that is where I will focus this effort because my preference is for a head to be made of stainless steel for both weight and strength, because at some point, its inevitable that heavy bone hits will take place and steel is just a better option when a 770 grain arrow hits a major bone.
This is the beginning of "project H"
Flight testing and destructive testing and actually taking an animal cant be done with a CAD file or even a 3D printed prototype. This means I need actual steel parts. The first set of blades were made by me. I harvested them from a 0.40" thick, kitchen knife blade. (My wife will never miss this one)
Making the first set of blades was very labor intensive. My plan was to make a dozen actual heads and having to repeat this process to make a total of 36 blades was not realistic. I turned to water jet cutting for the short run prototypes/
Prior to kicking off the blades, I contacted a company in Lincoln Nebraska to make the stainless steel ferrules. The design is complicated and requires a Swiss Screw machine to produce the parts due to the complexity and tiny slots and tapped holes in stainless steel. The supplier sent me this photo of the parts prior to shipping them.
Screws have been ordered to complete the assembly of the heads. Upon receiving all the parts, flight testing will take place. It may require a re-shaping and re-sizing of the blades. Durability testing will also be conducted which may also cause a design change.
Ive had many blades made via water jet cutting and then each must be hand sharpened by me. Here I explain how to get things sharp.
Making each blade take some time.
Then I assembled the heads and did a non-scientific push test.
In order to evaluate the efficacy of any broadhead, one must field test it on things that bleed. After assembling some heads, I set out to accomplish a few things with this field test. Since I do suburban deer culling for a couple municipalities, Im able to target whitetails and I have until the end of January to remove as many as I can.
I wont be evaluating just this prototype broadhead with this field test. I will also be evaluating a arrow mounted telemetry tracking knock ive spent more than 3 years perfecting, I will also be evaluating a thermal imaging capable drone that will be slated for big game carcass location and recovery. Here are the effects of this broadhead on a live test subject.
Here is a still photo from the video I made with the thermal imaging drone. This was about a half hour after the deer had expired. I had the drone about 100 feet up. Even the entrance hole from the arrow can be seen.
Here is a picture of the mock lung test (damage/wound channel) I did into foam and the actual lung after the shot during the necropsy on the doe. They seem very similar. I just seasoned up the loins and put them in the Sous Vid cooker for the next 5 hours at 130 degrees F. Then they will be seared to give a nice char. Some good eating for supper.
Im now trying to source the proper thickness of tool steel (preferably O1 tool steel) that I can have water jet cut. I will then do my own heat treating and tempering to make them suitable for broadhead blades. As a custom knife maker, O1 is one of my favorite high carbon steels for blades. Its superior to most stainless steels. The only negative is that is is not corrosion resistant so it will have to be oiled and protected from rust.
To be continued............
I have a desire to craft another broadhead. This broadhead of my own design will be a bit different than my prior heads in that it will be a 6 blade head. Since Ive long been a heavy arrow guy, Ive never had a problem getting a pass through on even the largest game. My current setup is a 770 grain arrow from a 64 pound compound so Im steeped in momentum which means getting a pass through and two holes for blood trailing and quickly putting an animal down is never an issue.
With that in mind, I hoped to increase the lethality of a broadhead by designing and making a 6 blade head. This IS NOT the first 6 blade head concept but its a little different from prior attempts in that the blades WILL NOT all enter the animal at the same time. The blades will be staggered to enter at different times along the insertion. Prior 6 bladed broadhead designs positioned the blades to enter at the same time, I fear that is a lot to ask and requires a great deal of momentum to successfully pass through hide, meat and bone. I fear some sort of "Wedging" took place and was the downfall of earlier attempts.
This will be a chronicle of efforts that go into creating my own head. I cant say if it will be a success or not. I do know that it will not be a failure because I will learn along the way and enjoy the process and there is no failure in that because the joy is in the doing. I enjoy finding an idea rattling about in my head and taking it from concept to CAD to prototype, to drawings, to first run parts, to testing, revising, improving and so on until I either end up with a finished product I like, or a head full of knowledge from the process. (again, there is no failure in that)
This head is not meant to be for public consumption or for sale at this time. Its too soon to know the validity of such a concept. This just a personal project I wanted to undertake. This head will be far to heavy for the masses. There is only a very small (but growing) number of bowhunters that would even consider using a 250 grain broadhead or a 6 bladded head or a head (dut to low product) that would cost more than the norm
The concept:
When I started, bowhunting, the common broadhead weights were 160 and 150 grains, By today's thinking, those are too heavy for most, not because these weights are actually too heavy but rather because of silly marketing focused on speed, a generation has been tricked into thinking speed kills. As time went on, 145, then 125 then 100 grains head became popular (in keeping with the silly speed fad that results in more wounding losses). Then for some odd reason people thought 95, 85 and 75 grain heads were a good idea. (they were not). Because this head is for me and my need, Im not burdened with coming up with a head for those who mistakenly focus on speed but give little thought to what happens when the arrow actually reached flesh and bone.
For many years, my own personal bowhunting preference has been between 225 and 250 grain broadhead so that is where I will focus this effort because my preference is for a head to be made of stainless steel for both weight and strength, because at some point, its inevitable that heavy bone hits will take place and steel is just a better option when a 770 grain arrow hits a major bone.
This is the beginning of "project H"
Flight testing and destructive testing and actually taking an animal cant be done with a CAD file or even a 3D printed prototype. This means I need actual steel parts. The first set of blades were made by me. I harvested them from a 0.40" thick, kitchen knife blade. (My wife will never miss this one)
Making the first set of blades was very labor intensive. My plan was to make a dozen actual heads and having to repeat this process to make a total of 36 blades was not realistic. I turned to water jet cutting for the short run prototypes/
Prior to kicking off the blades, I contacted a company in Lincoln Nebraska to make the stainless steel ferrules. The design is complicated and requires a Swiss Screw machine to produce the parts due to the complexity and tiny slots and tapped holes in stainless steel. The supplier sent me this photo of the parts prior to shipping them.
Screws have been ordered to complete the assembly of the heads. Upon receiving all the parts, flight testing will take place. It may require a re-shaping and re-sizing of the blades. Durability testing will also be conducted which may also cause a design change.
Ive had many blades made via water jet cutting and then each must be hand sharpened by me. Here I explain how to get things sharp.
Making each blade take some time.
Then I assembled the heads and did a non-scientific push test.
In order to evaluate the efficacy of any broadhead, one must field test it on things that bleed. After assembling some heads, I set out to accomplish a few things with this field test. Since I do suburban deer culling for a couple municipalities, Im able to target whitetails and I have until the end of January to remove as many as I can.
I wont be evaluating just this prototype broadhead with this field test. I will also be evaluating a arrow mounted telemetry tracking knock ive spent more than 3 years perfecting, I will also be evaluating a thermal imaging capable drone that will be slated for big game carcass location and recovery. Here are the effects of this broadhead on a live test subject.
Here is a still photo from the video I made with the thermal imaging drone. This was about a half hour after the deer had expired. I had the drone about 100 feet up. Even the entrance hole from the arrow can be seen.
Here is a picture of the mock lung test (damage/wound channel) I did into foam and the actual lung after the shot during the necropsy on the doe. They seem very similar. I just seasoned up the loins and put them in the Sous Vid cooker for the next 5 hours at 130 degrees F. Then they will be seared to give a nice char. Some good eating for supper.
Im now trying to source the proper thickness of tool steel (preferably O1 tool steel) that I can have water jet cut. I will then do my own heat treating and tempering to make them suitable for broadhead blades. As a custom knife maker, O1 is one of my favorite high carbon steels for blades. Its superior to most stainless steels. The only negative is that is is not corrosion resistant so it will have to be oiled and protected from rust.
To be continued............