What Should Be Used to Screw on Broadheads?

Bowhunting is a sport that many hunters have enjoyed ever since medieval times.

Bowhunting allows you to choose the prey on your own, exhibit the catch as a trophy, and compete against other hunters as well. The last activity is the one that makes all the difference.

Unlike regular hunting, bowhunting has many competitive elements associated with it, which is exactly why the whole concept is so exciting.

The popularity of bowhunting is rising as we speak. According to official data, the number of Americans who actively participate in archery has jumped from 18.9 million in 2012 all the way to 21.6 million in 2016. Of that number, nearly 2.5 million people practice bowhunting on a regular basis.

Now, what do you need in order to do some bowhunting on your own? You need to invest in the right equipment. Namely, you need a good bow, one pin bow sight, bow scope (or arrowhead), and (at least) a couple of broadheads. You also need your broadheads to be the right length.

In this article, we will focus on broadheads and, specifically, we will provide more details on how you can screw on your broadhead effectively.

You can attach broadheads three different ways — you can rivet your broadhead to the shaft, tie it and, finally, you can glue it as well. You also need to make a proper arrangement of your materials, paste the broadhead, and align it properly.

The process isn’t that complicated, but you will need a proper guide in order to do everything accordingly. We hope that, by the end of this article, our instructions will help you screw on your broadhead like a true expert.

Without further ado, let’s get started!

The types

Before we move on to the main topic of this guide, let’s take a look at all the different types of broadheads that you can use for your bowhunting adventures.

What should I consider?

As you might imagine, there are several different factors that you need to consider before getting your ideal broadhead. It needs to fit your bow properly, it has to be razor sharp and, lastly, the broadhead needs to pierce deeply into your prey. Of course, you also need a good wrench to screw on your broadhead firmly onto your arrow shaft. If the broadhead is not screwed on properly, your risk of injuries will increase dramatically. It’s very important to dodge this issue in time.

Overview

There are three different types of broadheads — detachable, fixed, and mechanical/expandable broadheads. All of them have their pros and cons, but their quality is equal nonetheless. Which of these broadheads ends up on your bow is entirely a matter of personal choice. But to help you come to the best decision, we will take a closer look at all three types in the lines below.

1. Detachable broadheads — the best thing about these broadheads is that you can easily replace them whenever they become too damaged. You only have to replace the blade, not the whole piece. Once you get a proper replacement, all you need to do is attach it onto the ferrule.
2. Fixed broadheads — all you need to do to attach this broadhead is paste it onto the shaft by using superglue. Fixed broadheads have been used for many centuries and many traditional bowhunters use them today as well. If your bow doesn’t require a lot of force to draw the string, this is the broadhead for you.
3. Mechanical/expandable broadheads — these broadheads retract whenever you release the shaft and they open up when the target is hit. You should use this type in combination with bows that are heavier than the standard ones.

As you can see, all three types are different from one another and you need to choose carefully. However, the bottom line is that no matter which of these broadheads you buy in the end, you can’t make a mistake.

In general, you should stick to detachable broadheads if your bow is not too heavy. However, if it is, you can go for a mechanical type instead. If you like old-school solutions and if you don’t mind having a fixed blade, the second option is made just for you.

Screwing on your broadhead

We’ve finally arrived at the main topic of our guide — screwing on your broadhead. There are three different ways to do that:

1. Riveting-in — this technique is very simple and straightforward. All you need is a broadhead wrench and a special screw. Once you have these tools, you can easily attach the arrowhead to the shaft of your bow. You will usually get a manual that will help you attach the broadhead and secure it even better. Just follow the instructions and your bow will be ready for hunting in no time!
2. Tying — you can also tie your broadhead to the shaft section with a special ring or a nylon rope. This method has been around ever since the first bow was invented but, at this point in time, it is outshined by other available methods.
3. Gluing — this is the third and the most effective method by far. Even though the previous methods are perfectly viable, none of them is as secure as gluing. Other than being the most effective way to screw on your broadhead, this method is also effective enough to keep the broadhead intact even while penetrating tough skins and hides.

As you can see, even though you can attach your broadhead in three different ways, the first two methods are nowhere nearly as effective as gluing. There are two different ways to glue your broadhead — you can use cold glue or hot glue. They’re both equally effective, but they also have their own pros and cons that you need to be aware of. We will talk more about each of these glues in the lines below.

Hot glue

Hot glue is, undoubtedly, one of the most popular options to screw on your broadhead with today. Many people use hot glue because it’s extremely functional, flexible, and affordable at the same time. In addition to that, one more reason why hot glue is such a common option nowadays is that you can remove it very easily by using a simple heater. If you plan to change your broadheads very often, you should certainly use hot glue to screw them on. Furthermore, if you have fixed broadheads that don’t have a screw-on design, you will see amazing results with this type of glue as well.

Even though hot glue is a very conservative method of screwing on various broadheads, it comes with plenty of benefits. The biggest upside comes from the fact that you can remove them so easily, but we should add that the broadhead might become damaged as a side-effect of using a heater. So you need to be very careful if you want to minimize the damage while removing your broadhead. As a precaution, you should use a low heat source, as this type of heater is very unlikely to damage the steel in the long run. Some broadheads don’t have any ceramic coating whatsoever. In those cases, when you remove a broadhead, you need to be extra careful not to damage the ending section.

Alcohol burner is an ideal type of heater that you should use in these circumstances. Don’t use a regular torch, as you can easily damage the tip of your broadhead. Alcohol burner is an ideal option because it will give you just enough heat to remove the blade without struggle, and it will ensure that the composition of your glue is unaltered.

How should I use my hot glue?

Use a heat source of your choice (ideally, alcohol burner) or a glue gun in order to melt the liquid just enough so that the drops can effectively “merge” with the broadhead. Now, attach your arrow to the broadhead and warm it up until the glue ends up between both of them. Just make sure you don’t overheat your broadhead along the way because steel will lose its firmness.

As you can see, this method is very simple and straightforward — it even allows you to remove the broadhead just as quickly (and just as effectively). Once again, yes, there is a risk that you may damage the steel if you’re not careful enough, but if you pay attention, you should be able to dodge the issue without any problems.

Pros

• Hot glue is very easy to use and it’s extremely effective.
• You can quickly remove the broadheads by using a simple heater.
• You can align both the arrow and the broadhead before the glue sets in.
• Hot glue has a long tradition, it’s been thoroughly tested, and its efficiency has been well proven and documented.

Cons

• You need to be very careful because you can easily damage the steel along the way.
• You may easily get burnt as well.
• Hot glue requires extra caution while applying the glue.

Cold glue

Now it’s time to take a look at another popular method that you can use to screw on your broadhead — cold glue. Unlike hot glue, this is a newer concept and it doesn’t have a long tradition to build upon. However, it’s much safer compared to the previous method, and it doesn’t require a lot of preparation to make it functional. It’s much more difficult to align your arrow and broadhead before the glue kicks in and, unlike hot glue, this one doesn’t allow you to change your broadheads at all. Still, even despite these flaws, cold glue is a very effective option for screwing on your broadhead, and you should certainly give it a try.

If you decide to use this method to attach your broadhead to the arrow, make sure you align the two before the glue is set. The process is very quick and, if you’re not fast enough, you won’t be able to remove the broadhead anymore. Did you know that cold glue is commonly referred to as “superglue”? Yes, it’s true, and now you (hopefully) understand why.

If you’re looking for an instant solution for competitions and tournaments, cold glue is, undoubtedly, a superior choice to hot glue. As long as you understand its positive and negative sides, you can maximize its full potential and use all the benefits to your advantage. Even though many people prefer the simplicity of hot glues, the fact is, superglue can do wonders as well. If you decide to stick to it, you will get to see these wonders first-hand and, we can assure you, they will be very rewarding.

Pros:

• You don’t need a lot of equipment to use this glue.
• The concept is completely safe, as you don’t need to use a heater.
• You can’t damage your bow if you make a simple mistake.
• You can instantly fix the entire set in case any issues occur.

Cons:

• You can’t remove the broadhead after the glue is set.
• The glue might cause the broadhead to become brittle.
• If you had already used cold glue before, you will have issues aligning your broadhead.

The screwing process

Now that we know what materials we should use to screw on our broadhead, let’s pay more attention to the process itself. There are three different things that you need to do to — you have to prepare the materials, glue them, and align them. We will describe each of these phases in the following lines.

The preparation

First off, prepare the parts that you will use to attach the broadhead to the shaft. You can do this in two different ways, but you will need to use glue in both of them. In the first method, you’ll need to use special adapters to connect your broadhead to the arrow section. In the second one, you will need to attach the blade directly without using an adapter.

If you choose the second method, make sure you clean your broadhead before you attach it to the alignment shaft. You can use a steel wool or sandpaper to rough up the section that you want to attach. Now you need to clean the same part by using fingernail polish or alcohol to remove the oil remainings that may still linger around your broadhead. Even if you’ve decided to use an adapter, you still need to clean the broadhead before that. You can use alcohol (once again) or fingernail polish to accomplish that. No matter if you have wooden, carbon, or aluminum arrows, the cleaning procedure is the same.

The gluing

Now you need to glue the broadhead and the arrow section. Just like we have mentioned above, you can use either hot glue or cold glue to do this — the choice is up to you.

If your choice is hot glue, you need to get a heater as well. You can choose whatever heater suits you the most, but we recommend using an alcohol burner. Apply the glue of your choice to the broadhead. If you feel you need assistance, feel free to use a glue gun. Also, if you’re using hot glue, make sure you don’t get your hands burned.

Use your alcohol burner to heat the glue and wait until the composition becomes warm enough. Don’t heat it for too long either, because anything above 1200 Fahrenheit is not good for your broadhead. Once the liquid is warm enough, stop, and let it cool down. Meanwhile, you can use tongs to align your broadhead before the temperature drops down to a reasonable level.

If you use cold glue, you won’t need a heater at all. You just need to apply the glue and you can attach your broadhead instantly. As you don’t need to heat the cold glue, you don’t need to wait for the liquid to cool down and you can quickly get your bow up and running.

The aligning

The last phase requires you to align your broadhead properly. You need to mount it onto the shaft during the entire gluing process. You can attach it to the arrow and spin it on a proper surface.

This method is often not sufficient enough, and you will (likely) need an additional aligner. Luckily, there are many aligners for you to choose from and most of them are relatively cheap. In order to properly align your broadhead, place it onto the arrow shaft and rotate it to get a proper alignment. If you need more than one aligner, repeat this process until the broadhead is mounted accordingly.

Additional tips

Let’s take a look at some additional tips on how you can safely screw on your broadhead. We’ve provided some basic tips in the previous lines but, right now, we will expand the concept so that you can minimize any health risks even further.

1. You should always cover your broadhead with a quiver. This measure can eliminate the risk of injuries due to overly sharp broadheads and (un)loading equipment.
2. While you’re examining your prey, make sure you check the status of your broadhead, as it may be stuck deep inside the body. You should handle the game very carefully until you can find every part of your broadhead. You don’t want to be injured because you’ve not been careful enough.
3. Always put emphasis on durability when buying your broadheads. You don’t need to look for expensive broadheads, you can easily find some cheap ones as well. As long as the broadhead is robust and durable, you won’t have any issues whatsoever.

In conclusion

We honestly hope that you’ve found this guide helpful! As you can see, you don’t need to be an expert to screw on your broadhead effectively. All you need is a proper understanding of the subject! As long as you follow the instructions above, your broadhead will be ready in no time! Even more importantly, you will enjoy your bow-hunting adventures more than ever before, we promise!