Ever needed to clean up an old gue-on head?

I've just been pondering this very situation, whilst building some wooden arrows (Something I haven't done for ages!)

All my broadheads have inserts glued into them for carbon arrows & I not wanting to have to buy new heads (cheapskate that I am) I figured I'd just remove the inserts & glue them directly onto the wooden shafts.

Unfortunately, over the years, I have used a multitude of adhesives to fix heads to inserts & not all of them clean up very well. The usual procedure for removing inserts is to heat the insert (NOT THE BROADHEAD) & pull it free once the glue releases. Generally that leaves you with a head that looks like this inside.....

 

 

The left over residue is hard & makes it impossible to re-glue the broadhead to another shaft or insert & get it to spin perfectly straight.

I racked my brains trying to figure out how to remove it. I tried small files, knifeblades & screwrdivers, but none of them did the job to my satisfaction. Then I hit on an idea.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• Broadhead
  Pillar drill (or electric drill & a vice)
  .30 cal (.30-06, .308, .32, .357 or .38) bronze bore brush
  Gloves/Vice grips
  

Chuck the brush in your drill.....

 

Turn the drill to a low speed (500rpm ish) & grab a tight hold of your broadhead with your vice grips (or grab it in your vice) Whilst the brush is spinning in your drill, lift the broadhead onto the brush (slowly to start with, it could grab & spin so hold on tight!).....

 

Angle your broadhead so that the brush is contacting all around the open end of the taper.....

 

 

You'll only need to keep this going for a few seconds (probably around 20 seconds per head) to get all the gunk out of there. Once the taper looks clean, turn the had over & tap it on a hard surface so that any residue falls out.

You should now be left with a lovely, clean, grease-free taper that you can happily re-glue to a new shaft or insert & get spinning right.....

 

 

Great idea.  I have used a torch and given quick blasts into the broadhead (not enough to get the blades hot), but enough to soften the glue, then gone in with brush.  Thought about squirting some goo gone, or denatured alcohol in first and letting sit to soften the glue.

That's a great tip Rob. Thanks! I think that would work with a vice and a hand drill as well.

Keeping the Faith!
Magnus

Good idea.  I think I'd grip that head in a sandwich of leather or parallel-jaw pliers, though.  I've had bits "catch" drilling small stock held in the fingers and it hurts.    

Uncle Robbie..... that there, "Pillar Drill", as you call it is commonly refered to as a Drill Press here in the USA. Just bustin your chops bud, haha !!!

Agree with Stumpkiller about not free hand holding the head but rather using pliers and leather. You scare me to death sometimes bud !!! Coming from a machining background I have seen what rotating cutters of many sorts can do to flesh and it ain't pretty ! Great tip though for cleaning out tapers, thanks.

Ah, it's just for the photos guys.... I always post assuming that the folks reading have at least a modicum of common sense.

Rob,
I've done the same thing in the past to clean out Broadheads. However, I didn't hold them with my fingers! Being a knife maker I know you realize this is not being entirely safety conscious so I'll leave it at that.

The only thing I'll add is this:
In the 80's I would use JB Weld to mount my glue on heads to inserts which could then be screwed on to Aluminum shafts. Being a cheapskate myself I didn't want to discard the heads just because they could no longer glue on to wood shafts. My solution was this..... cut the insert off at base of broadhead, insert BH into vise, drill starter hole into BH to begin cleaning out welded adapter. I would then use a diamond glass or ceramic bit to finish removal of adapter. Since the bit is shaped like a countersink bit, (tapered like the BH ferrule) it would do a nice job of removing the remaining insert and JB Weld. Then a quick brushing as you've done and your ready to go!

I think there are a higher than average percentage of people on this site with common sense, but I have generally found common sense to be a rare commodity in the general population.

Rob: Great Idea, I'll try on some of my old broadheads. Thanks Don

Fantastic idea, Rob! Thank you so much! Now I best pop-out and buy one of those itty-bitty little .30 brushes and start cleaning the collection.

I've edited the original post for the hard of thinking  :D

A man with that much metal in his head ain't skeered of a little ol' broadhead!!!    

God Bless,
Nathan

If you've been using only hot glue acetone with take it off.  Much easier than what your doing.

Bowmania

QuoteOriginally posted by Bowmania:
If you've been using only hot glue acetone with take it off.  Much easier than what your doing.

Bowmania

QuoteUnfortunately, over the years, I have used a multitude of adhesives to fix heads to inserts & not all of them clean up very well.

   :rolleyes:

Good stuff buddy...thanx!    

Sometimes it is the simple ideas that are the best. I have all of those things next to each other in the basement but I never thought of combining them to solve the gunk in the hole problem. Thanks!!

Just tried it, worked perfect.

Thanks Rob.

D

Great idea, I know I have a few .30 cal brushes laying around somewhere.

AWESOME idea, i was wondering that myself just yesterday. Thanks for posting this. Hopefully it will end up in the How To section