Just venting here, but Bought some originals and was excited till I opened the pack. Worst grind job ever. Some edges were not even touched. I understand minor work being needed, but these were horrible. Cant believe they wood let them leave this way. Best advise I can give is not to order these unless you want to spend a lot of hours filing. Was going hunting, but not for a while.

I stopped shooting them in 2001 because of poor quality control.

I bought some a few years back. They looked they had been ground by dragging them on the pavement. I got rid of them.

I had the same problem this summer and sent them back. The fella I talked to said all the new ones looked the same so I just went with some deltas

Not saying that you should accept poor quality broadheads but that's how I really learned how to sharpen a broadhead by "fixing up" some of them Woodsman's. When you say original's, the first ones were all right, I think later on the quality when down when they tried to make more to keep up with demand. I still use woodsman elites 175 gr. Awesome heads.

Don't give up on Woodsmans, just go with the Woodsman Elite instead of the original Wensel Woodsman. The newer heads are significantly better in my opinion. They still need a touch up on a file or stone but it's very minor compared to the originals.

Wait until they start bending over. I'd send them back.

Bowmania

Seem to be mounted wrong also. One of three shot true.(and it wasnt the best, but acceptable)

Thought it might have been the arrow (cut un-square) Switched shafts and flew badly again. Very disapointed Very surprised they would sell them this way.

Not blaming three R here, but Im surprised they's sell em like this. Also they want a 20% restocking fee? Thats no right.

Any grind a woodsman gets is a good grind! You know what I am sayin.

They take some work, took over 45 minutes each

I still have all of the two dozen I bought just after they became available. They were well made then. Does 3 Rivers still own the company that makes them? 3 Rivers has very good customer service, I'm sure they will make it right if you let them know the problem.

I had the same issue, not impressed. I use magnus 2 blade, always good. Maybe snuffers would be better.

very bummed:(

I use to buy about all my stuff from them. I no longer buy from them. glad we we got others that check there products better before they ship them to the customer. nothing worse than paying your money and getting poor quality.

hey matthewsman, that looks like a snuffer not a woodsman

There was a period where the original Woodsman were not available. I'm not sure why. I prefer the originals because they have a longer cutting surface than the Elites and they aren't as hard which makes them easier to take the file to. I have not had any issues with mine to date. I have both screw in and glue on versions.

I just received a 3 pk of original woodsman. all 3 have a bad grind and 2 have bent points...not happy

Original Woodsman is a joke. If I'm using a 3 blade it's the Snuffer.

It's a 125 woodsman. snuffers are good, but I'd need a way wider file

If you don't like them gents, send them my way. With time I get them razor sharp and they fly like darts for me. I shoot all your bad ones....lol

VPA Big Jim has them

I am very fond of the VPAs. I will shoot the other heads...when they are given to me and I can kill with any of them...but when I'm spending my own money, it's always the VPA's.

I'm also a three blade kind of guy, but there two blade terminator is sweet! I've taken a muley buck and a couple does/pigs with them. Funny that I've never bent one of their heads...it has always turned out to be a bent insert (I can't figure how that can happen but it does and even with brass)

BigJim

The bastard file is the most significant part of sharpening these...you have to run them on a file for a while to get the angle right....the carbon steel wont shed material on a stone...you could try all day and not make any progress...they will be sharp enough to hunt after the file...then run them on a diamond and they are the sharpesr head ive ever used..

Had the same problem with the badger heads very bad grind and not sharp at all. Took a few hours grinding.

I've found the MA3 to be a much better head then the original woodsman. I also love the vpa or elites.

never had any problems with my woodsmen heads. i've got 5 in my bow quiver right now razor sharp and ready to go. they sure do leave a good bloo trail!

I sharpen like the Snuffers, a few passes on a bench grinder sets a nice hollow ground edge that can then be touched up to hunting sharp.

Just curious, has anyone talked the the mfr about this issue? I am just amazed that if they are as bad as people say they are that the mfr has not done anything about it.

Consider yourself lucky, the only grind that makes sense on those heads is a single bevel, ATMO. I asked 3R about getting unground ones so I could grind them myself. The double grind is a main reason I don't touch those.

Single bevel is far easier to sharpen and has more cutting power. Maybe there is some bone breaking torque-tastic benefit to a single bevel, but that has nothing to do with my interest in it.

Much better heads when Gene Wensel owned them.

I agree with Simple Man's post. Till I got a good file that would really remove some metal I was ready to give up on three blade heads all together. I use snuffers and original woodsmans most of the time now. Both of them seem to require an agressive filing to establish the edge at first.

The edge wasnt their only issue Not manufactured "true" Truely horrible quality

3rivers making it right Im ordering some zwickeys

What BJ said.

Another vote for VPA.

Rick

I contacted 3Rivers because the Woodsman head would be the next head that I would purchase. I told them about the condition of the edges and the straightness of the heads that guys were experiencing. I asked if I could post their response, so here it is:

Rick,

Yes that would be fine, I also checked the packaging and it does not say they are sharp out of the box. It does say they will need to be honed on the back of the packaging. As for bent blades if anyone receives these like that don't hesitate to send them back and we would be happy to replace them. Our mission is to put out the best products and best customer service we can provide. Once again thank you for bringing this to our attention, we greatly appreciate it.

Thank you,

Kody

Technical Expert

Hope this is helpful.

Just an update here. I got a call from 3R customer service saying that they would take them back , but there would be a 10% restocking fee. Ive order from them yearly and maybe have returned 2 items in a lifetime .

I told them that if they did that ,it would be the LAST order I would place with them. I told them that they should not be selling these in this condition. And that it cost me money to return them. He said he'd take it up with his supervisor. We'll see what they end up doing , but needless to say I was very disapointed in them, and feel they have grown to big and are forgetting the customer.

Never had a problem with them. Mine have always sharpened easily. I killed two bears and three whitetails with the same original Woodsman head with just a little touch up.

I bought some 'originals' about a month ago and agree - lots of file work getting the blades squared.

Unfortunately the Elites now cost stupid $$$.

Root, Pictured is the original Woodsman. Later the Woodsman became the Woodsman Elite which is a solid blade made by VPA for 3 Rivers. The Snuffer has a hole in front of the ferrule.

I purchased some last year and was very disappointed in the quality and cutting diameter

Back several years, when I was shooting 2219's out of a 65# bow, I used Snuffers I got from Roger. WHen I dropped in weight I started using Wensel Woodsman heads - the originals. Here's three heads, an original Snuffer, a 125 grain Snuffer and a Woodsman. I have no issues with mine in durability or sharpness.

I never ran into these problems, yet had a few a huge number of miss alighned with the glued on alum feral , so I plan on buying steel tapered ones to use and try to recenter them. They are glued with a chem that is easily removed with heat. they have a big weight diff, and some are ground more then others and I sharpen them till they shave hair.

I got a pack of the original Woodsmans over the summer. Same thing here - the edges were ground very inconsistently, some edges almost untouched. I spent a while on them with a bastard file and barely made a dent towards getting them to an acceptable state. '

I can understand having to sharpen a little or hone the edge, and even expected as much, but I don't think its unreasonable to expect to not need to re-profile every single blade on every broadhead in the pack.

I figure I will either drop them off at a raffle table, or maybe cut down the point and make a semi-blunt small game broadhead out of them.

I have used them for years and never had any issues. This year I had a new package sitting around and put them on my hunting shafts. Worked way too hard trying to sharpen them. I just didn't feel right about hunting with them so I pulled them back off and replaced them with some old ones I had laying around. It didn't take me no time to get them razor sharp. Definitely a difference.

Three Rivers did the right thing ,and made it "right" Kudos to them for that. As a 26 year retail professional myself, I know that customers "can" take advantage. But in this case it wasnt so much 3R , but just the product. Im glad they did, because I do like ordering from them. FYI

All is well that ends well. Good to know 3R fixed you up. JSYK- I get all my stuff from Big James. 1) he's a good friend of mine. 2) the way he treats his customers is unbeatable. 3) fair prices. 4) I can talk to him directly on the phone if I'm not happy with something. And he will make it right or tell me where to put it. J/K

Go to elites?? Lmao, that's it put out crappy heads so people will pay 55 bucks for 3 elites instead? What a deal!!

A year or so ago I was talking to the company that makes Snuffers and he said that they make the woodsman's as well. Hard to see why overall quality would be good on Snuffers and poor on Woodsmans.

I have been shooting the originals for about 5 years and have had no problems. I like the original over the elites because they are a bit longer.

One of the reasons why Gene Wensel decided to sell the Woodsman broadhead was all the problems he was having with getting the broadhead manufactured and getting deliveries in time to meet customer orders. The manufacturing and assembling was always outsourced.

Just to clarify a few things. These heads were so bad that I dont believe any amount of filing would have fixed them (sharp maybe , balanced no)

But again I give 3R a thumbs up for making it right.

What Sawtooth said. Large, aka Big Jim, is the place to go.

No comparison between the quality of the original and the elites. The originals tips bend over, the grinding is terrible and the screw in models often don't seemed to be aligned. I have never had one of those issues with the elites.

The original Woodsman (either the Wensel or 3 Rivers) is not any where the same as the Woodsman Elite. Only similarity is that they are both black and are three blades. The Elite is machined from solid stock. The Woodsman is four pieces assembled.

I've got a extra course diamond stone and it makes getting any heads grind even in quick order. Best investment I made for sharpening besides my KME broadhead sharpener.

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