 New darts are nearly always too sharp and bounce out.
 A good point is rounded as above. This is what they should look like.
 (A) Flat ends bounce out off wires. (B) Short points damage the board. |
Rounding not sharpening your darts
If you have a set of steel-pointed darts, you need a Darts Sharpener although it would be better referred to as a "Dart Point Rounder".
You don't use it to sharpen your darts, you use it to round off the points smoothly. Darts should actually have rounded points. Sharp points will nick the wires, and bounce out a lot. Sharp points also "burr" easily, and those little burrs will jerk fibers out of your dartboard when you remove your darts after a throw.
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New darts are nearly always way too sharp. Sharp points look great in the package, and are easy to make at the factory. And, frankly, most people expect darts to be sharp and might not purchase darts that appeared dull.
The little "sharpening stone" should be used to remove burrs that occur from the very tip of a sharp point bending over to the side. Also use the stone to round off the point.
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A perfect darts point should look just like the end of ball-point pen. Very round, much more so than most people would imagine a dart point should be. (see pic left)
Like the tip of a ball-point pen, a rounded darts point will just slide off of the wires, instead of nicking the wires and rebounding. Rounding your darts points will greatly reduce your frequency of bounce-outs.
Some darters feel that they should never "sharpen" or touch-up their dart points at all. Unfortunately, natural wear on darts points will not leave the points round. The points will become flat on the ends.
A flattened dart point is even worse than sharp points. A flat tip will nearly always bounce off when hitting wires, as they cannot slide to either side. Such a flattened or very blunt point will crush the dartboard's fibers.
Bristle dartboards are made of natural sisal fiber, similar to hemp. The fibers are compressed under high pressure. Basically, a dartboard is like a dense brush, and the darts stick into board by sliding in between the fibers.
However, flat points compress a tiny section of fibers each time they are thrown, so the dartboard soon becomes very hard. Eventually, the entire dartboard is damaged, becoming too hard for darts to stick in easily.
The condition of your equipment is important, and requires attention and regular maintenance. For both improved scoring and longer dart board life, keep your dart points in good shape, not too sharp, and not too blunt.
Points with very rounded tips are just right!
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