Section 8: Maintaining Your Shears
Your scissor is a mechanical tool with moving parts.
If you want to get the most out of your shears you need to do some basic
maintenance to keep them performing their best.
1. Oil your shears at least once a day,
and more often if you prefer.
At the end of every day, wipe your shears off carefully
using a towel. Be careful to wipe it the opposite directing of the way the
edge is facing so you don’t cut yourself. This will remove any hair and
residue of hair product that may have stuck to your blades. Then apply a
drop or two of lightweight oil to the pivot area of the shear with the blades
open. Open and close them with your regular cutting motion, with the blades
pointed to the ground. This will cause the oil to flush out the area under
the tension screw and it will run down the blades. Wipe the excess oil off
with your towel and close the scissor and put it away for the night. This
way instead of your shears sitting overnight with moisture and residue residue
from your last haircut on the blades, it will be clean and lubricated and
ready for work the next day.
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2.
Check and if need be, adjust your tension at least once a week.
To check tension, first clean and oil the shear as
described. Then holding the finger side of the shear in your left hand,
lift the thumb handle with your right hand until the blades are fully open,
and let it go. If it stays open all the way, or does not fall more then
20% of the way closed, the tension is good. If the blade falls more than
20% of the way closed, on a high quality shear, it is too loose. Tighten
the tension system by turning the knob or screw slightly to the right or
clockwise. On shears with clicking knobs or screws, one or two clicks is
usually enough. Test again, and if it does not fall, then test to make sure
it is not too tight. Too tight is just when you feel too much resistance
as you open them. You don’t want to have to fight the tension with your
thumb to open and close the blades. On poorer quality shears, you may have
to adjust them so the blades fall half way shut. This is because the blades
are not well balanced against each other, so if you adjust them like a higher
quality shear, they will be too hard to open and close.
Note:
When shears bend the hair between the blades, or pull as you draw them away
from the client, it almost always means they are too loose. New shears also
need adjustment, usually after the first few uses. During the first few
haircuts with a new shear, the washer between the screw and the shear, will
compress and form itself to the shape of the screw hole. This will leave
the tension too loose. An initial adjustment of the tension will take up
the space left after this compression and the tension should then not need
further adjustment for some time. Don’t be afraid to adjust the tension
on your new shears, it will make them work better.
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3.
Always close shears completely before setting them
down or putting them away. An open shear leaves the
fragile edge exposed. Any contact with anything other than hair, can nick
or dent the edge. When the shear is closed, the blades protect each other
and the edge is covered so it can not be damaged. If your shear falls with
the blades closed, most likely nothing will happen except perhaps the screw
will be loosed by the impact and you may need to tighten them. If a shear
falls with the blades open however, you are likely to get a nick or dent
in the edge, at the point the two blades were open to. If you drop your
shear, do not force it shut when you pick it up. Close the blade very slowly,
and if you feel any roughness or resistance stop. Push the tips of the blades
apart with the finger of your left hand and close the blades to get past
the nick. You can then try squeezing the blades together with your left
hand, while you slowly open the shear. Then try closing them slowly again.
If you feel no resistance or roughness, you may have been able to flatten
out the nick. You can then continue to use the shear. If you still feel
the rough spot, it is best to use a different shear and send
that pair for sharpening service.
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4. Sharpen your
shears with the manufacturer’s recommended service center only.
There are many people who will come to
salons claiming to know how to sharpen shears. The problem is there is no
regulated certification for sharpeners, so anyone can make that claim. The
reality is very few people know how to recreate the edge on a high quality
shear. The typical sharpener will use too coarse
an abrasive, removing too much metal and leaving the edge cutting rough.
They might then over-polish it to make it smooth but this will leave it
incapable of cutting cleanly. They will often alter the angle of
the edge which will change the way the shear cuts. Some will ruin the shear
in ways that even the manufacturer’s service center can not repair. Your
warranty will also be voided if you use any other service center. So the
safest thing to do is have the company that made the shear, be responsible
for keeping it sharp. Then the manufacturer can make no excuses and must
stand behind the product.
Who sharpens your
shear, determines how long they will last and how much you will enjoy using
them. Don’t take chances with your expensive tools.
We Recommend Our Precision Edge Inc. Shear Sharpening
Division
If each sharpening from the factory lasts 1
year,
one bad service can take 5 years or more
from the life of your shears. |
The heat generated in this type of sharpeing
can
spoil the temper or hardness of the shear
making it need service more and more often [Back to Top] |
