You sharpened these wrong!!!!!!!!!!!

You have just got some clipper blades back from either Barras Blades

or another sharpening service and they are not working

You are fuming and are calling the sharpener all the rude words

Stop and take a breath

Lets work our way through this

The first thing I am going to say is the vast majority of sharpeners I know test every single clipper blade before it leaves their hands.

The usual test is using fake fur or test string.

It isn’t done on a dog for pretty obvious reasons, I tried it once and the wife wasn’t best pleased and neither was the dog.

So something is different or something has changed.

So lets break this down into what todo and what NOT todo

The Todo list

  • Are you using the blade under a comb?

    • A comb can effect the blade as if the cutter is too far forward it can foul on the comb and stop the blade cutting correctly

    • Try the blade without a comb

  • Have you tried the blade on a different clipper?

    • A sharpener maybe using a mains powered clipper with a brand new blade drive which has more power and speed then your cordless clippers

    • Try the blade on your backup clippers which should be in excellent condition

  • Have you tried oiling the blade as a few drops of oil can make a difference

  • More info on blade oiling here

  • Is there a build up of hair under the cutter as this can stop a blade from working

  • More info on blade cleaning here

  • After those simple tests then contact the sharpener as they WILL do everything they can to get you out of a hole

  • This is where building up a good relationship with your sharpener is key. I will also say you cannot get a try measure of a company until something goes wrong

The DON’T do list

  • Do NOT remove tension from the blade as you probably don’t know what the right tension is

  • Do NOT fiddle with the screws on the back as these are alignment and won’t effect tension

  • Do NOT go to another sharpener as no one learns from a customer vanishing

Now hopefully you have worked your way down the list above and have come to a fix or even better you are reading this before the brown stuff and hit the rotary air movement device. In which case we can take out time and go over the points a wee bit more slowly.

Testing clipper blades

Now I have a nice little blog post about this all about testing groomers gear but if you can’t be bothered to read that then go to JLB fabric and buy some long haired faux fur as it is very useful to have up your sleeve

Combs

These clip over the front of the blade and if you have a worn comb and the sharpener has set the blade quite far forward then you can get the teeth of the cutter fouling on the comb. it is rare but it can happen.

If you look at the picture to the right or maybe below if you are on a mobile

You will see the cutter highlighted in red and the gap between the cutter and the comb is tiny.

You can see how it can cause problems.

Different clipper

You have your favourite clipper which you use day in and day out

It is a mechanical device and it will wear and it will need servicing. Especially the blade drive Worn blade drives which can cause you to think your sharpener is terrible

Not only do they wear out but they can also breakdown.

A wise groomer will have a back-up pair as without a clipper you are kind of stuffed.

What you should not do is to buy a new pair of clippers and to stick your old clippers in a cupboard to be ignored and neglected as when you need them in your hour of need you might discover they are dead. I highly reccomend getting a corded pair of Andis clippers which aren’t very expensive but they are bomb proof.

If you have blades not working then try those before kicking off at the sharpener.

Clean and oil the blade

It has happened to me more then once then a groomer has thrown a blade back at me saying that it doesn’t work. I’ve taken it back to the bench, cleaned the hair off under the blade and given it a quick oil and bingo it is working again without me changing anything.

A quick guide here

Still not working!!!!!!

I dearly hope you are reading this before you have a problem and you aren’t in the pooh and are cancelling customers. If you are then contact me and I can send you one of my emergency packs of blades that I carry for such a time.

Now lets assume you are not in the pooh then go here and have a wee read

Basically you should always have some blades up your sleeve as what if you drop a blade?

Now should you go and get another sharpener?

NOPE

As this is where you can see how good they actually are as no company gets a chance to shine until things go wrong.

Also clipper blades are sharpened on a grinding wheel which as a very slight taper on it and if this taper starts to wear before the wheel is due to be resurfaced then a sharpener can start to get blades that fail and if they don’t know they are failing then they can’t correct the problem.