Hi all,

I have had a set of hair clippers for years but hardly ever used them. In the current lockdown I dug them out but they struggle to cut any hair at all despite the blades seemingly working ok. After a bit of searching I found some videos saying you sharpen them by rubbing the flat surface on a sharpening stone. Unfortunately this didn't seem to do the trick either. Given the blades seem to vibrate horizontally, I would have thought that to sharpen them you would have to make the sides of the "fingers" of the blades sharp rather than the front edge.

Anyone have any experience of doing this or an idea about what else I could try?

thanks

Lee.

On 21/06/2020 13:25, Lee Nowell wrote:
Hi all,

I have had a set of hair clippers for years but hardly ever used them. In the current lockdown I dug them out but they struggle to cut any hair at all despite the blades seemingly working ok. After a bit of searching I found some videos saying you sharpen them by rubbing the flat surface on a sharpening stone. Unfortunately this didn't seem to do the trick either. Given the blades seem to vibrate horizontally, I would have thought that to sharpen them you would have to make the sides of the "fingers" of the blades sharp rather than the front edge.

Anyone have any experience of doing this or an idea about what else I could try?

thanks

Lee.

No, you only need to "flatten" the large face, although in practice it
isn't as easy to "DIY" as you might think. You may find the modern
diamond-impregnated laps better than traditional abrasive stones.

A tenner from Toolstation, or this one from Screwfix

https://www.screwfix.com/p/trend-dia...ing-card/9364k

On Sunday, 21 June 2020 13:25:30 UTC+1, Lee Nowell wrote:
Hi all,

I have had a set of hair clippers for years but hardly ever used them. In the current lockdown I dug them out but they struggle to cut any hair at all despite the blades seemingly working ok. After a bit of searching I found some videos saying you sharpen them by rubbing the flat surface on a sharpening stone. Unfortunately this didn't seem to do the trick either. Given the blades seem to vibrate horizontally, I would have thought that to sharpen them you would have to make the sides of the "fingers" of the blades sharp rather than the front edge.

Anyone have any experience of doing this or an idea about what else I could try?

They are sharpened by dissembling and grinding the two flat faces flat.
It fails to cut because of wear on the teeth.
It can be done on a sheet of glass with an abrasive paste.
It's a lot of work a lot of metal has to come off.

On Sun, 21 Jun 2020 05:25:27 -0700 (PDT), Lee Nowell
wrote:

Hi all,

I have had a set of hair clippers for years but hardly ever used them. In the current lockdown I dug them out but they struggle to cut any hair at all despite the blades seemingly working ok. After a bit of searching I found some videos saying you sharpen them by rubbing the flat surface on a sharpening stone. Unfortunately this didn't seem to do the trick either. Given the blades seem to vibrate horizontally, I would have thought that to sharpen them you would have to make the sides of the "fingers" of the blades sharp rather than the front edge.

Anyone have any experience of doing this or an idea about what else I could try?

I looked at mine as I hasn't attended to them in years and felt maybe
I should. A quick check of the spec confirmed my suspicion that the
blades were ceramic and so didn't need any lube or sharpening. ;-)

If yours are plain steel, then as others have mentioned you sharpen
them as you might shears or scissors (although you can go further with
them) by insuring the faces that touch each other do so right to the
edge of the blade so that they shear the hair rather than trapping it
between the two blades.

Cheers, T i m

On 21/06/2020 13:25, Lee Nowell wrote:
Hi all,

I have had a set of hair clippers for years but hardly ever used them. In the current lockdown I dug them out but they struggle to cut any hair at all despite the blades seemingly working ok. After a bit of searching I found some videos saying you sharpen them by rubbing the flat surface on a sharpening stone. Unfortunately this didn't seem to do the trick either. Given the blades seem to vibrate horizontally, I would have thought that to sharpen them you would have to make the sides of the "fingers" of the blades sharp rather than the front edge.

Anyone have any experience of doing this or an idea about what else I could try?

thanks

Lee.



Mine only fail to cut when clogged with very fine hair.
Are sure that its bluntness that's causing the problem rather than, say,
old lubrication that has become thick and sticky.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On Sunday, 21 June 2020 13:25:30 UTC+1, Lee Nowell wrote:
Hi all,

I have had a set of hair clippers for years but hardly ever used them. In the current lockdown I dug them out but they struggle to cut any hair at all despite the blades seemingly working ok. After a bit of searching I found some videos saying you sharpen them by rubbing the flat surface on a sharpening stone. Unfortunately this didn't seem to do the trick either. Given the blades seem to vibrate horizontally, I would have thought that to sharpen them you would have to make the sides of the "fingers" of the blades sharp rather than the front edge.

Anyone have any experience of doing this or an idea about what else I could try?

thanks

Lee.

If they are even halfway decent quality, and were originally sharp, seems unlikely they have become blunt as you say you hardly ever used them.

Could they be poor quality? In which case, probably better to replace than waste lots of effort for marginal gain.

Hi all,

I have had a set of hair clippers for years but hardly ever used them. In the current lockdown I dug them out but they struggle to cut any hair at all despite the blades seemingly working ok. After a bit of searching I found some videos saying you sharpen them by rubbing the flat surface on a sharpening stone. Unfortunately this didn't seem to do the trick either. Given the blades seem to vibrate horizontally, I would have thought that to sharpen them you would have to make the sides of the "fingers" of the blades sharp rather than the front edge.

Anyone have any experience of doing this or an idea about what else I could try?

I looked at mine as I hasn't attended to them in years and felt maybe
I should. A quick check of the spec confirmed my suspicion that the
blades were ceramic and so didn't need any lube or sharpening. ;-)

If yours are plain steel, then as others have mentioned you sharpen
them as you might shears or scissors (although you can go further with
them) by insuring the faces that touch each other do so right to the
edge of the blade so that they shear the hair rather than trapping it
between the two blades.

Cheers, T i m

Thanks all. So are the front edges of the 2 steel plates supposed to be sharp? Mine are definitely blunt if that is the case.
@Tim - not sure what you mean by touching right to the edge. Mine has a little handle on the side which seems to move one of the blades back and forth so it can be adjusted so they are offset or align at the front. Is this what you mean? I have no idea what the impact to the cut is when the lever is moved though.

thanks

Lee.

On Sun, 21 Jun 2020 08:04:42 -0700 (PDT), Lee Nowell
wrote:

snip

Thanks all. So are the front edges of the 2 steel plates supposed to be sharp? Mine are definitely blunt if that is the case.
@Tim - not sure what you mean by touching right to the edge. Mine has a little handle on the side which seems to move one of the blades back and forth so it can be adjusted so they are offset or align at the front. Is this what you mean? I have no idea what the impact to the cut is when the lever is moved though.

HI Lee,

If you think of each blade point as one part of a pair of (double
sided) scissors, they work by shearing the hair between the two parts.

When they blunt, what you typically get is the very edge where both
parts (should) meet wearing rounded so that you lose the shearing
effect and are now more like trying to snap the hair off.

It's the same thing you see and can feel / control if you are using
scissors with the pivot is a bit slack, allowing the blades to move
away from each other and so the object being cut to go between, rather
than being sheered by the blades.

You can often bias such scissors so that the blades are in contact (if
a loose joint) as long as the blades themselves are still flat (and so
present the two edges together sharply).

You sometimes find good scissors are actually slightly hollow
(undercut) behind the cutting edges to ensure that the leading edges
are the only bits that are in contact with each other.

To demonstrate the effect, stick some Selotape to the inside face of
one blade of a pair of worn scissors and try to cut anything thin.

So, that's why you need to ensure the backs of both parts of the blade
are ground flat, as that is the only way you can create the shearing
effect between the two parts. If the mating faces of the blades are
dead flat, you might be able to work them on some fine wet-n-dry,
oiled and laid on some plate glass or similar (something very stiff
and flat). As you return the back to flat (by removing metal), you
will also effectively sharpen the 'blades', but without actually
touching the blades themselves individually.

Same with a guillotine (steel or necks), they rely on one blade
working very closely with another, or they just become an axe. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

On Sunday, 21 June 2020 16:04:45 UTC+1, Lee Nowell wrote:
Hi all,

I have had a set of hair clippers for years but hardly ever used them. In the current lockdown I dug them out but they struggle to cut any hair at all despite the blades seemingly working ok. After a bit of searching I found some videos saying you sharpen them by rubbing the flat surface on a sharpening stone. Unfortunately this didn't seem to do the trick either. Given the blades seem to vibrate horizontally, I would have thought that to sharpen them you would have to make the sides of the "fingers" of the blades sharp rather than the front edge.

Anyone have any experience of doing this or an idea about what else I could try?

I looked at mine as I hasn't attended to them in years and felt maybe
I should. A quick check of the spec confirmed my suspicion that the
blades were ceramic and so didn't need any lube or sharpening. ;-)

If yours are plain steel, then as others have mentioned you sharpen
them as you might shears or scissors (although you can go further with
them) by insuring the faces that touch each other do so right to the
edge of the blade so that they shear the hair rather than trapping it
between the two blades.

Cheers, T i m

Thanks all. So are the front edges of the 2 steel plates supposed to be sharp? Mine are definitely blunt if that is the case.
@Tim - not sure what you mean by touching right to the edge. Mine has a little handle on the side which seems to move one of the blades back and forth so it can be adjusted so they are offset or align at the front. Is this what you mean? I have no idea what the impact to the cut is when the lever is moved though.

The fixed and moving blade points must make contact to give the shearing effect.
So to sharpen them, you have to reduce the whole plate until they you.
It's a lot of metal to take off.

On 21/06/2020 16:03, polygonum_on_google wrote:
On Sunday, 21 June 2020 13:25:30 UTC+1, Lee Nowell wrote:
Hi all,

I have had a set of hair clippers for years but hardly ever used them. In the current lockdown I dug them out but they struggle to cut any hair at all despite the blades seemingly working ok. After a bit of searching I found some videos saying you sharpen them by rubbing the flat surface on a sharpening stone. Unfortunately this didn't seem to do the trick either. Given the blades seem to vibrate horizontally, I would have thought that to sharpen them you would have to make the sides of the "fingers" of the blades sharp rather than the front edge.

Anyone have any experience of doing this or an idea about what else I could try?

thanks

Lee.

If they are even halfway decent quality, and were originally sharp, seems unlikely they have become blunt as you say you hardly ever used them.

Could they be poor quality? In which case, probably better to replace than waste lots of effort for marginal gain.


Have fun trying to find a replacement at the moment though :-(

On Sunday, 21 June 2020 19:26:50 UTC+1, Andrew wrote:
On 21/06/2020 16:03, polygonum_on_google wrote:
On Sunday, 21 June 2020 13:25:30 UTC+1, Lee Nowell wrote:
Hi all,

I have had a set of hair clippers for years but hardly ever used them. In the current lockdown I dug them out but they struggle to cut any hair at all despite the blades seemingly working ok. After a bit of searching I found some videos saying you sharpen them by rubbing the flat surface on a sharpening stone. Unfortunately this didn't seem to do the trick either. Given the blades seem to vibrate horizontally, I would have thought that to sharpen them you would have to make the sides of the "fingers" of the blades sharp rather than the front edge.

Anyone have any experience of doing this or an idea about what else I could try?

thanks

Lee.

If they are even halfway decent quality, and were originally sharp, seems unlikely they have become blunt as you say you hardly ever used them.

Could they be poor quality? In which case, probably better to replace than waste lots of effort for marginal gain.


Have fun trying to find a replacement at the moment though :-(

Doesn't appear to be any problem at all he

https://www.wahl.co.uk/

Just a bit slower than usual.

Lee Nowell used his keyboard to write :
Thanks all. So are the front edges of the 2 steel plates supposed to be
sharp? Mine are definitely blunt if that is the case.

They do not cut at the front, they only cut once hair gets between the
teeth. The very front the leading edge of the blades are supposed to be
blunt otherwise they would cut your skin.

The flat faces, where the teeth are, are the only bits which might need
sharpening and only after a lot of use. To some extent they will self
sharpen in use, but to sharpen they need to be rubbed on a fine flat
abrasive surface.

My best guess on what the lever on the side is for, is to leave the
hair cut longer or less close, when the blade is moved further back
with the lever.

On Sun, 21 Jun 2020 20:57:04 +0100, Harry Bloomfield, Esq.
wrote:

Lee Nowell used his keyboard to write :
Thanks all. So are the front edges of the 2 steel plates supposed to be
sharp? Mine are definitely blunt if that is the case.

They do not cut at the front, they only cut once hair gets between the
teeth. The very front the leading edge of the blades are supposed to be
blunt otherwise they would cut your skin.

The flat faces, where the teeth are, are the only bits which might need
sharpening and only after a lot of use. To some extent they will self
sharpen in use, but to sharpen they need to be rubbed on a fine flat
abrasive surface.

And the feel for that is only something you get when you have done it
successfully at least once.

With (say) fine wet and dry on a very flat surface (a bit of glass or
stone worktop, often flatter than a used sharpening stone ...) with a
drop of light oil on it and the job held down with even pressure and
moved in a variety of movements, you can soon start to see the high
spots being flattened. Then, often after quite some time ... you will
see the effect across the whole of the surface, then it's a matter of
if you still have to go further or if that was enough to do the trick
(because it might have not been done well in the first place if they
were cheap).

I have often (casually) sharpened people scissors / garden shears with
the diamond stone on my Leatherman and that generally starts by
dressing / flattening the mating faces to remove any, lumps, nicks or
burrs and I might sweep the other faces a couple of times just to
brighten them up. If I want to do a better job and can get the pivot
screw out, I'll do the whole of both inner faces, as stuff between the
blades at the pivot area can also hold the blades apart.

Cheers, T i m

On Sun, 21 Jun 2020 20:57:04 +0100, Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote:

Lee Nowell used his keyboard to write :
Thanks all. So are the front edges of the 2 steel plates supposed to be
sharp? Mine are definitely blunt if that is the case.

They do not cut at the front, they only cut once hair gets between the
teeth. The very front the leading edge of the blades are supposed to be
blunt otherwise they would cut your skin.

The flat faces, where the teeth are, are the only bits which might need
sharpening and only after a lot of use. To some extent they will self
sharpen in use, but to sharpen they need to be rubbed on a fine flat
abrasive surface.

My best guess on what the lever on the side is for, is to leave the
hair cut longer or less close, when the blade is moved further back
with the lever.

Yup. I cut my hair with a No. 3 with the lever right back then do a taper
for about an inch in mid position then a smaller taper with right forward.
M Babyliss, about 12 years old, doesn't say which way does what - I tried on
my arm, as testing is destructive! Get it wrong and you can't put the hair
back.
Mine hasn't gone blunt at all and there was no oil supplied and no mention
of oil in the booklet.
For others that do need oil I use Johnsons Baby Oil (first pressing from the
babies). In Boots the 'proper' oil was expensive and the assistant said that
baby oil would be as good and it seems to be, compared with the oil that
came with a rotary cutter.
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

On Sun, 21 Jun 2020 22:31:29 +0100, PeterC wrote:

Yup. I cut my hair with a No. 3 with the lever right back then do a
taper for about an inch in mid position then a smaller taper with right
forward.
M Babyliss, about 12 years old, doesn't say which way does what - I
tried on my arm, as testing is destructive! Get it wrong and you can't
put the hair back.
Mine hasn't gone blunt at all and there was no oil supplied and no
mention of oil in the booklet.
For others that do need oil I use Johnsons Baby Oil (first pressing from
the babies). In Boots the 'proper' oil was expensive and the assistant
said that baby oil would be as good and it seems to be, compared with
the oil that came with a rotary cutter.


Since the Wahl factory shop was about a mile away, I went and got the oil
(and some clippers for the cat's claws). It wasn't expensive there.

Unfortunately they've moved about 15 miles away and now have no factory
shop.



--
My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
*lightning surge protection* - a w_tom conductor

On Sun, 21 Jun 2020 05:25:27 -0700 (PDT), Lee Nowell
wrote:

Anyone have any experience of doing this or an idea about what else I could try?

Color the surfaces of the blades that wear against each other with Edding. Run
them, disassemble, check the wear pattern?

Purely diagnostic, obv.


Thomas Prufer

Are these the Chilton ones? I think ours ended up in land fill many years
ago!

Brian

--
----- --
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Lee Nowell" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I have had a set of hair clippers for years but hardly ever used them. In
the current lockdown I dug them out but they struggle to cut any hair at all
despite the blades seemingly working ok. After a bit of searching I found
some videos saying you sharpen them by rubbing the flat surface on a
sharpening stone. Unfortunately this didn't seem to do the trick either.
Given the blades seem to vibrate horizontally, I would have thought that to
sharpen them you would have to make the sides of the "fingers" of the blades
sharp rather than the front edge.

Anyone have any experience of doing this or an idea about what else I could
try?

thanks

Lee.

PeterC presented the following explanation :
Mine hasn't gone blunt at all and there was no oil supplied and no mention
of oil in the booklet.
For others that do need oil I use Johnsons Baby Oil (first pressing from the
babies). In Boots the 'proper' oil was expensive and the assistant said that
baby oil would be as good and it seems to be, compared with the oil that
came with a rotary cutter.

It is probably the same model as ours - 733L?

I have searched the internet for instructions and not found any -
probably too old, but other user instructions suggest the need to oil
with the correct Babyliss oil. I have just given them a thorough clean
and service, oiling them with thin machine oil. We have some baby oil
around though, so I will clean the oil off and use the baby oil.

They just use a solenoid, with an hinged armature (right word?) which
is balanced between two strong springs, one fixed, one with adjustable
pressure. Backing the pressure off, I found a position which minimised
the noise, so all good for next time. We both like our hair short,
which makes it easy, so likely we may not need the services of a
professional hair dresser ever again.

She has gone off to work this morning, without a head covering, so she
is not too ashamed of the result of my handywork :-)

On Sunday, 21 June 2020 13:25:30 UTC+1, Lee Nowell wrote:
Hi all,

I have had a set of hair clippers for years but hardly ever used them. In the current lockdown I dug them out but they struggle to cut any hair at all despite the blades seemingly working ok. After a bit of searching I found some videos saying you sharpen them by rubbing the flat surface on a sharpening stone. Unfortunately this didn't seem to do the trick either. Given the blades seem to vibrate horizontally, I would have thought that to sharpen them you would have to make the sides of the "fingers" of the blades sharp rather than the front edge.

Anyone have any experience of doing this or an idea about what else I could try?

thanks

Lee.

I had the same problem. I noticed there was no force pressing the 2 blades together, so opened the thing up & adjusted the screws so they pressed together and maximised the vibration. Add a drop of oil between the blades and it all worked. Oh and removed the rubber damping pad that no longer worked - just means they're noisier under no load.


NT

On 22/06/2020 13:27, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
PeterC presented the following explanation :
Mine hasn't gone blunt at all and there was no oil supplied and no
mention
of oil in the booklet.
For others that do need oil I use Johnsons Baby Oil (first pressing
from the
babies). In Boots the 'proper' oil was expensive and the assistant
said that
baby oil would be as good and it seems to be, compared with the oil that
came with a rotary cutter.

It is probably the same model as ours - 733L?

I have searched the internet for instructions and not found any -
probably too old, but other user instructions suggest the need to oil
with the correct Babyliss oil. I have just given them a thorough clean
and service, oiling them with thin machine oil. We have some baby oil
around though, so I will clean the oil off and use the baby oil.

They just use a solenoid, with an hinged armature (right word?) which is
balanced between two strong springs, one fixed, one with adjustable
pressure. Backing the pressure off, I found a position which minimised
the noise, so all good for next time. We both like our hair short, which
makes it easy, so likely we may not need the services of a professional
hair dresser ever again.

She has gone off to work this morning, without a head covering, so she
is not too ashamed of the result of my handywork :-)

A full burka could be a useful dual-purpose garb :-)

On Sun, 21 Jun 2020 22:31:29 +0100, PeterC
wrote:

On Sun, 21 Jun 2020 20:57:04 +0100, Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote:

Lee Nowell used his keyboard to write :
Thanks all. So are the front edges of the 2 steel plates supposed to be
sharp? Mine are definitely blunt if that is the case.

They do not cut at the front, they only cut once hair gets between the
teeth. The very front the leading edge of the blades are supposed to be
blunt otherwise they would cut your skin.

The flat faces, where the teeth are, are the only bits which might need
sharpening and only after a lot of use. To some extent they will self
sharpen in use, but to sharpen they need to be rubbed on a fine flat
abrasive surface.

My best guess on what the lever on the side is for, is to leave the
hair cut longer or less close, when the blade is moved further back
with the lever.

Yup. I cut my hair with a No. 3 with the lever right back then do a taper
for about an inch in mid position then a smaller taper with right forward.
M Babyliss, about 12 years old, doesn't say which way does what - I tried on
my arm, as testing is destructive! Get it wrong and you can't put the hair
back.
Mine hasn't gone blunt at all and there was no oil supplied and no mention
of oil in the booklet.
For others that do need oil I use Johnsons Baby Oil (first pressing from the
babies). In Boots the 'proper' oil was expensive and the assistant said that
baby oil would be as good and it seems to be, compared with the oil that
came with a rotary cutter.

https://www.wahl.co.uk/product/clipper-oil/

£2.99 and I'm fairly sure it was offered by Boots (on-line) as I
recall that it came in packaging about the size of a shoe box!

--
AnthonyL

Why do scientists need to BELIEVE in anything?

On Tue, 23 Jun 2020 11:23:45 GMT, AnthonyL wrote:

On Sun, 21 Jun 2020 22:31:29 +0100, PeterC
wrote:

On Sun, 21 Jun 2020 20:57:04 +0100, Harry Bloomfield, Esq. wrote:

Lee Nowell used his keyboard to write :
Thanks all. So are the front edges of the 2 steel plates supposed to be
sharp? Mine are definitely blunt if that is the case.

They do not cut at the front, they only cut once hair gets between the
teeth. The very front the leading edge of the blades are supposed to be
blunt otherwise they would cut your skin.

The flat faces, where the teeth are, are the only bits which might need
sharpening and only after a lot of use. To some extent they will self
sharpen in use, but to sharpen they need to be rubbed on a fine flat
abrasive surface.

My best guess on what the lever on the side is for, is to leave the
hair cut longer or less close, when the blade is moved further back
with the lever.

Yup. I cut my hair with a No. 3 with the lever right back then do a taper
for about an inch in mid position then a smaller taper with right forward.
M Babyliss, about 12 years old, doesn't say which way does what - I tried on
my arm, as testing is destructive! Get it wrong and you can't put the hair
back.
Mine hasn't gone blunt at all and there was no oil supplied and no mention
of oil in the booklet.
For others that do need oil I use Johnsons Baby Oil (first pressing from the
babies). In Boots the 'proper' oil was expensive and the assistant said that
baby oil would be as good and it seems to be, compared with the oil that
came with a rotary cutter.

https://www.wahl.co.uk/product/clipper-oil/

£2.99 and I'm fairly sure it was offered by Boots (on-line) as I
recall that it came in packaging about the size of a shoe box!

This was about 4 - 5 years ago and only expensive stuff was on the shelf -
if there'd been the Wahl at that sort of price I would've got that.
Another use for JBO is on F-connecors. All the makes that I've used have a
very thin annulus that tends to break. A smear of oil on the flange (and on
the thread) makes it a lot easier to fit.
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway