Clipper Blade Testing

Description

Usually the reasons why a clipper blade is not cutting are invisible to the naked eye.

At SL Service we understand the problems which will cause a clipper blade to not cut correctly and have methods to assess what the issue is.

Clippers Blades may not cut well for reasons such as:

• DIY sharpening attempt.
• Blades are blunt.
• Blade tension (pressure) is too light.
• The sharpened surface is not accurate enough.
• Burrs and imperfections.
• Worn out or damaged blades.
• Clipper is not moving the blades sufficiently.
• Blades are loose on the clipper.

DIY Sharpening
Sharpening your blades on a flat surface like sandpaper or a bench stone rounds down the tips of your clipper blade making the inside face convex.  When you put the convex faces together the teeth of the clipper blade are splayed apart and will not cut.

Blunt
The cutting edges or clipper blades gradually wear and become blunt until they no longer cut the hair.

Tension
You can adjust the tension yourself on some clippers and if your blades are not cutting then try increasing the blade tension until they work.
If you need to use very high blade tension then the clipper blades are either blunt or there is an issue with the sharpening.
Very high blade tension puts undue strain on the clipper motor and the blades may get quite hot.

Inaccurate Inside faces
If blades are sharpened inaccurately then their are gaps between the cutting teeth and hair will not be cut.  Generally there are three types of inaccurate sharpening, splayed teeth (too convex), too much hollow from side to side (too concave) and also general inaccuracy across the blade face.

Rough
If the sharpened surface is too textured and rough then some blades wont perform well.

Burrs
Burrs and other imperfections will interfere with performance especially with fine toothed blades

Worn Out or Damaged
Clipper blades need some features and geometry to remain intact to work properly and when these wear down or are misaligned the blade wont cut.