Shear sharpening and servicing

Shears that fold hair or pucker cloth are rarely just blunt. It shows first in the wrist: the cut needs more force, the hair turns over instead of parting, and by the end of a shift the hand aches. The cause is usually tension and blade fit, not sharpness.

Assessment

The pair is stripped and cleaned, then gone through: the cutting edge along its whole length, the depth of any chipping, wear in the screw, washers and finger rest, and the ride line on which the blades run against each other. Only then is it clear how much steel has to come off.

Convex and bevel geometry

Japanese shears are generally convex-ground outside and hollow-ground (concave) inside: the blades meet on a narrow line and cut right out to the point. Such a pair cannot be pushed across a wheel, which would put a flat bevel on it and lose the convex grind for good. It is worked on a flat abrasive surface, where the curve comes from the way the blade is carried.

German shears carry a flat bevel at a larger angle, and one blade often has fine serration that holds hair against the edge. Grind that serration off and the shears push hair out instead of cutting it. Every pair goes back to the geometry its maker gave it, not to whatever is quickest.

Chips and the ride line

A chip is dealt with by taking the bevel back evenly along the whole blade. Sharpen only the damaged spot and the edge goes wavy. A deep chip near the point is the costly one, because the point does most of the work; how much steel has to go, and what it costs the pair in working life, you hear beforehand.

The burr is removed from the inside with one controlled pass, and the ride line is left untouched. That line cannot be walked back: ground away, the blades no longer meet and the pair is finished. The bevel is completed by polishing, because a smooth edge cuts hair instead of tearing it.

Tension and testing

The pair goes back together with its original screw, set to a tension at which an opened blade, released, stops about halfway: it neither falls shut nor hangs. Too little and the blades fold hair; too much and the ride line wears out within weeks. The cut is then checked along the full length, from finger rest to point.

Price and turnaround

Starting price from EUR 30 per pair, turnaround 1–3 working days, both confirmed after assessment. The workshop is not VAT-registered, so invoices carry the note: VAT is not charged pursuant to Article 94(1) of the Slovenian VAT Act (ZDDV-1) — the price is final, and VAT-registered buyers have no input VAT to deduct.

Tools are dropped off at Ferrarska ulica 14 in Koper, by arrangement, or sent by post from Slovenia, Croatia and Italy. Write or call on +386 51 659 600 · igor.komadina@t-2.net with the number of pairs and what is wrong.