Thread: Manual clippers

Hello!!!

I have recently gotten my hands on one of those old kinds of clippers that you use by hand, but when I tried to use them they got stuck in the hair... I don't know if I should sharpen them (or how to sharpen them). Or if I just should turn the "wheel" that you use for how tight it should be, should it be tight (so it also get a little harder to squeeze), or should it be loser (so it's hardly any resistance...? It's a Sweedish clipper I think, on the bottom it at least says "svenskt fabrikat".

Sorry if I spelled any thing wrong, not a native english speaker....

The resistance should be comfortable.

As I understand it for short term use the cutters were self sharpening however long term they needed to be replaced. I know of no way to sharpen them manually. I have a German model and they are all pretty much the same.

I'm old enough to remember having my hair cut by those things. I never liked it. They always would pull.

Ok, thanks alot! But when I searched around I saw that some people sharpened their blades on a sharpening stone, but that was for the electrical once, so I don't know if it applys to manual ones doe... Do you know were you can get new blades (for a decent price), or clippers? But once again thanks for the help!

For new ones look on amazon under manual hair clippers

First thing to do is take it apart as much as possible and CLEAN IT. It could be gunked up from prior owners using lubricants on it which years later, and a ton of dead hair bits later, is a sticky mess.
Once you have it apart, you can also determine if the blade and/or body can be sharpened.

I doubt you could get replacements. The quality outfits that made them probably either went out of business decades ago or in the case of the Dorko model I have stopped making clippers many years ago. Maybe there are some new models made in China, they make everything. They will be junk and the blades won't fit yours.

You SHOULD be able to take apart the clippers. The moving blade and the fixed plate are normally both able to be honed. Simply place them on the hone stone and slide them back and forth with your finger tips. I put a small amount of pressure when using a 1k, and ease up to a very light touch on the 4k. I honestly never felt much of a difference going up to the 8k level, but if you have something in between I liked the feel from a 6-7k stone. Experiment! see which stones work best. properly sharpened, they would only pull your hair if you were lifting them up while cutting.

I have a pair of vintage Oster clippers that work well. I cleaned them and oiled them with clipper oil. They are very sharp and don't pull at all. You can sharpen them if necessary on a hone like described above. It would only be necessary is there is uneven wear on the two blades as they should fit together tightly and smoothly as to not pull hair. They should be snug and not loose when you put them together. Keep in mind that when you use them you need to constantly squeeze the handles to cut and not pull your hair.

I would start by cleaning them. They can be sharpened, however it does take some time with hand tools and you have to have the right ones. If you want to try a quick fix or to see if they are in fact dull run the flat side ac-crossed your honing stones and see it it makes a difference. if it does then they do need to be sharpened.

Originally Posted by kwlfca

I have a pair of vintage Oster clippers that work well. I cleaned them and oiled them with clipper oil. They are very sharp and don't pull at all. You can sharpen them if necessary on a hone like described above. It would only be necessary is there is uneven wear on the two blades as they should fit together tightly and smoothly as to not pull hair. They should be snug and not loose when you put them together. Keep in mind that when you use them you need to constantly squeeze the handles to cut and not pull your hair.

One of my clippers had blades that were poorly fitted. on a test hone, it turned out the blade was not honed flat, and that caused one side to be slightly "lifted" which did in fact cause pulling, and of course, no cutting!