Clipper blade sharpening?? Where??

[jen1]

Where do you send your blades off to be sharpened? I have sent mine to a place in Devon last few times but recently have come back seemingly still blunt? Sent a pair back again to be re-sharpened which they did no questions asked. Just got some more back recently, sent off 3 sets one was for my dog clippers 2 for horse and still one pair didn't cut properly. Or do I just need to get new ones? Use mainly to hog and do cobs legs so they are prob getting harder work than body clipping, but I can usually get at least 2 manes and 2 lots of leg clips out of one set.... How long should clipper blades last?

 

[alicedove]

I know when I had mine done Olney Saddlery were still there, and they recommended where to send them. New horse this year and not clipping.

 

[GinaGem]

I have used these people for years and have always found them to be excellent:

http://www.eddiepalin.com/

I post the blades to them and i usually get them back in 2-3 days.

I get 2-3 full clips out of my blades depending on which horse i'm clipping and how thick & clean the coat is.

 

[K9Wendy]

I've always used Shear Ease, very fast and good work, have used for horse and dog blades.. Free postage

http://www.shearease.co.uk/

 

[MagicMelon]

Ive also used shear ease and highly recommend them. Am about to send some of to them now.

 

[jen1]

Thanks everyone will try new places as you suggested!!

 

[Albertina]

Sherease they are very good

 

[TheEngineer]

Re your sharpening query, would always suggest any of the manufacturers own service departments, as a first port of call, then the guys who have been around sharpening for ages IE HCS services, Clippersharp,Clippers HG,Richard Anthony Etc.

I sharpen many sets of blades every year and we occasionally get a set which for some reason will not cut, which is why we always re grind them FOC if there is a problem. Anyone who claims never to have the odd set which doesn't clip is being less than honest. Problems usually arise as the blades get worn, or if they have been allowed to get corroded or pitted with rust. Also the dreaded WD40 often rears its ugly head and this will take the edge off very quickly. One problem which is infesting the market of late, is the number of people buying cheap clippers from China, with Chinese blades made from inferior quality steel. Quite often these blades will not take an edge, but the customer will blame the sharpener rather than quality of the blade. It is amazing how quickly people forget you only get what you pay for, which is why you can get some of these machines so cheap. Also IMHO the number of people who have purchased trimmers, with wide blades, which they think are suitable for full clipping. Because these blades have no user adjustable tension, it is very easy to lose the edge, or the tension be too loose to cut. Always remember clippers clip/trimmers trim...

The Engineer

 

[joanne1920]

my clipper blades have done... 2 shetland trace clips, a cob's hog, and another 2 trace clips one on a 14.2hh with cushings and another 14.3hh and still seem fairly sharp!

 

[jen1]

Ohh what clippers do you have then??!!

 

[samuelhorse]

HCS clipper services- EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[eekmon]

I send mine to Sean Barrington and have done for years. I have got 3 high blanket clips out of a pair of lister fine blades this year with no lines and not any sign of blunting. PM for address

 

[Happy2Hack]

I use Shear Ease - have done for years!

 

[doferdude]

I can highly recommend Shear Ease Ltd. The blades come back really quick in some really handy packaging. I completeely disagree with TheEngineer. Manafactureres do what any other company does, to the same standard but charges excessive amounts. They have a pedestal to stand on in their products brand and shear profitability and they use this position to alter the minds of the industry into thinking that anything that does not come with a manufacturers letterhead is inferior. Does TheEngineer have any solid proof that WD-40 blunts blades or is The Engineer jumping on the 'manufacturer only' bandwagon? Although manufacturers are experienced, they are experienced in selling their products at big profit first and foremost. 'Do not use WD-40' is merely propaganda put out by manufacturers who need you to buy their product, not something that is readily available. I know masses of people who swear by it and use it all the time. I have a big 5 litre bottle of it and run my blades in it every few minutes. Whether it is the WD-40 or Shear Ease finish that keep my blades sharp I dont know, but I know both work together nicely!

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

i use Richard Anthony , always does a very good job, efficient turn around and reasonable price. i have wolsley swifts, lister and heigner and wahl clippers. i usually get 5 to 6 full clips out of each set of blades, less if horse is very hairy or dirty. I also use WD40, have done for years and my clippers run well and my blades seem to last well. My clippers are serviced and pat tested annually.

 

[TheEngineer]

I can highly recommend Shear Ease Ltd. The blades come back really quick in some really handy packaging. I completeely disagree with TheEngineer. Manafactureres do what any other company does, to the same standard but charges excessive amounts. They have a pedestal to stand on in their products brand and shear profitability and they use this position to alter the minds of the industry into thinking that anything that does not come with a manufacturers letterhead is inferior. Does TheEngineer have any solid proof that WD-40 blunts blades or is The Engineer jumping on the 'manufacturer only' bandwagon? Although manufacturers are experienced, they are experienced in selling their products at big profit first and foremost. 'Do not use WD-40' is merely propaganda put out by manufacturers who need you to buy their product, not something that is readily available. I know masses of people who swear by it and use it all the time. I have a big 5 litre bottle of it and run my blades in it every few minutes. Whether it is the WD-40 or Shear Ease finish that keep my blades sharp I dont know, but I know both work together nicely!

It is very rare that I would openly disagree with somones opinion on this forum, but sadly I feel I must take issue with "doferdude's" comments above.!

For any of you who have read my posts over the last couple of seasons and to the several hundreds of people who have "PM'd" me for advice, you will all know that I work for a major manufacturer and have done so for nearly twenty years. Yet, I post on this forum as an individual, giving what I hope is unbiased and non "brand led" advice, to those people smart enough to ask and smart enough to want to learn.

Doferdude accuses manufacturers of doing "what any other company does,to the same standard but charges excessive amounts". ? Having seen blades sharpened by virtually every Tom Dick and Harry, who thought he could make a "fast buck" over the years, I have seen blades sharpened perfectly, by little guys in back streets and blades ruined by "franchised" sharpening firms, the main reasons being equipment. Blade sharpening is not something that "any old numpty" with a roll of emery cloth and a file can perform. It requires investment in the correct machines for the job and the correct machines for various types of blades IE you cannot sharpen correctly "trimmer blades" on the same machine as used for full width "clipper blades", as the concavity of the blades is far greater on full size blades. Trimmer blades have a far flatter cross section. This investment, costs money, takes time and staff, plus bearing in mind the horse clipping season is not that long, any investment has to be looked at over twelve months as you cannot get rid of experienced staff once the season is over.
As for his comments about manufacturers being led by shear profitability, he is sadly deluded. The UK clipper market is being swamped by dangerous, inferior, shoddy and cheap Chinese copies of the top brands, the people who market these shoddy items, via "Flea Bay" and other web driven sales sites, are the new "bootsale traders of the ether"! They employ no service personnel, they are not on the end of the phone when you have a problem and they certainly are not interested in customer service.
As for accusing me of "jumping on the manufacturer bandwagon", do you not think that if that was the case, I would be waving my companies brand in your faces and preaching the virtues of all that I sell, rather than trying to give helpful un biased advice for free!?
In an ideal world, I would love to see our customers using our oil, our blades, our spare parts etc etc. But I live in reality, people are cutting corners, people listen to others who often come out with crass comments like, "I've been doing it for years so it must be the right way!" etc
A premier example of this is "WD40" and the nonsense spouted about how good it is. Just in case you think I have a "downer" on WD40, here is a fact "WD40 IS FANTASTIC!!!"......For what it was designed for, IE: Water Displacement! , yes thats what the WD bit stands for, it was invented in WW2 to help protect the electrics on planes and vehicles from moisture, subsequently it has been found to have superb penetrating properties and is great for un seizing rusty bolts and padlocks etc. Plus a hoard of weird uses.

IT IS NOT A CLIPPER LUBRICANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ask yourself a question: Does it say spray the blades with WD40 in the clipper manual?

Answer: NO, it says to use "Clipper Oil"

Open the manual of your "Discovery" and see if it says "to lubricate your engine, use WD40?

Answer: NO, it says use "Brand X, 10/40 Grade superdooper lube" or similar.

Would you use WD40 to lubricate your car engine? Answer ......No

So why use it on your clipper?

Just for everyone's benefit, as chief service engineer to one of the UK's brand leaders in clippers, once our warranty has expired, what you use to lubricate your blades is out of my control. Any problems, excess wear or damage, will just involve you spending more money on blade sharpening and repairs, which whilst I consider it to be a shame, is good for us and the firms who repair clippers.

What I want, is that all of you who use clippers, understand that you will get a longer life, a better clip, cooler running and less stress, if you read the manual and use proper clipper oil on your blades and machine.

Simple really!

Happy Clipping.

PS For the technical minded of you, here is an answer to a question posed by someone who was asked about using WD40 to lubricate bearings. The similar theory applies, but the answer is more technical.

A QUESTION FROM A TECHNICAL PAPER IN THE USA

"I am being asked by others in my company to start using WD40 as a bearing lubricant. I know that this is not best practice, but I need to explain to them why. Any advice?"

To understand how WD40 might work as a lubricant, we need to first understand its chemical composition. To do this, I went to WD40's Web site. While the marketing pitch lists the ingredients as "secret", the MSDS indicates the following: 60 to 70 percent petroleum distillates 15 to 25 percent base oil and 2 to 3 percent carbon dioxide So it would appear that WD40 is simply a combination of petroleum products, mixed with a propellant (CO2).

To understand the efficacy of WD40 as a lubricant for the application you stated, we need to compare how the formulation of WD40 differs from common lubricants designed for use with rolling element bearings. Because you don't mention the exact type of bearing or application, it's hard to be specific; however, a few general comments can be made which pertain to selecting lubricants for rolling elements bearings:

1) The lubricant must have good oxidation resistance to resist sludge and varnish buildup at operating temperatures. While most lubricants are formulated with antioxidant additives to provide this protection, in addition to any natural protection afforded by the use of synthetic base stocks, it appears from the MSDS sheet that WD40 does not contain such additives and would likely degrade and form sludge fairly rapidly if used at even moderate operating temperatures.

2) You will hear it said that "viscosity is the single most important property when selecting a lubricant". This is particularly true for rolling element bearing lubrication. Viscosity selection is based on a number of factors, including bearing type (ball, cylindrical roller, etc.), speed, bearing size, load and operating temperature. It is usually selected by calculating the bearing speed factor dN and the projected operating temperature. dN can be calculated as follows: dN = N(d+D)/2 where N = speed (in rpm) d = bore diameter (in mm) D = bearing OD (in mm). Standard charts are then available to select the viscosity given the dN factor and the temperature. While I do not know categorically what the viscosity of the petroleum distillates or base oil is in WD40, I know from experience (like everyone else, I've used WD40!) that it does not have a particularly high viscosity. So unless this application is particularly high-speed, operating at low to moderate temperatures, it is unlikely that WD40 contains an oil of sufficiently high viscosity to provide adequate lubrication for the rolling element/bearing raceway interface.

One other factor to consider: Depending on bearing design, the roll/cage interface will also likely operate under hydrodynamic conditions. Under these conditions, the typical rule of thumb is for a minimum viscosity of 4 cSt, at operating temperature, to support the load. Again, it is unlikely that WD40 would meet these requirements as a lubricant.

3) Depending on operating environment, the bearing will be prone to corrosion, particularly rusting. Nearly all lubricants contain specific additives, called rust inhibitors to counteract this. Again, the MSDS sheet offers no evidence of such additives in WD40.

4) Depending on bearing design and application, the use of anti-wear additives may be required, particularly where heavy or shock loads are present or where the application dictates possible thrust loading between the end of the rolling element and the raceway flanges. Based on the MSDS sheet, WD40 does not appear to contain such additives, which may result in fatigue and/or adhesive wear. Rereading this response, it is apparent that I'm not particularly enamored with WD40 as a lubricant. My intent was not to be completely negative. WD40 is manufactured and marketed as a household lubricant for those "small jobs" or as a rust remover - heck I have a can in the garage as we speak! For these applications, it does a fine job.

However, WD40 is not sold, nor should it be used as a replacement for the appropriately selected lubricant.

 

[chestnut cob]

Eddie Palin are great for blade sharpening.

NEVER EVER use the Stock Shop. They are a pile of ****. I've sent blades to them 3 times and each time they've come back blunt. They also broke my clippers when I sent them for servicing last year then tried to claim it was my fault all along for using "vegetable oil to lubricate the clippers instead of proper clipper oil"!! In fact, I have Heineger clippers and have always used Heineger clipper oil so that (my apparently using veg oil...) was a total lie, and had SS looked properly, they'd have seen that the bottle of oil was actually in the box with my clippers, half empty. I digress... clippers went back to SS when they nearly took my horse's skin off and came back in a worse state than they went.

Eddie Palin put all of the damage right thankfully and clippers are now better than ever however I would never use SS again, and would refuse to leave them with any local tack shop who use SS.

 

[gingerarab]

Well I must say, thank you to the engineer. I am guilty of using wd40 on my clippers and had absolutely no idea that it was the wrong "lubricant"

I also sent a pair of blades away to be sharpened and when they came back they refused to clip at all, after reading your post in hindsight I guess I did send them to someone who was probably unsuitable. My question now is if I send them to a reputable charpening service will they be able to sort them out ?

 

[TheEngineer]

Well I must say, thank you to the engineer. I am guilty of using wd40 on my clippers and had absolutely no idea that it was the wrong "lubricant"

I also sent a pair of blades away to be sharpened and when they came back they refused to clip at all, after reading your post in hindsight I guess I did send them to someone who was probably unsuitable. My question now is if I send them to a reputable charpening service will they be able to sort them out ?

There is no reason why a reputable sharpening firm, would not be able to sort them out, unless they have been ground down to much. One thing I would ask, is "have you tried another set of blades in your machine"? If so, did they clip ok? If they did, then it does point to the blades. Try someone with a good reputation, like HCS or Clippersharp, or send them to the manufacturers own service dept. The thing with the WD40, is not only the problems it causes to the blades, it is the fact, that because it is a "penetrating oil" it gets into the running faces of the bearings and washes out the heavier oil and grease, needed to reduce friction in these components, this then increases the wear on these items and will cause them to have a reduced life. As a rule of thumb, I advise use an oil which is made by or reccomended by a manufacturer. IE Lister OIl/Wolseley Oil/Liveryman Oil/Heinegar Oil ETC Lincoln and Gold Label, also do a good oil. Avoid anything that says it is a "combination oil and wash", because if it washes, it removes oil, so actually has a negative effect. For any more specific advice, please feel free to PM me.


Regards

The Engineer.

 

[welshyrider]

I have used Clippersharp for many years, for blade sharpening and clipper repairs, they are always really helpful and quick. There website is www.clippersharp.com.

 

[flyingfeet]

I used to send mine off to the cheapest advertiser in the back of the H&H.

Then I had blades getting hot, not cutting properly and generally being pretty cr*p. I had to change blades half way through a full clip as they were too hot!!

I take them to listers now and mine will do plenty of clips (8+ full at least!), hogging before they need attention

So false economy not to use a professional in my opinion now!

 

[Steeleydan]

I use Clipper sharpe and have been more than pleased with the service of there blade sharpening. 2 sets of mine however came back with stickers across them saying "These blades have come to the end of their useful life"
Iam with the Engineer about WD40 I used to use it on my Lister neons and the blades used to slow down with it, then speed up when I sprayed them again, Most weird!
So now Iam totally anal about it and buy the proper Lister liquid oil for them. Iam heard telling people NOT to use WD40 on clippers I must sound like a preaching convert!!!

 

[Birker2020]

My Dad sharpens mine on his lathe in his shed in the garden. Quick, clean, effective and best of all free of charge. Don't be fooled into thinking that you have to send them off somewhere at great expense - if you have the equipment at home to it there.

 

[doferdude]

I apologise to TheEngineer, I made some assumptions that are not true! You are a service manager for a large company and you do not mention this company in any of your posts, that is very honourable. I opened my clippers and they were covered in oil, nto good! WD-040 IS too thin. Surely vege oil would be OK? I am a mechanic and the biggest problem we have is the propaganda that manufacturers present. We can do just as good a job as them at alot cheaper price. I hate it when big companies us ebig cash and bigger propaganda to put the small, honest, hardowrking individual out of business. The small man is empowering and good value for money, manufacturers are generally the oppsoite. Manufacturers need to give people a break, stop telling them they cannot do it the easy and cheap way and let the small enpowering man on the street make an honest living. There are cowboys agreed, but there many more small companies who do a brilliant job at a cheaper price without the propaganda. I'm sure there has to be a way of lubricating clipper blades without an overpriced conatiner with a manufacturers sticker on it.
Again, I apologise for the tone of my earlier post!

 

[happihorse]

Have I lost the plot or something! Why is there a poll about how many non-horse pairs of shoes you have at the top of this thread?