How many clips before blades need sharpening ....

[Evelynmary]

Went for the Heiniger cordless and managed first ever clip today and he looks pretty brill!!

So how many clips before the blades need sharpening and what are the indicators apart from the obvious fact that they aren't clipping?

Thanks.

 

[Persephone]

Well I can do 2 x trace or blanket clips on a clean horse.

For a full clip I find I can do the first one and then a second (once it's short) again providing the coat is clean.

 

[milliepops]

Hmm, I've done 5 full clips already with my blades and they are still going strong! Really depends on cleanliness of horse and correct tensioning of blades.

 

[competitiondiva]

Yes 2 clips tops (unless just chasers/bibs) then sharpen. The more you do the more strain you put on the motor.

 

[Evelynmary]

I'm a bit confused re tensioning to be honest! Following Heiniger instructions 'turn tension screw until resistance and then a further quarter turn'. Its the moment of resistance that is confusing. Can any Heiniger user advise, do they mean it to be pretty tight. Engineer OH thinks resistance in this instance means the tension screw is really quite loose.

Confused????? Help....

 

[corriehorse]

My blades on my heiniger cordless clippers have done a full clip, 2 x blanket clips, 2 x trace clips and possibly some more on top and they are just about to be sharpened but I definately wouldn't say they were blunt!

 

[milliepops]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm a bit confused re tensioning to be honest! Following Heiniger instructions 'turn tension screw until resistance and then a further quarter turn'. Its the moment of resistance that is confusing. Can any Heiniger user advise, do they mean it to be pretty tight. Engineer OH thinks resistance in this instance means the tension screw is really quite loose.

Confused????? Help....

[/ QUOTE ]

PM TheEngineer on here - there's a post about clipping in Stable Yard saying to PM for advice

You can usually hear the change in the noise the clippers make when you are getting the tension correct.

 

[Persephone]

You are probably the same as me then! I put mine in before they get blunt!

x

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

heigner have funny as in different tensioning to other makes! i usually get 5 to 7 full clips on blades, n coats that are clean and not coarse. i also clip a wiry cob who blunts a set with a full clip incl legs!! loads of oil frequently! if the heigner blades are getting hot then you could probably loosen tension. if you tension too tight you will damage mechanism in clipper. phone the heigner sales team they are helpful! but anything between 2 upwards til they dont clip is normal, taking into cleanliness and thickness and consistancy of coats!

 

[TheEngineer]

Well well, the most common question I am asked on any make and in reality the most difficult to answer.

And why you ask!

Well, clipper blades, when sharpened are slightly concave and the analogy I use to describe setting tension is this:

Imagine you have your hands together,as if saying a prayer.
Arch your hands, keeping your finger tips and the back of your palms touching.

That is what a set of correctly sharpened or new blades is like under "no tension".

Bring your hands together, until they touch, again without undue pressure. At the point your hands touch, that is the equivalent of clipping tension. IE just enough pressure to combat the natural "spring "of the blades and bring all the teeth together.

As an exercise, push your hands together tight to emulate excess tension and rub ferociously= hot hands. Which demonstrates the extra friction and heat caused by over tension.

Its also very good for showing how bad WD40 is for clipper lube, if you put WD40 on your palms and rub hard, you will see how bad it is! (Not that I would recommend it if you have sensitive skin!)

All blades work on a similar principle and you will tend to notice, that if you put a new set on your machine and just run them for a while, you will see faint "rub marks" at either edge of the blade and just along the tips of the blade. As the blade loses its edge, you will notice the heavier rub marks getting all the way across the blade and over all the contct area of the teeth.

As for life of blades, I have known people not clip one horse with a set of blades (dirty dusty, un groomed with a thick coat) to the opposite extreme, where a houshold cavalry groom clipped 30 (ish) horses with one set before sharpening. But you can imagine the quality of cleanliness of the Cavalry horse.

On average, I would expect, on clean well groomed horses, using the correct oil and with blades which are correctly sharpened you would get 5 to 6 clips.

On cordless machines, such as the heinegar, wolseley merlin etc, it pays not to strain the motor, as your clipping time will drop. So err on the side of sharpening more often.

Some of my customers actually use one set of blades for one horse, then regardless, they will have them sharpened so they know they are good for the next one. But I would always say have at least one spare set in your tack box, as you can never tell when a set will stop clipping.

On your Heinegar, I normally fit the blades, oil them and turn the tension nut until I feel it come under pressure, then I will give it a quarter to half turn, listen for the noise from the blades. Good sharp concave blades, will make a nice sshhhhh sssshhh noise, at the point the teeth touch, any tighter and you will create waste heat and the blades will blunt quicker.


So really, the best tension, is the least tension at which they work, which equals the minimum stress on the motor and the least heat build up..

Happy Clipping

 

[VictoriaEDT]

TheEngineer you are a positive fountain of all clipping knowledge! In fact I am tempted to drive to you in Devon so you can correctly tension my clippers!

 

[VictoriaEDT]

just so you can tell me I need some new ones!

 

[TheEngineer]

Why thankyou for your kind comments. Nothing special about my knowledge, even after 15 odd years in the trade, I still come across new stuff and stupid faults, invariably caused by peoples inability to think lol

Horses still scare me and motorcycles thrill me, not that I cannot appreciate the finer points of horses, as they are one of natures most beautiful animals, but I understand the mechanics of equipment better. Oh almost forgot at least motorcycles have an on off switch and a throttle lol

 

[NicoleS_007]

Oh jeepers iv done 2 full clips with mine and thought they could do like 5 me thinks i shall be getting them sharpened before we start this year lol

 

[Penny Less]

I bought some secondhand clippers, which have wolsely blades. No make shown on the clippers but I think these are liveryman ? I didnt get any instructions with mine so Engineer, how do I tension them ?????? Thanks in advance

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

apologies to the engineer but i have used and still do use wd40. works brill on my clippers and blades get 5 to 7 clips proir to sharpening. yes all my machines are serviced and PAT tested. my listers and blades (about 10 sets) are still going 23 years on beautifully! my wolsleys (got 4 machines of between 4 and 15 yrs old and 30 sets of blades) are all going lovely, as are my heigner (sorry only 2 sets of blades for them as they were a freebie from a clipping demo for heigner) I clip up to 30 horses per week from sept to feb/march, and also clip the showjumpers and some eventers and the cushionoid all year round. and wd 40 does me fine and dandy!

 

[charliesarmy]

My OH works at the workplace of WD-40 he's ther R+D chemist I use wd on my clippers never had a problem..but then I do get it for nothing and probably use way over norm.

 

[madiz123]

Well i reckon ive done 3 clips on mine but i hog every 2 or so weeks so i am constantly cleaning my clippers. I always make sure my horses are clean and dry when i clip/hog.

 

[Pedantic]

Done about 7 with mine, plenty of grooming first and plenty of oiling during use, I will use spare set this winter or have existing ones sharpened, mine are the cheap £99.99 Dextella clippers off ebay a couple of years back, turn out to be Liverymans in a black case with all same accessories.

This was clip 6, I did a friends horse with a very thick after ok.