Novice Clipper - which blades? Wolseley

[Lorian]

Hi guys

I bought my first pair of clippers last year. The clippers were 2nd hand and came with Wolseley blades. I sent them off to be sharpened but they still didnt cut through his coat very easily if his coat was too long so I had to keep doing it quite often. The blades I have say A.2. on them.

Does anyone know about Wolseley blades? Do I need a pair that is more suited to thicker coats? I had a look and I think it says A6 blades are for thicker coat does anyone know if this is right? It says that the A6 blades give a 6mm high cut and that the A2 blades give a 2mm high cut? Does that mean that the A6 blades dont shave as close to the skin?

I want a close shave so I dont know whether to get a new pair of A2 blades to see if it is just my blades that are the problem or to get the A6 blades and hope that they shave just as close to the skin? Any advise appreciated.

 

[eventgirl]

I have always used A2 blades on any horse and a new or sharp pair of blades can cut through very thick long hair quite easily although they do blunt pretty quickly!! A6 blades are used for very coarse hair and do not cut very close - my OH uses them on cows!! I would get a new set of A2s as if yours were 2nd hand you do not know how many times they have been sharpened. Hope this helps.

 

[miller]

I use A2 on anything with my Wolseley's - clip approx 4 full clips before needing sharpening, have you got the tensioning right? If not tight enough they will just sort of brush through the hair without cutting.

To tension wolseley's, turn screw to firm and with clippers running turn back approx 1.25 turns and you'll hear the motor noise change/drop (difficult to explain) - then you're off - hope that helps.

I've always had mine sharpened by Alan Talbot (advertises in H+H and they always come back very sharp)

My Wolseleys are 14yo and are brilliant

 

[TheEngineer]

Re your Wolseley blades, A2 blades should be fine and are the most popular for Equine use. It is perhaps worth having them sharpened and I would recommend Wolseley themselves, clippersharp, HCS, Clippers HG, or Richard Anthony, all as reputable and v reliable sharpeners of blades. I do not know which model you have, but I would say one thing worth checking, if the machine is the Swift clipper, there is a loose fitting roller, which goes over the drive peg in the head and this can easily be lost, if it is missing, you need to order a 50026 crank roller, this will be the cause of your problem. Apart from this roller, ensure you only use a reputable clipper oil and please please tension the blades like this...

1) Spray blades with oil
2) Place small blade (cutter) over the two rectangular pegs, with the U shaped "blade shoe" located over the roller
3) Place the large (comb) blade over the two round pegs.
4) Refit the tension pin, then spring, then nut.
5) Turn the nut down until you feel it touch the spring
6) Start the clipper
7) Then tighten the nut down until you hear a change in tone from the blades (usually 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn) This is not easy to judge, but after a while you will get the hang of it. The blades should cut fine at light to moderate tension. If you tighten the blades down all the way, then back of 1 an 1/2 turns, you are suffering what i call "listeritus", as this is the correct tension for lister machines, but will kill a set of blades quickly, if you tension a Wolseley/Liscop/Liveryman in this manner.

Hope this helps, any further advice, feel free to PM me.

Ian

 

[miller]

TheEngineer - that's really interesating as it is from my Wolseley user giude I provided the information that I put earlier

Not saying you're wrong but completely agree it's better to make the engine work less

will try that way myself

 

[TheEngineer]

Cheers Miller, what Wolseley was that a guide to? The secret with tension, is that blades are slightly "concave" when new or correctly sharpened, so when you apply tension, you are squeezing the two blades together against their concavity. This is why, if blades are sharpened "too concave" they only cut on the outside edges and chew hair in the middle. When blades go blunt, they have lost their concavity and are "flat", a sharpen, returns the concavity and helps give the good cutting. It is a very fine art to get it right, but I always say, the correct tension, is the least tension you need to apply. If you need lots of tension, you get lots of heat and strain on the clipper. You would be amazed at the number of alleged "expert clippers" who only have one set of blades! The real experts have several sets, because they know you can lose the edge just like that! For no apparent reason.

Regards

Ian