Scissor Sharpening Class: Adding Set Behind the Screw Hole

The other day a scissor sharpener sent me a pair of shears that were bent all out of whack. Unfortunately the bend was in the ride area of the blade. The ride area is the area of the blade just behind the early entry of the cutting-edge. This meant that to fix these shears I had to bend the blade over the screw hole, not an easy task and not something I recommend doing unless you absolutely have to. In this case though we had no choice. The sharpener's customer wanted the shear fixed if possible because both she and the sharpener couldn't find an exact replacement and she really liked this shear. That's where I came in and I'll show you what I had to do to fix this shear in the video below:



For anyone new to scissor sharpening, here is a picture below of what I was talking about in the video when I mentioned that the sharpener had forgotten to flip the Ookami® clamp over causing the cutting edge of the blade to bite into the wheel.

This next picture below shows the proper orientation of the blade to the wheel. Always make sure your clamp is in the honing position one polishing to share on the Ookami Gold® System.

As always, if you have any questions about sharpening or the sharpening business in general I can be reached at 864-381-8697 or otenews@gmail.com. Also, if you're thinking about buying sharpening equipment, give me a call. I know where all the best deals are.

Update On My Mobile Sharpening Station

Back in  2007 I wrote the post below about the Mobile Sharpening station I made for myself out of the Stanley Galvanized Rolling Workshop. Since then these units have disappeared from the shelves of home improvement stores here in the States. Just a few weeks ago I found what looks to be a good replacement, the Hawk Massive Mobile 3-Part Tool Box. Here is a link to it on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Trademark-75-7577-Massive-Mobile-Stainless/dp/B001L56FS4/

The only drawback is the bottom bin doesn't have a hinged storage bin. It looks like you could still cut an opening in it though. In this day and age with gas prices the way they are, many mobile sharpeners are opting for smaller cars and doing scissors work inside salons and dog grooming shops. This unit has been the next best thing to a van for me.

Update:
Scott, in the comments below, pointed out this unit: http://www.amazon.com/Trademark-Tools-75-4650-Oversized-Portable/dp/B002ZZHK9W/ref=pd_cp_hi_1. Take a look. I agree, this is an even closer match and it has worked well for Scott; and he's quite a bit taller than me too.

Here is the post from 2007:

I thought everyone might like to see the Mobile Sharpening Station I use for In-Salon Sharpening.

This is a Stanley Galvanized Rolling Workshop. I bought it from Home Depot a couple of years ago. It comes apart in three parts so it is easy to put in the trunk of a car. I added the 24" x 11 1/4" poplar top by screwing it to the flip-top lid from underneath. I also cut the hinged storage bin out of the bottom to store my machines. Most of the units they make now just have a bin in the bottom, but most flat hone units will still fit in it. (You will see what I mean when you click through the link above) The middle unit on the newer models has a draw in it and a parts bin. It can be a little cumbersome getting it through doors, but it provides a work space for me so I don't have to take up a station in the salon.

The other thing I like about this set up is I get to work at the same height every time. And it's a perfect height for me because I'm...well...short. :) If you are taller than my highly elevated 5' 9'' stature, you could add what ever thickness board you'd need under the 24" x 11 1/4" top.

When I bought it, I think I paid about $80 dollars for it. The aggravating part is that Home Depot only stocks it from time-to-time. (It's out of stock online right now) They are readily available in the UK, but I guess they don't sell as well here in the states. If you'd like one, ask your local Home Depot about it. If they don't have them in stock right then, keep a lookout for it there and online. They will probably have it in the future.

The top picture shows the unit with the Hira-To and and Ookami in it. The bottom shows it with my equipment on top, ready to work.


If you're in the market for any of the Wolff  sharpening machines, be sure to give me a call before you buy. I know all the best places to buy at the best price! Call 864-381-8697 or email me at otenews@gmail.com.

The Wolff STAT Tool

I get a large number of requests for information on this new tool for adjusting tension on clipper blades without having to take the blade all the way apart. I thought a video would be more clear than just a write up. Here is how the Wolff clipper blade tension adjusting STAT Tool works. It's simple to use, will speed up adding tension to blades when sharpening clipper blades, and works great. If you'd like to purchase this tool call Wolff at 800-888-3832. The part number is WCL0001 and the price is just $24.10. See how it works below:



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The Wolff STAT Tool

Wolff’s New Clipper Blade Tensioning Device

I wrote an article in the January Issue of On The Edge about Wolff's new Spring Tension Adjusting Tool for Clipper Blades (STAT for short). This tool will allow you to add tension to a clipper blade’s spring without having to take the whole clipper blade apart. Here’s some info about it:

The New Wolff Stat Tool

The T-Bar design of the tool allows you to apply force with little effort. It also has a ramp built into the end to use to force the spring back up to replace the cutter blade. Here’s a run down on how it works:

How to Use the New Wolff Stat Tool

Start by slipping the cutter out of the clipper blade (See the picture below). On occasion the blade guide will pop off when you do this. If it does, be sure to put it back on the spring before you replace the cutter when you’re done.


Once you have slipped your cutter out, use the STAT Tool to torque the right side of the clipper blade spring downward as shown in this picture below. Be sure to seat the spring all the way into the slot! You don't want to twist the bifurcated end of the tool out of shape.


Once you’ve twisted the first side of the spring downward, flip the blade around and do the same to the other side of the clipper blade spring.


Now that you’ve added your tension, use the ramp built into the end of the STAT Tool to lift the spring up so the cutter can be replaced into the blade.


That’s it. Pretty simple. And actually it can be even simpler. One of the sharpeners that purchased the Tool already just slips the cutter to one side of the spring and then adds a little tension, then he slips it back the other way to add more to the other side. Even faster!

This is a great time saving tool. I'll be shooting a video about it soon, so keep an eye out for it.

If you'd like to order a STAT Tool from Wolff. The price is just $22.95 and the part number is WCL0001. Give them a ring at 800-888-3832.

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The First 2011 Wolff Show

Wolff has scheduled their first show for the 2011 season. It will be held on Saturday May 7th and Sunday May 8th at the Crown Plaza Park Central Suites in Dallas, Texas.

The show times will be 9am - 6pm on Saturday, and 9am - 3pm on Sunday. There will also be a separate vendor room that will be open each day so you can spend time with a number of our supporting vendors. The price to attend is just $89.00 if you sign up by March 24th, and then $109 thereafter. The price includes access to all seminars and the vendor room.

Speakers will be Bob Schiessl, Bruce Nihart, and myself. We will be touching on all aspects of sharpening shears and clipper blades, business growth, and increasing sales.

Seating will be limited to just 50, so sign up right away to get the discount $89 dollar rate and your seat. If you have any questions, give Wolff a call at 800-888-3832. Looking forward to seeing many of you at the show!

How Shears are Made

Great video showing how shears are made! Note all the hand work that goes into a pair of shears along with the automation. Many beauty shears require even more hand work. Videos like this dispel many of the myths and rumors that shears have twists "purposely" worked into their edges and "specific" edge radius. While all shears have some form of edge radius, most don't have an "exact" edge radius because of the hand work. The same holds true for twisted edges. This too is due to the hand work and will vary from shear to shear. Questions? Shoot me an email at otenews@gmail.com. Let me know what you think of the video. I think National Geographic did a wonderful job. I've worked many of these machines myself at some of the companies that manufacture shears for Wolff Industries.



Interested in learning more about sharpening and the machines I use? Visit this post:
http://jimsharp.blogspot.com/2008/11/scissor-sharpening-machines-and.html

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Improve Yourself as a Sharpener

A Quick Easy Way to Improve Yourself as a Sharpener
What's one way you can improve yourself as a Sharpener? Education. One good place to go to get a little education that will not only make you look smart to your stylists and groomers, but will provide you with information that will allow you to help them too is Andis' YouTube Channel. Here you will find a number of videos on blade care, clipper care, and more. The info you'll find here is great for everyday conversations you have with customers as a Sharpener and good for finding ideas for classes you may be teaching if you speak at beauty or grooming schools.

Here is Andis' latest video:



Having trouble viewing this video via email? Click here.

Here is a link to Andis' YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/andisonvideo

OH MY!!! Not Good!

Okay. Here is the flipside of inside work. Bad inside work is just as bad, if not worse, than no inside work. Glen received these from a sharpener that picked them up from a new customer. He sent them in for two reasons:

1. To show us.

2. To see if ANTHING could be done to at least make them workable.

In this case, we had to tell this sharpener these shears were dead in the water.

Not Sure What's Wrong Here? Let Me Point Out a Few Issues:

1. Way overworked in the ride area behind the screw.

2. Way too much pressure at the tip. This and set mostly caused the wipe out at the tip.

3. Not sure what happened to the set, but bad set is PART of the reason for the wavy inside ride line.

What Should You Do If You Run Into a Shear Like This in the Field?

I strongly suggest you click on the link below and hit the blue button!!!!!
http://www.nooooooooooooooo.com/

(For a better look at this shear. Click on the image above to enlarge)

Sharpening Repair on a Left Hand Beauty Shear

Well, the videos are up and here is the post I promised. I had a heck of a time with this pair of scissors. Quite a bit of inside work needed to be done, and the angles were all wrong. We got 'em fixed up pretty darn good though and it only took 3 YouTube videos to chronicle some of the sharpening. :) Let's have a look:

Before we start, if you're getting this via email and can't see the videos, click here.

Video 1: Sharpening the First Scissor Blade on the Hira-To®



Video 2: Finishing the Sharpening on the Hira-To® and Starting the Second Scissor Blade on the Ookami Gold®



Video 3: Finishing Up on the Ookami Gold® and Testing the Shear



In the videos you see I had to put a LOT of time into working the inside of the shear to reestablish a good inside ride line. In the future I need to do a video that really focuses on this.

I hope these videos help. If you have any questions please feel free to call me or email me, my contact info is in the sidebar on the right. Good sharpening! :)

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Getting That Lefty Repair Video Ready

I've been working on the Lefty Repair Video I mentioned on Jim Sharp yesterday. I have it all edited and I'm in the process of formatting it for YouTube. I hope to have it up on the Blog either tomorrow or Monday.

In the meantime though, I'd like you to review a video I uploaded to the Wolff YouTube Channel last year showing how to use the Wolff Convexing Clamp on the Ookami Gold® Sharpening system. You'll want to watch this because it goes into a little deeper detail on what I will be showing in the Ookami® convexing part of this upcoming video.



Can't view video? Click here.

Google Boost

A question I get often from professional sharpeners is how can I advertise my local sharpening service effectively on search engines like Google. Well, it looks like a good answer has made an appearance. In this recent post on Mashable, Jolie O'Dell shares a write up she did for American Express OPEN Forum about Google Boost*; Google's new locally targeted, location-based marketing program. This looks like an excellent option for local sharpener to promote their websites.

If you have a website for your business I suggest you give this post a once over and see if this new Google program will work for you. Here is the link to that post on Mashable: http://mashable.com/2010/11/10/google-boost/

If you don't have a website for your business, we should talk. There are many benefits to having a site that I'd be glad to go over with you. Call me at 864-381-8697.

Image: Mashable

*Jim Sharp is in no way affiliated with Google Boost or Mashable. This post is informational only.

Business in the New Normal

I think Professor Jeff Cornwall hits the nail on the head in his August 16th post titled Survival Strategies the New Normal. He starts the article out saying:

Even the optimists are saying that we have at least two more years of economic stagnation. Other experts are warning of a possible double-dip recession.

There is even growing talk in some circles of America experiencing a "lost decade" in its economy. That refers to the 10-plus dismal years of economic doldrums suffered by Japan in the 1990s.

Recent employment and bank lending rate data seem to support a prolonged recession for small businesses.

So what does this "new normal" in our economy mean for entrepreneurs?

To read on, click here and jump down to the 5th paragraph. Professor Cornwall gives some good advice to anyone who is in or starting a new small business. Take a few moments and read the rest of his post.

Sharpening with the Ookami Gold® Convexing Clamp

As promised, here is the video showing how to sharpen with the Ookami Gold® Convexing Clamp. This clamp makes sharpening a convex edge on a beauty shear fast and easy. Let me know what you think.

Ookami Gold® Convexing Clamp Sharpening System Video from Wolff Industries on Vimeo.

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Ookami Gold® Sharpening System Video

I've been working on a new video for the Ookami Gold® Sharpening System. Here is an online version of it. More to come in a day or two.

Sharpening on the Ookami Gold® Scissors Sharpening System from Wolff Industries on Vimeo.

Stress & Start Ups

Many sharpeners start their businesses part-time. Not an easy thing to do. Sometimes you're tired at the end of your regular work day, other things come up, and more often than not; it adds extra stress to your life. This last point is important to think about and prepare for. Stress affects health, we all know that; the trick is balancing work/ambition/stress when your starting something like a part-time sharpening business.

One of my friends on Twitter passed a link to a great blog post that talks about the importance of maintaining your health while working on a start up business like sharpening. It's filled with good advice and I think you should take a few minutes and give it a read.

To be successful at sharpening, you need to be healthy. This post will help you stay that way, even during the stressful time of starting things up. Here's the link:

http://www.dumblittleman.com/2010/06/having-enough-energy-to-chase-your.html

Image: alancleaver

Give Me the Worst Pair of Shears You've got.

I had a student say to me one time, "I go into every shop I can find and say give me the worst pair of shears you have and I'll make them cut." He then asked, "What do you think about that?"

I said, "Well...I think that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life." (With a smile on my face of course)

He laughed and asked why. So I asked, "What happens if they give you a shear like the one in this picture?" (Click on the picture for a better look)

He went on to tell me that he did in fact get a shear almost exactly like this one once. An upholsterer went outside to the dumpster and pulled an old carbon steel shear out of the bottom he had noticed the day before. So I asked, "Were you able to make it cut?"

My student said yes, but he worked on the shear for over an hour and then didn't charge anything for it. Now he did get the account, so that's good, but at what cost? I told him there was a better way if he was interested. He said he was. So I said, "Wouldn't it have been better to walk in and say give me the best pair of shears you have and I"ll make them cut better?"

I'm not pushing arrogance or cockiness here, I'm pushing toward the realm of confidence; although you do need to be careful because there's a fine line between the two. If all you can get to prove you can sharpen from a potential to customer is junk, then take the junk and make it better. But if you REALLY want to make an impression, shoot for getting what's good and then make it awesome.

How Long Have You Been Sharpening?

I had a fellow sharpener that's new to the business send me an email about an obstacle he's been running up against as he knocks on doors. Bet you've run into the same thing from time-to-time. The obstacle was this question, "How long have you been sharpening?"

New sharpeners panic when they hear this because they wonder how they can answer honestly without being shown the door. Well there are a couple of ways I usually suggest new sharpeners handle this question. One involves demonstration, the other involves humor. I'll be doing a write up on this in next months On The Edge Newsletter. If you'd like to find out more about On The Edge, give me a call at 864-381-8697 or visit www.otenewsletter.com.

Image: aidanmorgan

The Next Wolff Show

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Wolff Show in Greenville, South Carolina on July 17th and 18th is officially sold out. Wolff is starting a waiting list though, so if you'd still like to try to come be sure to call right away. The higher up you are on the waiting list the better chance you have of getting a seat.

I will be sitting down with David and Bill this next week to put together the show schedule. I will list it here when it's done. I look forward to see all of you that signed up. If you have any questions, just give me a call.

Sharpening Pinking Shears

I've been getting a number of questions on sharpening Pinking Shears lately, so I uploaded this video the other day to the Jim Sharp Blog YouTube Channel. Not real happy with the quality (I shot it with Wolff's Flip Mino HD), but it will do the trick for now. Let me know if you have any questions concerning the procedures in this video. I'll see about shooting a better quality one in the future.



If you are receiving this by email and having trouble viewing this, click here to view the video.

If you're in the market for any of the Wolff  sharpening machines, be sure to give me a call before you buy. I know all the best places to buy at the best price! Call 864-381-8697 or email me at otenews@gmail.com.

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IT'S SHOW TIME!!!

IT'S SHOW TIME!!! That's right folks! Time again for another Wolff Show!

Where? Good ol' Greenville, South Carolina. It's one town over from the Wolff Headquarters in Spartanburg and a great place to visit. To check out some of the things to see and do in one of my favorite places on earth, click here.



When? July 17th - 18th, 2010. I'll have a full schedule for you soon.


Which hotel is this? The Greenville/Spartanburg Airport Marriott. For more info on the hotel itself, click here.







How much? That's the great part! It's only costs $89.00 to attend all the seminars and gain access to the vendor room. To book your seat, call Wolff at 800-888-3832. Don't wait too long though! Seating is limited to only 46! So if you want to come, sign up right away! If you choose to stay at the hotel, they've given Wolff a special room rate of $89.00 per night on a limited number of rooms. To see what the rooms look like, click here. To book a room, call 864-297-0300 and ask for the Wolff Industries Rate while these rooms are still available.


What's gonna go on? Let me tell ya...


Sharpening on Wolff Equipment
I'll be doing some indepth training on the Hira-To®, the Ookami Gold®, and the Twice as Sharp®. I'll also be showing how the Corru-Gator and Rotary Blade Sharpeners work as well. Throughout all of these seminars I'll be peppering in some shears that...well...let's just say they'll be "fun" to work on in front of a group *shuddering already*. So whether you're a newbie or a seasoned sharpener, you'll find my presentations interesting.

Clipper Blade Sharpening
As of right now, Bob Schiessl plans to be at the show to go over clipper blade sharpening with you. Bob's been at this for over 20 years and I've seen him teach people more tricks in a hour than most sharpeners could teach a person in a week.

Nipper Sharpening
Mike Borsch will show all of us how to put his nipper sharpener to work. More and more we're seeing Day Spas pop up that offer one stop shopping for beauty needs. That means more places will appreciate it if you can service nail techs as well as stylists. Come learn how.

Up Your Income with more Sales
One of Wolff's top selling sharpeners will be at the show to share some of the methods he uses to sell shears every day; three to five shear or more per day as a matter of fact and how you can do this too. He set a business goal this past year in the six figures and beat it! Whether you're looking to sell shears, or just yourself, Bruce will teach you a number of tips and trick you can take to the bank, literally.

Separate Vendor Room
For the first time since Wolff has started doing these smaller shows, we'll have all of our supporting vendors in a separate room from the seminars. So if you'd like to spend a little more time looking at some of the lines of shears we carry, or some of the other equipment Wolff sells besides our own, you can visit with the owners and representatives of those companies at your leisure. The vendors that plan to be at the show as of this writing are:

• Wolff
• Nebraska Blades
• Clipper Shack
• Kenchii Shears
  
• Shark Fin Shears
• Lucky Hare Shears
• ProLine Shears

More are signing up as I can get in touch with them. I'll be sure to update you on this in the future. This room will also be open late on Saturday night so you can play with the machines, look at products, and socialize with us.


Wolff has set the standard in this industry when it comes to sharpening shows! Everyone that's attended in the past has had nothing but praise for the quality of the education, the time and attention Wolff and it's supporting vendors give each attendee during the show, and the fun and fellowship they get to have with their fellow sharpeners. One of my favorite parts about my job at Wolff is putting together these shows. Come join me and find out what sets the Wolff Shows apart. Call me 800-888-3832 or email me at Jim@wolffind.com if you have questions. I look forward to hearing from you!

Image of Greenville at top of post provided by linkerjpatrick via Flickr.com