How and what to sharpen sheep shears at home, top 5 ways
How to sharpen sheep and sheep shears correctly if they become dull in the process? In this case, there is simply no time to look for a specialist. After all, the rams cannot wait, they need to be cut as quickly as possible. Fine-grained sandpaper, plain foil, kitchen steel wool, and even a gypsy needle can help make the blades sharper. All of these items can sharpen scissors in minutes.
Process features
Shears are mechanical tools used to shear a flock of sheep once or twice a year. This device for shearing animals is made of durable metal. Typically high carbon steel. Such material retains its hardness for a long time and lends itself well to re-sharpening.
In the instructions for use of some tools, manufacturers specify exactly how to restore its cutting properties. For example, Berger German sheep shearing products can be sharpened on a machine or a whetstone.
Not every tool is allowed to be used to trim animal hair. It is advisable to buy special shears for shearing sheep. The length of the blades should be more than 15 centimeters. Small ones will be inconvenient to use. Plus, they'll break quickly.
A new tool can be used 20-50 times without sharpening. During operation, the cutting edge becomes dull. In this case, it must be sharpened. The sharper the scissors, the easier it is to trim sheep's wool. Chinese instruments fail the fastest. They are made of low quality mild steel. Longer use German or Swiss professional sheep shears.
During the sharpening process, the blunt edge must be sharpened. Sharpen the blades on only one outside. Before work, you need to pay attention to the factory sharpening angle. Usually it is equal to 60-75 degrees. It is at this angle that you need to sharpen the blades, and only from the outside. Where the two cutting halves touch, there should be a perfectly flat surface.
Before work, it is necessary to check how the cutting surfaces look when closed. When the blades overlap, there should be no gap between them. It is recommended to level surfaces with bends before sharpening.The very procedure of sharpening a ram clipper is not considered too complicated. You need to work carefully.
How to sharpen sheep shears at home
Tool sharpening should be done by professional craftsmen. The fact is that sheep shears are too expensive, and it is better to take them to a specialist. You can sharpen the blades yourself. The main thing in such work is not to overdo it.
Sandpaper
To sharpen scissors with your own hands, you need fine-grain sandpaper on a fabric basis. It is advisable to buy a small strip 20 centimeters long from a hardware store. All one has to do to sharpen a tool is to cut the sandpaper until the dull blades become sharp. The entire sharpening procedure takes no more than 3 minutes.
Foil
The sheep shearing tool can be sharpened using ordinary foil, which is used when baking meat or vegetables in the oven. It is easy to buy it at any supermarket. The foil must be folded in six layers into a rectangle 30 centimeters high and long. The resulting square must be cut into strips. Of course, with scissors that need to be sharpened.
This is such a quick way to sharpen a sheep shearing tool. Cutting the foil for several minutes in a row will make it easier to work with scissors. The cutting edge will sharpen by itself only from contact with this thinnest metal paper.
Metal sponge
You can even sharpen lamb scissors with a metal kitchen sponge, which is used to clean dirty dishes. Tool sharpening process is not complicated. It is recommended to cut the sponge into tiny pieces. Of course, this kitchen utensil will become unusable. But dull blades after such a procedure will become sharp. The main thing is to buy a soft, not a hard kitchen sponge. It is better to cut it over a trash can or over a newspaper.
Gypsy needle
You can sharpen blunt scissors with a gypsy needle. The larger the needle, the better. The main thing is that it does not break down during operation. It just needs to be held in one hand and the other - gently and quickly wield the sheep shearing tool. During sharpening, you just need to close the blades near the needle at an angle of 60-75 degrees, and along the entire length of the cutting edge. Of course, you do not need to cut the needle. The blades should slide along the needle between them. This procedure will help you quickly and effortlessly sharpen the ram shearing tool.
Glass jar
The ram and sheep manual shears can be sharpened with a narrow-necked glass jar or beer bottle. It is advisable to take a container that you do not mind. Shears are sharpened at an angle of 60-75 degrees. The ram shearing tool blades close at the neck of the can until they become sharp. There is no need to cut the glass. You just need to close the blades near the neck of the glass jar, and at an angle of 60-75 degrees, making quick, without pressure, sliding movements.
If the blades aren't the problem
In order for the scissors to cut well, it is not at all necessary to sharpen them before each haircut. This is not a knife that should always be perfectly sharp. Sometimes it happens that the scissors do not cut, and the problem is not at all in the blades. First of all, you need to understand what happened to the ram shearing tool. It is recommended to look at the scissors from the side before sharpening. The instrument must be raised to eye level. This is not done out of idle curiosity.It turns out that the blades, when closed, should fit snugly together. In addition, be perfectly flat on the inside.
There should be no gap or curvature between them. If the blades are not straight, but curved, then they must be aligned.
If the scissors do not cut well, first of all, it is recommended to check the cutting edge and see if there is any damage on it. If there are defects at the ends of the blade, they must be repaired. It's easier to contact a specialist. True, the cost of professional services is usually high.
You can try to remove the defects yourself, for example, using a grinding disc of P100 grit and an ordinary drill to help rotate this wheel. It is necessary to properly grind the cutting edge. The sharpness of the blades and the performance of the tool depend on this procedure. In the process of grinding, you need to correctly, or rather, at the correct angle, position the blades in relation to the surface of the grinding disc. According to the factory instructions, the angle of sharpening of the cutting edge of the scissors is 60-75 degrees. The blades on the grinding disc are sharpened only from one side - from the outside, and the surfaces in contact with each other remain perfectly smooth.
Before sharpening it is recommended to see how the tool works. It happens that the blades move away from each other at a decent distance, and a gap forms between them. Of course, such a tool will not be able to trim sheep and rams. If the two halves of the scissors are attached with a hinge, then it is recommended to check if the screw is loose and, if necessary, tighten it. If, instead of a screw, a rivet, it must be squeezed with pliers.
Scissors may not cut if the cutting surface is rusted. This happens if the tool has been in contact with water. In this case, you can adjust the sheep and sheep shears by cleaning the blades from corrosion and sharpening the cutting edge on a fine-grain rotating grinding disc.
It is recommended to trim animal hair only with sharpened tools. Dull blades simply won't cut through the tough hairs of rams and sheep. During sharpening, the cutting edge is sharpened only from the outside, and at an angle of 60-75 degrees. Adjoining, that is, contacting surfaces must be flat.
