27/06/2021
Follow Up to 'Are you using the correct scissor?'
This is based not just on being a professional Sharpener but on being part of a Grooming family who collectively have 100+ yrs experience, being part of a well established (25 yrs+), respected City & Guilds/OCN accredited Grooming School and being around groomers and grooming for the past 50+ years.
I read your comments on how you choose your scissors with interest and it pretty much confirmed what I thought I knew.
Those of you who seek professional advice from Industry and scissor experts such as Pammie Carmichael-Hogg or Mandy Carr and a few others all credit to you, these people understand scissors and will always recommend wisely.
From my experience Scissors come in 2 distinct Groups
1. Workhorse/General grooming
2. Finishing scissors
Finishing scissors tend to have a lighter feel due to their weight and convex edge blade, they are also 'prettier'
Workhorse scissors are usually heavier built, often lacking the lightness and smooth feel due to their generally bevelled cutting edge.
So the majority of Groomers in my experience buy finishing scissors to use for general grooming because they are lighter, smoother and prettier.
Workhorse scissors with a bevel edge are unrivalled for chomping through knots and matted fur or gritty ears and feet, this heavier built blade usually made of German or other high quality steel with a 25/30' bevel edge will often last for months even used daily
This causes a number of issues....
Finishing scissors are designed to be exactly that, their delicate convex cutting edges are ideal for perfecting a flawless outline, tidying and cutting those fine hairs and allowing you to create beautiful blended styles, unfortunately when used for general grooming, cutting through matted, knotted fur and trimming feet and ears that delicate convex edge blunts in a heartbeat.
Added to this is the general lack of knowledge regarding types/qualities of the steel scissors are made from, when the type/quality of steel is massively important to how long your scissors will retain their 'sharpness', how much they weigh and the price.
High quality steel is expensive but it retains its cutting edge for much long, poorer quality steel is cheap and blunts far more quickly.
So if you pay a lot for high quality steel convex finishing scissors they can retain their edge and feel for a long time even used for general grooming, cheap low quality steel convex scissors can often blunt in days or even hours.
Workhorse bevel edged scissors such as Roselines, Geib Crab, Kenchii Scorpion, Blue Breeze etc are often similarly priced to popular 'pretty' convex scissors but are far more capable of handling a knotty Cavapoo and will last month's longer between sharpening, as well as helping you groom much more easily and efficiently.
I hear daily groomers saying that 'these scissors are rubbish' or 'i bought these a month ago and they are already blunt' when in most cases they bought or are using Chinese/Pakistani steel convex finishing scissors that felt smooth, they looked pretty and they were £40/£50/£60/£70 to try to cut knots out of a heavy coated doodle that last came in 5 months ago.
As I often say, I'm not criticising groomers who have never been taught the difference in scissors and who don't understand bevel or convex cutting edges, or know how to spot high quality Japanese VG10 or ATS314 steel, or realise that Chinese 440C/420A/J2 eBay special steel is likely to blunt quicker than a piece of Lego. I blame the training schools who aren't teaching their students in what scissors/blades to buy, nor teaching how to clean and maintain their equipment and I blame unscrupulous scissor vendors who never even ask what the groomer wants to use their scissors for, I've seen and heard vendors lie about the steel quality of their scissors, I know of some who don't even know the difference themselves!
I see new and even experienced Groomers wasting hundreds of pounds on pretty scissors that don't work for them and then it's often the scissor brand, the vendor or a sharpener who gets the blame.
To use a motoring analogy, it's like needing a Toyota Land Cruiser or Land Rover to trek off road through harsh terrain but buying/being sold an overpriced, poorly built Chinese/Pakistani copy of a Ferrari to do it in, then not knowing why it struggles and bits fall off.
My simple advice is to buy your scissors from a reputable, knowledgeable source, tell them what you want to use them for, general, finishing, competition or advanced styling. Go to people and brands that are well established, with great reputations amongst respected groomers and don't trust any vendor that spends their time telling you how good they are, trust the ones that other people tell you how good they are ✂️
As for training schools I'm more than happy to come and talk to your students and teach/advise them about scissors and on equipment maintenance, if your farther afield or difficult to get to I will be delighted to supply you with online videos for you to show during your courses, just contact me ✂️
