How to sharpen sheep shears: top 5 ways at home

How to sharpen shears for shearing rams and sheep, if they become dull in the process? In this case, there is simply no time to look for a specialist. After all, sheep cannot wait, they need to be sheared as soon as possible. Fine-grained sandpaper, ordinary foil, kitchen steel wool and even a gypsy needle will help to sharpen the blades. All these items can sharpen scissors in minutes.

Process Features

Scissors are a mechanical tool used to shear a flock of sheep once or twice a year. This device for cutting 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 using some tools, manufacturers specify exactly how to restore its cutting properties. For example, Berger's German shearling products can be sharpened on a machine tool or whetstone.

Not every tool is allowed to be used for cutting animal hair. It is advisable to buy special scissors for shearing sheep. The length of the blades they should be more than 15 centimeters. Small ones will be inconvenient to use. Plus, they break quickly.

Professional ram shearing tool looks like two sharp knives that are connected by a metal handle. When the shearer holds the scissors in his hand, the perfectly smooth cutting surfaces overlap.

A new tool without sharpening can be used 20-50 times.During operation, the cutting edge becomes dull. In this case, it must be sharpened. The sharper the scissors, the easier it is to cut sheep's wool. Chinese instruments fail the fastest. They are made from low quality mild steel. German or Swiss professional sheep shears last longer.

During the sharpening process, the blunt edge must be made sharp. Blades are sharpened on one side only. Before work, you need to pay attention to the factory sharpening angle. Usually it is 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 must be a perfectly flat surface.

Before work, it is necessary to check how the cutting surfaces look when they are closed. When the blades overlap each other, there should be no gap between them.Curved surfaces are recommended to be leveled before sharpening. The very procedure for sharpening a tool for shearing sheep is not considered too complicated. Care must be taken.

The main thing is not to bend the surface, do not cut off the excess, do not make too much gap between the blades, do not break the tool.

How to sharpen sheep shears at home

Tool sharpening should be done by professional craftsmen. The fact is that sheep shearing shears are too expensive, and it is better to take them to a specialist. You can sharpen your own blades. 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 at the hardware store. All you have to do to sharpen a tool is cut sandpaper until dull blades are sharp. The entire sharpening procedure takes no more than 3 minutes.

Foil

Sheep shearing tool can be sharpened with ordinary foil, which is used when roasting meat or vegetables in the oven. It is easy to buy in any supermarket. The foil must be folded in six layers into a rectangle 30 centimeters high and 30 centimeters 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 shearer. If you cut the foil for several minutes in a row, it will soon become 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 shears with a metal kitchen sponge, which is used to clean dirty dishes. The process of sharpening the tool is not complicated. It is recommended to cut the sponge into small pieces. Of course, this kitchen utensil will become unusable. But blunt 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 in the process of work. You just need to hold it in one hand, and with the other - gently and quickly wield a 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 don't need to cut the needle. The blades should slide along the needle between them.This procedure will help to quickly and effortlessly sharpen the tool for shearing rams.

Glass jar

Hand shears for shearing rams and sheep can be sharpened with a glass jar with a narrow neck or a beer bottle. It is advisable to take a container that is not a pity. Sharpening scissors is carried out at an angle of 60-75 degrees. The blades of the shearing tool are closed at the neck of the jar until they become sharp. You don't 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 are not the problem

In order for scissors to cut well, it is not at all necessary to sharpen them before each haircut. This is not a knife that always has to be perfectly sharp. Sometimes it happens that scissors do not cut, and the problem is not in the blades at all.First of all, you need to understand what happened to the sheep shearing tool. Before sharpening, it is recommended to look at the scissors from the side. The tool 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 against each other. In addition, be perfectly even on the inside.

There should be no gap or curvature between them. If the blades are not straight, but curved, then they need to be aligned.

If the scissors start to cut badly, first of all, it is recommended to check the cutting edge and see if there are any damages 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 P100 grinding wheel 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 operation of the tool depend on this procedure. In the process of grinding, it is necessary to correctly, or rather, at the right angle, position the blades in relation to the surface of the grinding disc. According to the factory instructions, the angle of sharpening 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, it will not be possible to cut sheep and rams with such a tool. If the two halves of the scissors are attached with a hinge, it is recommended to check if the screw is loose and, if necessary, tighten it.If there is a rivet instead of a screw, it must be crimped with pliers.

Scissors may not cut if the cutting surface is rusty. This happens if the tool has been in contact with water. In this case, you can adjust the shears for shearing sheep and rams if you clean the blades from corrosion, and sharpen the cutting edge on a fine-grained rotating grinding disk.

It is recommended to cut animal hair only with a sharpened tool. Dull blades simply won't cut 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. Interlocking, that is, surfaces in contact with each other, must be even.