A critical factor to take into consideration is blade type. A shears’ blade type will have a direct effect on its performance and cutting ability. Often thought of as one of the most important factors to consider when purchasing haircutting shears — this decision should not be taken lightly.
Scissor manufacturing techniques have evolved tremendously over the last few decades. Innovative new forging and crafting techniques have been developed leading to a variety of scissor blade types being released into the market.
Below we explain the blade types that you are most likely to encounter when purchasing a new pair of shears.
Beveled Edged Blades
The beveled edge blade design is one of the oldest and most commonly used in production today. This blade type can cut well but requires considerably more force and pressure than convex blades currently on the market. Although predominantly the least expensive blade type, a major drawback of the beveled edge is that it can’t be used for advanced cutting techniques such as “slide cutting”.
Serrated or Corrugated Beveled Edges
This type of blades has fine lines or grooves cut into the surface of the beveled edge. The purpose is to hold the hair from slipping on the edge. This is typically done on inexpensive shears to help otherwise blunt edges cut straight. Serrated edges tear the hair off against the serration as it meets the opposite blade. The edge will cut straight for a long time but it requires much more force to cut and it can be damaging to the hair ends.
Convex Edged Blades
A Convex blade design is extremely powerful and facilitates smooth and sharp cutting. As the outer face of the blade is curved this blade type is especially suitable for ‘slide cutting’ and allows for more advanced cutting techniques to be used. The sharper angle of the cutting edge on a convex shear makes them cut smoother and stay sharp longer. Due to these attributes this blade type is harder to make than others and so shears with convex edges are usually more expensive than a comparable beveled shear.
Sword Blade
Sword Blade describes a blade that has its peak or highest point, in the center. This blade slopes in both directions from that ridge line, toward the back of the blade and toward the edge. It makes the blade stiffer and some argue better for cutting thicker sections. The cut from a sword blade is not quite as soft or effortless as a full convex edge because the angle of the edge is more blunt since the starting point of the curve is closer to the edge.
Slide Cutting Blade
These models have blades with a highly polished finish and a very curved blade shape the pushes the hair away from the edge instead of gripping the cuticle. You need this type of blade to slide cut without tearing or damaging the cuticle of the clients hair.
Other Terms Associated with Blades:
Hollow Ground - You may hear shear blades referred to as hollow ground. This refers to the inside of the blade. Nearly all higher quality hair cutting shears are hollow ground, meaning the inside of the blade is concave. In other words, it is lower in thecenter of the blade and gets higher as it moves to the edge or to the back of the blade.This allows the edges to contact, but then the edge is not forced to drag against the inside of the blade as it closes.
Honed Edge is a term that is used by some to describe a smooth finish beveled edge. In reality all high quality edges are honed which is a sharpening methodology.
Semi-Convex Edge is a term used to describe a narrow beveled edge but it is not the same as a true convex edge.
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