Groomers Blog

Attention Groomers,
WARNING: IS YOUR SHARPENER RUINING YOUR SCISSORS?

Have you or someone you know had a bad experience as the result of scissor sharpening or had their shears ruined by a sharpening service? All one has to do is look around their own shop! On site Sharpening has become a thriving epidemic! Did you know that over 75% of all first time sharpening is done incorrectly and half of that should be replaced or discarded? This is usually caused from unnecessarily removing too much of the critically essential metal from the blades rendering your shears worthless!

 The problem is far worse for the Barber, Tailoring and Pet Grooming trade. Simply inspect your edges after they were sharpened by comparing them to a new edge and the difference is painfully obvious. Armed with these sobering statistics Groomer's should think twice before spending hundreds of dollars on their next pair of scissors!

It would be impractical or impossible for every groomer to return their shears back to the original manufacturer for servicing and repairs.

 Before you decide to have someone perform actions by practicing on the prized tools of your craft, find out how they will be serviced. Don’t let servicing the tools of your trade become a scary proposition, but be sure to have a full knowledge of what is being done with your shears.
STOP FRAUD!



Beware of venders soliciting your shop selling inferior Knockoffs. You should know the majority of 'JAPANESE STYLE' shears being sold under $300 are in fact not made in JAPAN. They are bought in bulk for as little as $10 a piece and being sold at the significantly higher price as the AUTHENTIC JAPANESE shears. To compound the problem these shears are being dumped on the Barber and Animal Grooming trade who are far better off using the more durable ORIGINAL GERMAN TEMPERED STEEL shears designed for that type of rough work and treatment. 

By mis-labeling the country of origin and using generic descriptive terms (i.e. Japan Steel, Hitachi Steel, and Cobalt Japan etc) to deceive the unsuspecting groomer. Most of these products are made in China, Taiwan and Korea at a fraction of the cost. Finished in USA means Pakistan! FACT: Use a magnet when identifying cobalt scissors. (A true super cobalt material is non magnetic).

SHEAR INTEGRITY does not wish to malign honest and reputable sharpening services and scissor manufacturers.  Neither does SHEAR INTEGRITY believe that everyone should cut with $500+ shears made only in Japan. SHEAR INTEGRITY also does not believe that their customers should pay $25-50 to sharpen or repair a $5 cast-metal blank. (Ironically it is simpler to sharpen an authentic Japanese shear, because the alloys in the Japanese shear make it more responsive and the results more predictable than the weaker, inferior steels used in the copies and knockoffs.)

The Management of SHEAR INTEGRITY hopes you read this in the spirit in which it was intended. Beware of entrusting the prize tools of your craft - those for which you have paid hundreds of dollars - to inferior and unqualified "scissor technicians". It's frustrating when you entrust something so important to someone and it is returned with a new problem. Someone must go on record to raise the bar and industry standard. SHEAR INTEGRITY wants to earn your TRUST, MUTUAL RESPECT AND LOYALTY. WE ARE ONLY AS GOOD AS OUR LAST SHARPENING!