Are these Hikari Shears ruined?

I shot this little video on my cell phone when I inspected shears sent to me when the stylist said a sharpener I trained had "ruined" her shears. Here's what happened.

• The stylist said her shears were folding hair rather than cutting. 
• Both the sharpener and myself explained to her on the phone that the screw was probably loose and she should try tightening the screw. 
• She said she had tightened the screw. 

Watch this video. Do you think this stylist had any clue how to tighten the screw on her shears? Personally, I think she must have actually loosened the screw before she began cutting hair. The screw felt snug enough that I don't think it could have loosened up this much on it's own and I know the sharpener did not leave them this loose. 

I will tell you later what we did for this stylist and how this was resolved. 

Certification for Master Sharpener at the NBTSG

Check out the three uploaded videos to youtube to explain the sharpening certification process. See how extensive the certification program is. check out www.nbtsg.com to see the certified charpeners in your area. This year's certification program is in St. Louis in September.

Excerpt from the Hollow and the Honelecture by Casper Kiser Oster / Eickertat the 2010 Sharpeners Jam

Click screen to play short 8 minute video.

Excerpt from our new 2 part DVD. This is the most complete video presentation of the complexities of shear manufacture and function made to date. This 2 DVD set, each part 50 minutes will explore with clear illustrations the
honed and non-honed shears and how and why they are made and sharpened differently
the "twist" in shears, what it is and what it isn't
the importance of the hollow grind and how it affects the performance of shears
what correct and in-correct honing looks like and how it affects the cut
angle selection, the pros and cons of sharp vs strong edges
how and why shears are put back into correct alignment
and much, much more.This is one of those videos you will watch over and over and learn something new each time. This is an essential part of every scissor sharpeners library. You will have a new appreciation for the complexity of the beauty and groomer shears.Casper Kiser is the plant floor supervisor in McMinnville, TN for the Oster factory. He has had over 15 years experience in the manufacture of beauty and groomer shears with the Arius Eickert company. This lecture was presented to sharpeners at the 2010 Sharpeners Jam in Atlanta, GA. Here their questions and comments as Casper clearly shares with a small select group of sharpeners his years of experience. Call 1-888-290-3393 to order this DVD set or order from our website http://www.beautystoreworld.net/vhh.html (Use ID: sharpener Password: Guest)

A New Method of Sharpening

I wanted to share with all you Scimech Shear Sharpeners who sharpen on the side a new grip on the Scimech clamp.... it's the Johnny Cash Grip.

We came up with this name not because the hold is as bright and simple as music in the country, but because a new sharpener named Johnny Cash cam up with this hand positioning.

When Johnny came for sharpening training, yes I admit, I was perturbed that he had not watched my fabulous collection of DVD's. He tested out as I expected as a hands-on learner so I let him jump right into sharpening rather than demonstrating. He grabbed the Scimech, repositioned it and came up with this hand positioning. (See the new position followed by the old position)

The Johnny Cash grip takes care of the one drawback of side sharpening over upright sharpening. Side sharpening can be slower because it is harder to see the burr come up on the edge. When positioned like the picture and the light is brought down close to the wheel, it is easy to see the nicks disappear and the burr come up speeding up sharpening. I tried this grip at the Bronner Show. With my arthritic hands, I found this position not only easy on my hands but a faster method. I normally don't sharpen at shows because the arthritis in my thumbs slows me down. I was able to easily keep up with the steady sharpening. I had to modify Johnny's grip. My left hand also held the clamp rather than the arm as in the photo but having the plate at nearly right angles to my body was an advantage. One hint, don't sit directly down wind of the wheel unless you want to get dirty. I was dressed up for stage work and stayed relatively clean during my work. I also used a color stain remover from the beauty supply to quickly clean my hands without a trip to the sink. James Lanier uses a pink scented alcohol he buys at Sally to clean his shears and his hands. I haven't tried it yet, but plan to.

It was so nice to have so many Bonika Shears to sharpen at the show. At least 1/2 of the shears we sharpened at the show were Bonika. Bob and Jim sharpened about 4 each and I did the rest. Hardest to sharpen? The Bonika Baby. The blade is so tiny and must be sharp enough for slithering on dry hair, but they must be strong for cutting on dry hair. We didn't sell too many of these because they are out of stock until next week and we didn't promote them. However, I think all the platform artists at the Bronner Show had these shears.

Northeast Sharp N Shop Report

The Sharp N Shop in North Bergen became a combo meet n greet for sharpeners and a training.l Here is Ed Wozniak of Ultimate Edge, Chapel Hill, NC with a private training for three new sharpeners while we (Gene and Bonnie) conducted the Sharp N Shop in the meeting room downstairs. Like usual, everyone came and went throughout the day. Each had a specific thing they wanted to see, learn or buy and conducted their business, chatted with whoever was there and went their way. It's like a fluid open house and makes it easy for everyone to get complete undivided attention. I was really fascinated by Mr. Lee of Long Island who is an accomplished nipper sharpener and was wanting to modernize and update his equipment. I took some photos of his current sharpening equipment which he had made himself and installed in his mini van.

Big Joe Caladorci (I think I misspelled his last name) came by and Gene insisted I take his photo next to Joe so he would look small.

See all the photos here http://picasaweb.google.com/bonika/NortheastSharpNShop2009?feat=directlink

How to Cure a Shear Bellyache

Have you had this problem? I had an email from a sharpener in Australia with this dilemma. He wrote, “I sharpened a pair of shears for a stylist yesterday & she called today and said that about 1/2 way down the shears do not cut the hair properly. The shear is a Sensei GSC 55 (long life)
I shaped the shear at a 40 degree angle with 30 micron paper, sharpened & shined it with 15 and then 9 micron paper. (no polish) I honed the ride line and it came back and looks good Do you have any Idea how I can solve this problem or what I did wrong?”

The section of the shear blade the stylist is talking about is referred to as the “belly of the blade.” It is hard to answer a question like this without seeing the shear. Also, I am not sure what sharpening equipment this sharpener is using although I can assume by his question he has a Flathone with a clamp. Here are my suggestions in order of easiest to correct to the hardest. They are into that sharpener in condensed form.
1. The first suspicion on ANY complaint is a loose screw. Often shears will loosen after a sharpening. Ask the stylist if the hair is folding in the center before causing her to use more side pressure to make them cut. If she answers yes, you may be able to correct this by instructing her over the phone how to tighten her screw. The Sensei shear you mentioned has a leaf shape spring mechanism. If the screw is not holding, you may need to slightly bend the leaf clicker plate to put more tension on the screw. Also check that you did not leave the washer protruding through the back.
1. Next possibility is that something happened to the shears after you left. Did she drop them or cut dirty hair? We give a 30 guarantee on our sharpening regardless of what happens. A guarantee like this allows the stylist to be honest with you if something happened to her shears after you left rather than blaming you for bad sharpening.
2. The third possibility that is an easy fix is you pushed the bur to the outside and didn't remove it. This bur worked its way back over and created a dull or nicked spot in the center. Sometimes a gentle strop with a nail buffer, a razor strop or a worn 9 micron pad will remove this bur and fix the problem. Polish would have also taken care of this as long as you don't roll over the edge and polish just up to the edge. Enough to remove that residual bur, but not so much as to knock off your edge. I suspect this is the case since you said you did not polish the shear. If stropping doesn’t work you can resharpen by removing just a small amount. You may want to start with a 15 or 9 micron and touch it up.
3. The angle you used in sharpening could be a problem. You said you used a 40 degree angle. Is this the Australian angle or American angle? 40 degrees on Australian equipment is the equivalent to 50 degrees in the US and would be such a sharp angle that the shear could immediately go dull. If this is 40 degree the way we measure it in the US, you may want to try a 45 degree angle which is a sharper angle and may solve her problem. Ask the customer if she slide cuts. If she does she may be feeling dullness in the center that would be corrected with a sharper edge.
4. You may not have pulled a bur up at the center or perhaps your rideline is missing at the center or “belly” of the blade. Check the shears closely. You could have sharpened the correctly and she tossed them in a drawer and nicked them right after you left. If you have either of the problems the only choice is to do a complete resharpening, although you may be able to start with a 15 micron instead of a 30 micron. Always test a shear on a single ply wet tissue with a minimum of pressure SLOWLY closing the blade. The shear should cut this cleanly and with little effort.
5. If you did not test them before you left by cutting with them and they felt sharp and “looked good” as you said, the blades may be out of alignment. This is often due to dropping. Correction of this problem is beyond the scope of this email, runs a risk of breaking the shears and is the worse case scenario. We will have a seminar at the Sharpener’s Jam in July to show how to fix it and a DVD of this seminar available by late August or September. Sometimes a shear that is out of alignment can be sharpened at a duller angle and this may make them cut where they otherwise wouldn’t. Do this one blade at a time. If you think they are out of alignment and you don’t want to risk trying to fix them, refund her money and tell her what is wrong with her shear and suggest that she buy a new one.

This is a longer article of the shortened version published April 2009 in On the Edge.

Bronner Brothers Summer Hair Show 2008

We finshed the Bronner Brothers summer show last night at 7PM and was out of the show by 7:55PM a new record! The unions were more cooperative than usual and over all it was a great show for us. Busy enough to keep us from getting board and slow enough so we were not overwhelmed. Special thanks to those who worked the show with us this year. Of course Gene and me, Jay Hunter sharpening, Ron Ellis who held down our second booth, Carissa Roper employee extraordinare, Nicole, Tamara, Christine, Cathy and our two platform artists Sheila Tate and E. Hosea Hicks.

I was a little worried when we did not have the same booth location as last year and saw another scissor company was there. I was extremely upset to say the least then I remembered "All things work together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose." I calmed down and reconciled myself to the less visible location. This new location proved to be the best of our two booths althouh less visible and further back. I heard from one of the employees at the other scissor company who had our old location and they said their sales were way down from last year and that's what they heard from other vendors as well. I said, truthfully, our sales were up. His reply was, "Well, of course, you are Bonika."

Saturday was exciting because Tornado warnings closed the World Congress Center and after a 12 hour day we had to stay on the floor an extra 30 minutes until they released us. Here are photos of attendees sitting on the floor waiting to leave.

Our hair cutting class was packed even though it was first thing on Monday morning. We had about 200 in attendance. E. Hosea Hicks from Columbus, GA was our guest instructor.

Tamara in the photo above who bought shears from us a while back gave them to another sharpener who happened to walk in her salon. He broke her shears and tried to give her something other than her Bonika to replace them. This is a lesson to stylists and to other sharpeners, this is what happens. She spotted the sharpener at the show and was able to persuade him to buy the replacement shears from us wholesale. I talked to him again about upgrading his equipment froma TAS to a Scimech but he said the problem was not his technique but blamed illness that day. Tamara had seen him bending the shears on a yellow block with slits when her shears broke. This sounds more like technique rather than illness. Please, any sharpeners reading this who suspect they do not have proper training or equipment get help somewhere. Don't put yourself and your clients through this.


Here is the link to all the Bronner photos.
http://picasaweb.google.com/bonika/BronnerBrotherSSummer2008

Tim Lau Visit

We had a visit from the famous Tim Lau. Tim is a sharpener in Wisconsin and a former emplyee of Bonika Shears. He always comes by for a visit when he comes to Georgia to see his family. We put Tim to work while he was here. He sharpened a left handed shear for us, cut the hair of the grandaughters, went with us to have their birthday pictures taken and combed their hair between photo shots and quieted a crying baby Brooke. It was good to see you Tim. We also use him to bounce business ideas off because of his knowledge of hair cutting. Tim won't make the Sharpener's Jam this year, but maybe next. You may remember Tim as the guy on the Sharpening 101 video with the optivisor.

Here's a picture of Tim cutting Autumn's hair in the stock room. Autumn is Mystie and Jay's oldest child. Look at the evil look on her face. This is the same look you would get from Mystie when customers are late paying. Be glad we don't have camera phones!

Coming Events

I haven't posted but will try to be more diligent. We stay so busy but there are so many things happening with our company this year that I need to annouce and chronicle them.

1. Baby is due. Probably next Wednesday the 23 which is when the doctor will induce if baby Brooke is not born. Not my baby. For those who don't know me, my daughter Mystie is my office manager and her husband is my sharpening manager. It's her second baby that is due. Being a family business it disrupts things, but we are excited about the new bundle of joy.
2. IBS New York. We will leave on Friday (2 days after the birth) and have two booths and two classes there. If you are coming to the show stop by our booths. Also catch the classes. Sheila Tate is teaching classes. She has a great DVD coming out that will be available for wholesale by the middle of May. Its Barbering for the Cosmetologist. She taught this class at the Miami International Hair Show last week end and will teach it again in Orlando for the Premiere Show. I think her DVD will sell very well.
3. Phasing in new shears and phasing out old ones. We are switching manufactuers for some shears, discontinuing the slower selling ones and replacing with new designs and completely revamping some of our other shears. We are excited about the new items. Any left over old models we will sell at a discounted wholesale price at the Sharpener's Jam in July. We are working now on some great bargain boxes for the shapeners who attend.
4. Back in stock, if you were waiting for them T14. Also take a look at the new EDT Shear and tell me what you think. We will be distributing this shear.
5. Last item today is the Kuda Workshop We were asked to speak on how to sell shears. I will be taking the seminar and using Lenny's machine. I thought it was impolite to bring and market ours. I'm intrigued to use it. We will also be certifying sharpeners for our Bonika Shears. We will probably bring some discounted Jazzys for sharpeners to certify on and possilby some texturizers and a Fishbone. for directions on sharpening a Fishbone click here.

Louisville Hairshow

We just came back from a private hair show for a beauty salon chain in Las Vegas and are suffering jetlag. Our presentation at the show was very successful and was the first time Gene and I presented "Shear Magic" on how your shears could magically make you more productive, energized, etc. We plan to present this on the Bronner Brothers show cruise in October and maybe at other venues.
We turn around and Saturday will travel to Louisville to stay at the Gaut Hotel for another small private hair show/seminar http://www.bonika.com/louisville.html. Bobby Benet of the popular Raleigh Hair Symposium that was a September staple for us and Al Carter who hosted shows in Memphis, Baltimore, New Orleans have teamed up. Instead of the large hair shows they sponsored in the past, they now put together smaller, ethnic regional shows. We like to go to these and work with a local sharpener or if we can't make it, turn it over to one of our local distributor/sharpeners. Tim and Casey Young ran the booth at the Memphis show and it was very successful. We are taking on Louisville and I, Bonnie will be sharpening with assistance by Fred Mueller of Louisville. http://www.bonika.com/athompson.html Angela Thompson will teach a class, but I noticed from their advertisements that most of the educators are already using our shears. We have a lot of educators, especially in the ethnic arena who are hooked on our shears. Leah Watson http://www.bonika.com/leahwatson.html was supposed to teach this class but she was unable due to illness. She is also cancelling on the Premiere Birmingham class. We have not decided on a substitute yet.