Clipper blade gap settings are driving me crazy this week

Had a guy come in yesterday who was all patchy after his last haircut, and when I checked his old barber's work the fade lines were totally uneven. Turns out the clipper blade gap was way off on the left side and nobody caught it. How often do you guys actually check your blade alignment against a reference guide?

2 comments

2 Comments

casey_barnes16d ago

You ever just assume your gear is fine until it bites you in the ass? I had a similar thing happen with my Andis clippers last month. The blade gap was totally off on one side and I didn't notice for like two weeks. Fixed a few guys and their fades came out crooked. Had to redo a whole head for free because the lines would not blend no matter what I did. Now I check my alignment against the blade manual every Sunday morning before the rush. It takes two minutes and saves me from looking like a hack.

john43016d ago

Oh, I don't know about that. Checking your gear every Sunday sounds like you're making extra work for yourself. Those manuals are written by engineers who sit in a lab all day, not by guys who actually cut hair. I've been using the same clippers for years and I maybe check the blade alignment once every three months if it starts feeling funny. The truth is, most of the time it's fine and you're just chasing ghosts. Haircuts going wrong usually come down to technique or the client moving around, not a blade being half a millimeter off. You could line up your blades perfect and still mess up a fade if your hand is shaky. I'd rather spend that two minutes sharpening my skills than worrying about a manual.