Hair clipper
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A hair clipper, often individually called the apparent
Operating principle
Hair clippers are made up of a pair of sharpened comb-like blades in close contact, one above the other, and the sides which slide sideways relative to each other, a mechanism which may be manual or electrical to make the blades oscillate from side to side, and a handle. The clipper is moved so that hair is positioned between the teeth of the comb, and cut with a scissor action when one blade slides sideways relative to the other. Friction between the blades needs to be as low as possible, which is attained by choice of material and finish, and frequent lubrication.
Manual clippers
Hair clippers are operated by a pair of handles which are alternately squeezed together and released. Barbers used them to cut hair close and fast. The hair was picked up in locks and the head was rapidly depilated. Such haircuts became popular among boys, mostly in schools, and young men in the military and in prisons.
Manual clippers were invented around 1855 by
Culture and religion
In
Manual hair clippers are used extensively by barbers in
Electric clippers
Electric hair clippers work in a similar way as manual ones, but are driven by an electric motor which makes the blades oscillate from side to side.[6] They have gradually displaced manual hair clippers in many countries. Three different motor types are used in clipper production: magnetic, rotary and pivot. Rotary style may be driven by direct current or alternating current electricity source. Both magnetic and pivot style clippers use magnetic forces derived from winding copper wire around steel. Alternating current creates a cycle attracting and relaxing to a spring to create the speed and torque to drive the clipper cutter across the combing blade.
Leo J. Wahl invented the first electric hair clipper. He first designed a hand-held massager for his uncle, Dr. Frank Wahl. Frank Wahl opened a manufacturing plant in Sterling, Illinois to produce and sell Leo's massager. During this time, Leo would sell massagers to various barbers and noticed an opportunity to improve upon the tools barbers were using at the time.[7]
Leo Wahl took over his uncle's manufacturing business after Frank left to serve in the
By 1921, Mathew Andis Sr. entered the electric clipper industry. Production of these clippers began in the basement of his home, with help from Anna, his wife. Andis sold his electric clippers door to door and one year later established the Andis O M Manufacturing with John Oster and Henry Meltzer. After the three men parted ways, Mathew established Andis Clipper Company the following year. Today, Andis Company remains a family-held business.[9]
In 1928, the John Oster Manufacturing Company joined the electric clipper market. In 1960, the John Oster Manufacturing Co. was acquired by Sunbeam Corporation. Oster continues to manufacture clippers today.[10]
Maintenance
Electric hair clipper blades must be lubricated frequently. Each major hair clipper manufacturer sells its own brand of hair clipper oil. Clippers can also be maintained with aerosol clipper spray which acts as a coolant, disinfectant, lubricant, cleaner, and rust preventative. It is possible to find out what is inside such a product by viewing the product's safety data sheet online. Wahl Hair Clipper Oil, for example, is simply mineral oil packaged in a bottle with a dropper tip.
Most magnetic-type consumer grade hair clippers use a vibrating motor that moves the blade at a high resonant frequency. Sometimes the motor will come out of tune and make a loud noise. There is a screw on the side that is used to retune the motor and bring it back into resonance.[11]
Blades
Cutting blade type | Oster blade size | Common guard size | Hair remaining | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Inches | Millimetres | Growth | |||
Fine cutting blades (also referred to as zero blades) | |||||
#000000 | 1⁄250 | 0.10 | 5 hours | ||
#00000 | 1⁄125 | 0.20 | 10 hours | ||
#0000 | 1⁄100 | 0.25 | 15 hours | ||
#0000A | 1⁄75 | 0.34 | 20 hours | ||
#000 | 1⁄50 | 0.51 | 1 day | ||
#0A | 3⁄64 | 1.2 | 1.75 days | ||
Medium coarse cutting blades (#1, #1A, #1.5) | |||||
#1 | 0.5 | 1⁄16 | 1.6 | 3.5 days | |
#1A | 1 | 1⁄8 | 3.2 | 1 week | |
#1.5 | 5⁄32 | 4.0 | 8.75 days | ||
Full coarse cutting blades (#1.75, #2, #3.5 and #3.75) | |||||
#1.75 | 1.5 | 3⁄16 | 4.8 | 10.5 days | |
#2 | 2 | 1⁄4 | 6.4 | 2 weeks | |
#3.5 | 3 | 3⁄8 | 9.5 | 3 weeks | |
#3.75 | 4 | 1⁄2 | 13 | 4 weeks | |
Longer cutting blades | |||||
5/8 H/T | 5 | 5⁄8 | 16 | 5 weeks | |
3/4 H/T | 6 | 3⁄4 | 19 | 6 weeks |
Blade material
Blades are usually made of rust-resistant stainless steel.
See also
References
- ISBN 978-1-3051-0055-8.
- ^ Coupes d'incorporation dans l'armée russe. YouTube. 17 October 2007. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13.
- ISBN 978-0199689880.
- ISBN 978-1443802765.
- ISBN 9789699390005.
- ^ How do hair clippers work.
- ^ "About Wahl". wahl.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-08. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
- ^ "Spaceflight gallery". Archived from the original on 2011-04-01.
- ^ "Andis Company History". andis.com. Archived from the original on 2007-03-28. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
- ^ "Oster". Oster Canada. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07.
- ^ "How To Tune Your Wahl Vibrator Clipper".
- ^ Oster (2013), Classic 76 Clipper Blades
- ^ Thorpe, S.C. (1967). Practice and Science of Standard Barbering. Milady Publishing Corporation. p. 54.