Author Topic: . (Read 2939 times)

lachlanandmarcus · « **Reply #1 on:** July 05, 2011, 11:54:36 am »

I'd agree I did 17 by hand last year, this year have tried electric shears but def more cuts. It's harder work by hand but more satisfying and you def end up with a sheep with few if any nicks, I only nicked 2 tiny nicks in 17 sheep last year. The only reason I will persevere with a combination is OH has limited time to help and Im sure I will get better with them.

I think people assume they have to get shearers in or buy electric ones, and that hand shearing is hard. But in truth its quite easy. It also allows you to leave a small fuzz on the skin if the weather is a bit chilly/iffy if you choose to.

HamishMcMurray · « **Reply #2 on:** July 05, 2011, 04:35:08 pm »

We did ours for the first time this year with a pair of hand shears for about £20 as recommended on this site. We only had 7 to do (17 next year) but it all went fine without any nicks or traumas. We were nervous at first but soon got the hang of it. We found it less stressful on the sheep as they really don't like the noise of the electric shears. Like lachlanandmarcus we also wanted to leave them with a bit of fuzz but perhaps we're just being soft.

PDO_Lamb · « **Reply #3 on:** July 05, 2011, 10:35:17 pm »

In the past I have worked in front of Lister stationary engine and a direct drive Honda engined set. By comparison the mains powered Lister 2 speed (bought 2nd hand at a sale 25 yrs ago) is quite tranquil. Now I clip off a lister battery powered motor which is even quieter and half the weight. Cutters and combs need to be sharpened on a slightly concave face. I find new ones work well straight out of the box these days. How long they remain sharp is as much a factor of the time the handpiece is in operation as the number of sheep. I can't disagree with using hand shears for just a few but did you clip the whole flock without using the sharpening stone and do you think your hand shears will work as well next year if you don't put a good edge on them before you start?

Should be no problem to sell your powered set. They are designed to clip hundreds of sheep a year over several seasons, so yours are good as new.

For anyone starting out, the comb teeth are very brittle and if you have the handpiece kicked out of your hand an outside tooth can break on landing. £18.00 worth of comb useless and the sheep to finish, so you need a spare comb (or hand shears) with you.

I bought a pack of 92mm "cover" combs from Horners at the Highland Show and the lady whose sheep I clipped last week was pleased with the result. Except for one ewe with a sticky belly they worked well.

Dougal · « **Reply #4 on:** July 06, 2011, 02:34:28 pm »

As a profesional shearer i'd always recomend using hand shears if your not used to shearing. Turns out it is much harder than it looks

. Like all tools your shears, whether electric or hand need properly looked after. A set of blades of your electric shears will be blunt after shearing even a small number if you are not used to shearing. A comb normaly lasts about an hour in good conditions and a cutter about 10-20 minutes depending on the type of wool and how good the steel is. Several companies will sharpen your machine combs and cutters if you need. Horner, highway shearing, mutch shearing and the welsh shearing centre will all sort you out with that. your local shearing contractor will probably also give a decent sharp for you for just a few quid or a couple of chops!

lachlanandmarcus · « **Reply #5 on:** July 06, 2011, 03:28:54 pm »

I use new hand shears every shearing, and with the electric shears all the cutters and combs (about 7 sets) were sharpened by Lister prior to starting, and changed regularly during shearing.