Cleaning, oiling, tension and sharpening — the four habits that decide how long a good shear stays good.
A professional shear fails slowly: hair pushes instead of cutting, the close gets gritty, your hand starts compensating. Almost all of it traces back to four routines. Each guide below stands alone; together they're the full maintenance discipline.
The two-minute end-of-day routine — hygiene, a drop of oil at the pivot, and the habits that stop corrosion before it starts.
Diagnose loose or tight tension with a drop test, adjust in eighth turns, and know when to stop and call a professional.
440C, VG-10, cobalt and powder metals dull at different rates. Match the service schedule to the steel and your workload.
The pillar guide: daily care, tension, sharpening schedules and storage in one place.
Steel choice drives most of the schedule — if you're not sure what your shears are made of, start with the steel reference or look up your maker in the brand directory.