Setting up the Shears

Guest writer: Roxanne

First, read the manual. Heniniger has really good instructions for putting it together and how to tighten everything. However, there are only drawings and no pictures. I thought pictures might help us.

First thing to do when setting up the shears is to put on a sharp comb. This is the one that has all the teeth, or has a name on it like camelid or ovina as shown in the previous blog. Slide the camelid comb onto the two screws. The camelid comb requires no gap between the comb and the machine. Now tighten the screws, very snug. You don't want them falling off when the machine is running!

The camelid comb should look like this.

This is how the cutter looks when it is half on. You must first loosen the tensioning knob before trying to put it on. Then attach the post onto the hole in the cutter, slide the other hole onto the next post and tighten the knob clockwise, just enough so that it can't fall off. We will tighten it more later.

This is how the cutter looks when it is on the machine and slightly tightened.

Oil the machine in the groove, between the cutter teeth, in the hole in front of the knob. You can barely see it on the picture above.

Now, adjust the blade tension. Turn the knob until you feel a slight resistance. Start the machine, then loosen the tension. Then retighten until you feel some resistance and the pitch of the machine lowers slightly and it gets a bit louder. You will develop an ear for this and this makes all the difference in shearing being easy!

Now you are ready to shear. Start on a small portion of fleece to see if the shears need adjusting. It should feel like the fiber is falling off, no effort. If it does not cut very easily, then stop and tighten 1/8 turn. Try again.

A couple of hint here.

• Blades that are too tight get dull and hot fast.
  
• Blades that are too loose will build up felt under the cutter and you will never be able to tighten it enough. This makes a wedge under the blade so it cannot connect with the comb. In that case, take the blade off, remove the felt, and put it together again.
  
• Please ensure you do not loosen it to the point the blade falls off when running, scary.
• Never shear towards your hands. I have a friend with a nasty scar from that mistake.
• Be aware of where the on off switch is at all times and any "helping hands".
  
• Be patient. Being able to shear your own animals is a great freedom. It is worth the trouble to learn blade tensioning.

A link to the How to set up your Shears on Youtube
And a link to a pretty good video of an Alpaca Shearing.

Good luck!

Shearing in a chute - alone: Part II

Guest Writer: Roxanne

There are several supplies when you are shearing with a chute by yourself:

The shears with sharpened cutters and combs. We use the Heininger shears with the camelid cutters and jet combs, but have mohair and ovina cutters too. They all work. The camelid cutters leave about 1/4 inch fiber on the animal. This is nice for those very pink skinned alpacas to prevent sunburn.

Heiniger Shears


Mohair Comb


Camelid Comb

Ovina Comb

Oil to lubricate the shears.
We use 30 weight, but that can make a mess on the fiber until it is washed. Never have had it stain, but if you are worried about that, then there is a shearing oil that is white. Oil often as the alpaca does not have lanolin to lubricate the shears and they get very hot otherwise.

An extension cord is an essential component because there is never an outlet where you want to shear.

Good lighting, especially for those dark animals will make shearing that much easier. Portable lights work if you don't have fixtures where you want to shear.

Bags to collect the fiber. Since you as the shearer get to touch the whole fleece, it is easier to sort as you go. There are lots of charts out there that tell you where and what each cut should be, but each alpaca is different and

Feeling the fleece is the ultimate test. If it feels like blanket, and it is on the leg, then add it to the blanket.

A rubber band and small zip lock bag for a fiber sample. Put a handful of fiber in the rubber band before you start shearing, then as you shear that area, put the rubber banded fleece in the zip lock.

3x5 cards. Write on them the animal's name, the date and the grade of fiber, then put it in the bag with the fiber. This information will come in handy.

A chute. I use all 4 of the head ties and the belly bands. Open one side at a time to shear that side. Do not put you head in the way of any legs. From personal experience here, it hurts.

Toenail cutters. As long as you have the alpaca all handy, cut their toenails.

Any shots that alpaca may need. Again, as long as they are there, it is a good time to do shots.

A bag of patience. Really, this is a must. Quit if you get too flustered.

An alpaca vet phone number in case of emergency.

A Doctor's phone number in case of human problems.

Even a young helper will be a big help as they can collect the fiber in the different bags or feed pellets to the alpaca to keep them happy.

Shearing in a chute - alone

Guest writer today: Roxanne

Shearing time is upon us again. We have always sheared our own alpacas, John shears them and I help. Last year though John hurt his back and was unable to complete the shearing. There were 3 alpacas left. So, with 8 years of watching him shear, I thought, I will do the rest in the chute. Alone.

Ambitious plan. I had a chute, I had the shears, I had 3 alpacas in full fleece in June and I had an experienced shearer on the couch to help.

Two out of the three were very patient with me. One was wild. The chute has challenges and many benefits. The challenges are the straps and the working area. The straps are also a benefit. They help hold the alpaca up, but when you get to the belly, it is difficult to shear around them. I would take one of the straps off and shear under it, reattach and repeat with the other one. This works fairly well. I had more of a problem with kicking. But common sense will keep you from getting hurt. Unfortunately, I was devoid of common sense the first time I did a back leg. I was kicked in the face, but no harm done, just my pride wounded.

I had John adjust the shears and change the blades with each alpaca. This helped a great deal, as some of the alpaca's fiber would not cut. Turns out the finer fleeces need the blades tightened more.

Other than the heads looked kinda funny because I sheared around the halter, they turned out okay. The wild one looked like a two year old had taken scissors to it. It is a lesson in strength to hold the Heinengers for that long. It was difficult to float the shears over the alpaca and not make second cuts. I did the blanket, neck, then legs and belly. The chest is actually easier to do standing because there aren't any folds.

If you plan on doing this yourself in a non-emergency situation, I would apprentice to someone first. Getting to know the sound of shears when they are tightened correctly is something one gets with experience and will save you a lot of frustration and time. If the shears are too loose, the blades get felt in between them and they do not cut. If they are too tight, they get hot and dull very quickly. Properly tightened shears feel like you are pushing the fiber off.

At the end of the day though, all the alpacas were sheared. No one was getting heat stress. No one was cut. So it can be done. If you are local to me and would like to help with shearing, or learn to shear, just give us a shout. We usually do shearing on a table as it is much easier to control what is going on. But it takes helpers.