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!