Shearing Tips: (Attend a shearing school) and new cutters and combs are often not truly sharp and need to be hand sharpened for those good cuts. If your equipment is pulling as you are shearing, it is time to change the blade set. This is when you get nicks, because you are pulling the skin up into the combs...

This can also happen with very finely fleeced animals, even with newly sharpened equipment. I experienced this while shearing on another farm in Connecticut with very fine fleeces. (Esp. cria) My equipment simply was not sharp enough. You have to just keep changing 'til you get a sharp enough set, if cranking down doesn't solve it. The very best Shearer's know this and will carry their own sharpening stuff. However- there are a few of the very best sharpeners out there too!

Les
Champlain Valley Alpacas

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