Zero gapped trimmer how to#
Zero gapped trimmer skin#

Having the best tools for the job will give your haircuts that extra edge, and while some customers may never notice it, the ones that do will appreciate it.

Getting to know your equipment and being able to service them is part of the job.

Knowing more about the entire industry is better than knowing less. If youвЂ™re a classic barber, you may never need your blades this sharp, because youвЂ™ll probably never cut into the hairline, but I believe that it never hurts to have knowledge about your equipment. I will repeat this again as a warning, do not let the bottom blade overlap the top (the moving blade cannot overlap the stationary one) or you will cut someone and you will surely anger a customer and scare yourself from ever zero gapping a trimmer again. As a beginner, you probably wonвЂ™t be able to tell the difference between a sharp or dull blade, but trust me, after a couple of thousand heads youвЂ™ll know.

Zero gapped trimmer skin#

I generally eyeball my blades to a point where they are very minimally apart and test them out on my own skin (and yes, I have put a small cut into my skin this way, but sacrifices must be made) until IвЂ™m happy with how they cut. This technique works if you have a light hand (very light pressure on the trimmer when you have the blade on the skin so that you cut the hair but not the skin), but there are plenty of times when you donвЂ™t want to have this level of sharpness on your blades (for children, clients with sensitive skin, and if you have a heavy hand). Some people like to achieve this by loosening the blades and then putting both of the blades on a mirror, allowing them to sit as flush together as possible without the bottom blade overlapping the top, before tightening the screw so that they no longer move. To do this you have to unscrew your blade from the trimmer and loosen the movable blade from the other and bring them closer together and then tightening the blade back up again.

Zero gapped trimmer how to#

For beginners, the blades that come stock out of the box are sharp enough, but to achieve a crisp outline you will need to know how to zero gap your blades. The closer the two blades are together, the nicer the line, the closer the two blades are, the more zero-gapped they are. Most barber trimmers have the capability to move the blades closer together, zero gapping them, to create a cutting blade that has a sharper edge allowing the user to create cleaner lines. If you look at your trimmers you will see the cutting mechanism is composed of one movable blade and one that is stationary. Many master barbers will create these lines with just the cutthroat, but a trimmer is a way for the average barber to build up to that moment.ДЇor those of you not in the know, all good trimmers have the capability of being вЂњzero gapped.вЂќ Zero gapping involves bringing the cutting blade closer to the guide blade. Trimmers are essentially a mechanized cutthroat with a guard that barbers use to create guides before going in and shaping up with an actual straight razor. Trimmers, when it comes to their simplest form, are for taking hair off the neck and for shaping the sideburns and nape of the neck, but you can also use them to taper, to bald a head, or create your first guideline in a bald fade, for shaping-up, and to create beard and moustache lines. As a hairdresser and barber IвЂ™ve always felt that you should be as knowledgeable as possible about your equipment, and that broadening your knowledge base to include as many hair types and techniques as possible will save you from embarrassing situations. This was before I had any idea what a lineup was. I remember asking myself how Jamie FoxxвЂ™s hairline was so incredibly straight while watching the Oscars one year. I read comments on Instagram daily that say, вЂњHow do you get your trimmers to hit like that?вЂќ I understand completely. Trimmers are baffling to some barbers and stylists. If you are going to be fading on a regular basis, knowing your trimmer and how to maintain it is key to a great haircut. When it comes to this technique, the solid lines define our canvases. A lineup is often the part of the haircut that we notice first with fades. IвЂ™ve had barbers tell me that the outline of a haircut is the most important part or the haircut, and there are moments when I agree with that.