Author: Todd Miles
Date: 07-07-06 10:10
I had hoped that a person from Premier would answer this by now, but they have not. I am a Premier customer, and I am far from an expert. I have had your problem though....
I taught myself to shear over 20 years ago when it was hard to find somebody to come out to do a few sheep. I have read, and I watch Kevin Ford demonstrate every chance I get. (Kevin is a New England based shearing professional who puts on demonstrations at various shep functions).
These are some lessons that I have learned. Remember, I am still not very good (at least speed wise). and I still learn a lot everytime I watch a pro shear a sheep. Along the way, I have burned out a shearing machine, and broken a lot of combs.
1. Do one sheep at a time as you learn. Even now I only do 2 or 3 sheep per day.
2. Use lots of oil. The Premier product in the little squeeze bottle is great. I oil the clippers 2 or 3 times per sheep. Why so often?, because I am slow. My clipper may do as many cycles for one sheep, as a pro will use on five. You can hear the clipper motor start to strain, and as you add oil it speeds right up again. A straining clipper heats up fast.
3. Use sharp combs and cutters. I usually get only one sheep out of a new set, and 2 or 3 out of a freshly sharpened set. Some guys use 2 cutters per comb, but I change them together. A freshly sharpened set by Premier is better than new. The local yokels just don't do it as well as Premier. Why do I only get 2 or 3 sheep per set? As with the oil, my clipper makes far more cycles per sheep than it would if I were faster.
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