The scissor has 6 different parts that we are going to talk about. They are the tang, the finger grip, the thumb grip, the hand screw, the moving blade and the still blade. The tang is the little piece of metal that extends from the finger grip. This finger grip is for you to rest your pinkie finger on when you are cutting for stability and control. The finger grip connects to the tang and it is the round opening where the ring finger on your dominant hand would go. The finger grip extends along the length of the scissors diagonally to meet the still blade. The thumb grip is the round opening below the finger grip and is the opening where your thumb would go. The thumb grip controls the moving part of the blade. In the center of the scissors you will notice the hand screw. This serves the shears in a couple different ways. For one, it holds the two blades together. It can also be tightened or loosened. When you tighten the hand screw, the scissors become harder to open and close. When you loosen the hand screw, the scissors will open and close easier. This is entirely up to your personal preference.
Clippers are another necessity for cutting boys or men’s hair into a buzz cut or a fade. Most clipper sets come with a matching trimmer for detailing around the hair-line, around the ears and any facial hair. If it doesn’t, you can buy the trimmer individually or you can choose to use your clippers to do the job. I must warn you that without experience using clippers to do detailing; you run a higher risk of cutting hair that you didn’t intend to.
You will also have to invest in a set of clipper guards if your clippers don’t already come with them. As with everything else, clipper guards come in a lot of sizes. You only need four different sizes. They are the blender, 1/4 inch, 3/8 inch and 1/2 inch. The blender cuts the hair closest to the scalp and the 1/2 inch guard leaves a 1/2 inch of hair on the head. If you want the hair left any longer than that, then you can transition to use your scissors for that section. For example, if you were to do a fade where you wanted the hair at the nape of the neck really short and you wanted the hair on the top of the head left an inch and a half, you would start at the nape of the neck using the blender guard, then as you progress up the back of the head you would switch over to a 1/4 inch guard then 3/8 then 1/2 inch and finally blending the sides and the top with your scissors.
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