Caring for your Snips, Shears & Clippers
Similar to how to care for your secateurs, the key to a long life for your shears is to be sure to maintain them well through regular cleaning & sharpening. As well as ensuring you use them the way there intended to be used.
Correct use of your Snips, Shears & Clippers:
- Keep them sharp & oiled, sharpen after every use
- Japanese steel is hard and sharp, and can be more brittle than people are used to - it will chip if abused.
- Do not cut wire, metal, stone, plastic or any other hard material (even bamboo fibres and some very hard woods, especially knots and burrs, can damage steel edges).
- Do not twist or apply uneven pressure.
- Shears and clippers are to be used on fine green growth only, no woody stems.
- Cut diagonally across branches, not horizontally or straight across.
- Watch out for maximum cut lengths, shears are not loppers or secateurs.
- Use the base of the blades, not the tips, for heavier cuts.
Cleaning & Sharpening:
The first rule of thumb is to keep them clean & sharp... Shears, in particular, like to be sharpened with every use.
Click here for a detailed guide on how to clean and sharpen your Japanese pruning tools.