[gezebelle]

I am a groomer and I am considering purchasing one of those at home blade sharpening machines. They run about $50, so it would pay for itself in one visit from the blade sharpener. Anyone have or used one of these??? opinion?

[Peaches]

I've also wondered about this. I larger chunk of the work I do is on dogs that are in absolutly deplorable condition and it creates a lot of quick wear and tear on my blades. It gets really expensive having to sharpen everything as often as I do so if I could do something like this effectivly it would definatly be worth whatever I have to pay for it.

[Graco22]

If you are talking about something like the "handi hone", don't waste your money.

I don't have to sharpen my blades but maybe 2x a year if its a favorite blade that I use alot. But I don't clip dirty dogs, unless they are pelted shavedowns. Dirty dogs will kill blades fast. Also, the better blades are worth the money and stay sharper longer. Geib, Andis, Wahl, Oster, etc...no Master Grooming Tools, and cheaper brands like that...you get what you pay for in that respect. Also, make sure you are using a good sharpener. If they aren't doing a good job, the blades will stop cutting prematurely.

[Peaches]

Dirty dogs will kill blades fast.

Tell me about it. I think it mainly has to do with the area I'm currently working in ( rather low income, farm area, poor attitude towards pets in general ), but about half the dogs that come to me aren't just matted. They have all sorts of dirt, grim, and debris caught in their fur. I've had more dogs then I would like need to be sedated simply because it would be far to painful to do anything to them while they were awake. It's very taxing on both me and my blades.

Though I had heard bad things about the self sharpeners. That it was easy to make mistakes and really screw up a blade if you didn't know what you were doing.

[Graco22]

If you haven't already tried the ceramic blades, you could give those a try. They hold their edge longer, and when they get dull, you can buy extra cutters and just slide in a new cutter, then send them all off for sharpening at once later. I know what you mean about filthy dogs. If you aren't familiar with wet shaving, this is a "newer" technique that is done while the dogs are wet in the tub and will help save your blades also, and you wont' have to wash and dry the mess before shaving them down. There is much info on wet shaving on other boards that are strictly groomers, like petgroomer.com, and the groomers lounge. Wet shaving might be a good option for you.

[Peaches]

Thanks a lot Graco. I'll be sure to check it out. I'm still rather wet behind the ears so any advice that I can get is always helpful.
I had always been taught that shaving a dog while wet would only dull the blades that much quicker so it would be interesting to read up on this and find out more.