Resistance to Nicking and No Hair Damage!

Typically, when a shear's two blades open and close the cutting edges ride against each other. Because of this the edges will often "roll" outward slightly until a mating point is reached, sometimes referred to as a "break in period". Since the motorized grinding systems used today do not polish the inside portion of the blades where they slide against each other, the rough surfaces deteriorate as the shear is operated. This quickly leads to dulling of the cutting edge. Additionally, as the cutting edges shear through hair they bend slightly. Bending that occurs inward will appear as a burr to the opposite cutting edge and result in added dulling.

Kagawa IIBOR shears have a unique cutting edge technology, Cryo425 that eliminates these issues altogether. Cryo425 technology is the subject of numerous patents, so the actual method(s) of operation will be discussed in general, only.  Cryo425 technology involves a minimum of four separate angles with a minimum of two per side. The angles on the inside of the blades (area where the blades slide against each other during shear operation) form a ride lip that is slightly behind the cutting edge, refer to figure 9 below. 

This ride lip is a surface for the blades to slide on as the shear operates, so the actual cutting edges are never touching. This preserves them for the cutting action only. The outside angles form a minimum of two surfaces for shearing through the hair shaft. The first surface has a wide angle designed to penetrate the hair without dulling. The second surface has a reduced angle, allowing the cutting edge to slide through the hair with less elongation. These same two actions take place on the inside portion of the blade as well.

The operation is easily seen in figure 10. Notice the cutting edges never make contact with each other. The mirror polished surfaces of the Cryo425 cutting edge prevents friction, allowing the blades to glide on a thin film of natural lubrication, a byproduct of the hair. Another benefit to the Cryo425 technology is avoidance of nicks. Since the sensitive cutting edges are not in direct contact with each another (blades slide on the more stable and solid blade section, ride lip), a drop typically does not lead to a nick. On Kagawa’s IIBOR Shears, all blades are crafted with the LanceMARK Blades, further reducing the likelihood of nicks. Though nicking is still possible, with the Cryo425 and LanceMARK technology, such an occurrence is rare.

Straight Blades and Mirror Finished Cutting Edges

If a shear's blades are not aligned properly the cutting edges will collide, leading to rapid dulling and even nicks. Sharpeners using motorized grinding have no mechanism for honing the outer blades straight or addressing this need. The fact that they have no mechanism for sharpening or polishing the inside of the blades is equally unacceptable, and leads to the many disadvantages already shown. Enough has been presented on this subject in the previous section(s), to qualify motorized 'sharpening' as more damaging then helpful.

Next Chapter: How Does Cutting Cause Hair Damage?