Hair clippers and cutting your own hair

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Sam
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Hair clippers and cutting your own hair

Post by Sam »

Got my first buzz cut since I was a kid today. My crown is very thin now, and the top is more so, almost bald, and I went with a #3 blade on top with #2 blade on the side. Looks good. So I was thinking to keep up the neat appearance, a set of home clippers would be great. And to boot, my Braun beard Cruzer trimmer, a rechargeable, seems to be losing the 'oomph' and needs replacing

I have read the pros of corded vs. uncorded, and attachments and my head is spinning. Corded may be a problem, perhaps, in me doing it myself. Will be more powerful (I have thin short hair) and last longer.

I have read about the Andis Promotor Combo. Comes with the trimmer that can touch up goatee and back of neck

Philips Norelco Do-It-Yourself has swivel 180 degree head and is rechargeable.

Wahl Lithium Ion Pro Combo is a rechargeable uncorded option to the Andis

and then there are the Osters.

So I thought I would open it up to anyone that maybe cuts their own hair, buzz cut, and perhaps also trims a goatee or beard at home. Suggestions on what to get and hints to do a passable job at home. If nothing else, I need my top to stay buzzed and can look passable with the sides growing out for 4, 5 weeks. The trimmer would allow me to at least keep the top looking better between visits to the barber.
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Re: Hair clippers and cutting your own hair

Post by Gene »

Interesting idea for a thread. I have lost most of my hair on the top of my head, been thinking about doing something similar to David Spader does for the TV show Blacklist (which I really like, but that's another thread).

Would like to know if there was a way to do that myself - tired of spending money on haircuts anyway.
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Re: Hair clippers and cutting your own hair

Post by ShadowsDad »

I've been giving myself buzz cuts for maybe 15 years now. It takes me 20 minutes just to get to the barbershop, and in that same time I can have my hair removed and everything put away and cleaned up. I've been using the same $20 electric clipper for all those years.

I began giving myself buzz cuts because where I worked some of the areas I had to enter could be 140°F or more and hair was something that just made it worse. I began to mostly remove my eyebrows at the same time because they'd just collect sweat and funnel it to my eyeglasses where it would run down the lenses.

Without using any of the combs that attach to the clipper, I set the clipper to the shortest cut for the head, and slide the cutter forward for just slightly longer for the eyebrows. I no longer work there, having retired, but I still enjoy the almost complete lack of maintenance having short hair requires.
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Re: Hair clippers and cutting your own hair

Post by Ouchmychin »

I lost most of my hair many years ago. I still enjoy the trip to one of my favorite barbers too much to give it up. The best one is so meticulous he can take close to an hour on one customer. When the shop is full the wait can be all afternoon. I then go to my second favorite barber down the street. With my clumsy hands I hardly dare to trim my beard myself. I have a 60 year old Wahl clipper that still works like new but I only use it to have my wife trim my neck if I am late getting a hair cut.
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Re: Hair clippers and cutting your own hair

Post by jww »

My wife has cut my hair almost exclusively ever since we were married. Poor newlyweds couldn't afford a haircut -- and frankly I prefer it anyway. We have gone through several clippers over the years --- most of them the Costco box-store specials. And they last for a couple of years and just get replaced. We keep on looking at a higher end product like a Wahl but never seem to go there -- as the lower priced products pay for themselves in a couple of haircuts anyway. Unlike some, I still have a fairly full head of hair though..... trimming it myself isn't an option I fancy yet.
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Re: Hair clippers and cutting your own hair

Post by brothers »

Wendell, my routine is quite similar to yours (not really, just kidding) I have my hair cut regularly by the same woman that also does my wife's hair. Neither of the two of us would even come close to trusting the other to take care of each other's hair. [-X
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Sam
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Re: Hair clippers and cutting your own hair

Post by Sam »

Got a pair of Wahl corded clippers at Kohls for $35, less the $20 couppn I had and 15% off the difference, so about $13 out of pocket. Wahl color coded or color pro? Has about 8 blade guards so that should cover me and then the goatee trim.
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ichabod
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Re: Hair clippers and cutting your own hair

Post by ichabod »

Corded are definitely the way to go if my experience is anything to go by - nothing adds to your style points like running out of battery power halfway through a cut :D , plus the corded ones have a bit more oomph.

I shave my head daily now, but initially I would use my Wahl Balding clippers on a super close setting every week. I now use them on my son's head (mohawk) each week. The clippers are, I believe, a professional model (or marketed that way anyway). They're on their second set of blades (should get Chris to sharpen them. . .) and are going strong after about 7 years. Paid for themselves after about 1.5 uses, I reckon. . .
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Re: Hair clippers and cutting your own hair

Post by Janus »

ichabod wrote:Corded are definitely the way to go ...
+1, got myself one of these maybe ten years ago and never looked back. I use it once a week and would replace it in a heartbeat if it ever wears out. So much better than the supermarket stuff.

http://www.moser-profiline-shop.com/Mos ... 0-0051.htm
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Re: Hair clippers and cutting your own hair

Post by BiffBuff »

Good for you Sam! I have had the Wahl corded clippers for years. My wife used to cut my hair, but as I'm retired and she isn't yet, I felt as if it was unfair to ask her to take on this extra task. I went to the local barber and paid about $15 for a buzz cut. I definitely enjoy shorter hair (I use the Wahl number 1 clip-on) and an eighth inch buzz seemed like something I could do myself. Been doing it ever since.

So......I bought a gadget called "Mirror Go Round" that folds flat, but opens to become:

Image

It allows me to see the back of my head from every angle. I am satisfied with the results -- I too have a substantial hair loss, and decided to avoid the "comb-over" or "who does he think he's fooling?" look. The eyebrow trimming idea works for me too, although not for the same reason -- currently in my sixties and my brows (if left untrimmed) appear to be trying to pick up satellite TV. I have very little personal vanity at this stage of life, but I don't want to frighten children!
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ShadowsDad
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Re: Hair clippers and cutting your own hair

Post by ShadowsDad »

Still doing buzz cuts here. No attachments on the Wahl, just the bare cutter head. Still loving the lack of maintenance. I see no change in sight until I'm pushing up daisies and have absolutely no hair maintenance. Still have a full head of hair and I just don't care about it. It is salt and pepper near as I can figure. I still don't care. :-)

That's an interesting mirror system, but if it's a buzz cut, and all cut to the same length, it's sort of useless. Probably worth more if a buzz cut isn't desired but some sort of styled cut is done.
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Re: Hair clippers and cutting your own hair

Post by Ouchmychin »

I am bald but there are still fine hairs that grow up there but no longer than about 1/8 inch. My barber asked if I wanted him to shave it clean and I did. Since then I have started shaving the top of my head between cuts. I just smear a path down the center of the spot with my brush every few days and use my fingers to carefully smear it out to the edges. I have to be careful shaving because I am going entirely by feel. I have a 40 year old cheap Whal electric clipper that I only use to trim my mustache at my upper lip. I occasionally trim my wife's neck for her.
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Re: Hair clippers and cutting your own hair

Post by BiffBuff »

ShadowsDad wrote:That's an interesting mirror system, but if it's a buzz cut, and all cut to the same length, it's sort of useless. Probably worth more if a buzz cut isn't desired but some sort of styled cut is done.
You are correct, in principle -- I'd given myself the buzz several times before buying the mirror. On more than one occasion I had to get the clippers back out for a touch-up when my wife spotted a bit I'd missed. But you are right, it can be done without any mirror at all.
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Re: Hair clippers and cutting your own hair

Post by ShadowsDad »

Ahh, gotcha! Yes, it would be good for that. I always have the wife check me for missed spots. I also have her shave my neck.
Brian

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Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
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