Are the reins on your nippers touching? Does it take more effort to nip the hoof wall? It might be time to sharpen them.
Improper usage or dull blades leads to inefficient work and potential arm injuries.
“Folks that have nipper trouble tend to take big bites,” says Chris Gregory, a member of the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame. “The secret to making nipping easy is to run your nippers ¼- to ½-inch of the blade. If your nipper blades are an inch wide and you nip an inch every time, then you’re using maximum force to cut every time. When you cut ½-inch, not only is it easier to stay in line, but you use a lot less force.”
In addition to rein placement and effort, there is another telltale sign that your nippers need adjustment.
“Just hold them up and look,” Matt Lybeck explains. “You want a tiny gap, but not much. There’s quite a gap in the jaws in Figure 1.”
As nippers dull, it is more difficult to remove hoof wall. The difficulty is accompanied by a good-sized gap between the blades. “You want a tiny gap, but not much,” Lybeck says.
The Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., farrier leads the Wisconsin Farriers Association members through a 10-minute, step- by-step demonstration on how to sharpen nippers. The tool that Lybeck works on has been sharpened at least twice during its lifetime.
“That’s part of what was making the reins come together,” Lybeck says. “I don’t recommend sharpening your nippers a few times, then sending them out for a rebuild. Those guys appreciate that about as much as you enjoy the client who does their own trimming all year, but calls you each June for a ‘professional touch up.’”
Farrier Takeaways
- It’s best to be conservative when sharpening nippers to avoid removing too much material.
- Work on the angles of the nipper blades. Do not touch the flat part of the blades.
- Properly sharpened nipper blades should have a small, even gap between them.
Although removing material from the stops can make a difference, that alone won’t help in this case.
“The reins are so close together that by the time we removed it, the nippers would only be appropriate for a tremendously small person.”
Step-By-Step
Open the nippers and secure the top of the reins in a vise. The machine rivet faces away from you.
When sharpening nippers, it’s important to remember that less is more. “Things go fast,” Lybeck says. “The first thing I’m going to do is touch up my blades. It’s kind of like sharpening a hoof knife. You don’t want to mess around on the flat part. You’re just working on the angle. I splurged and bought a new file for this because it makes life better.”
Run the file away from you and across the bottom of the blade. “Just try to tickle the edge,” he explains.
4. After swiping his file across the left blade 15 times, Lybeck stops. “I’m just going to quit there,” he says while testing the blades with his thumbs. “They’re not razor sharp, but I’ve helped things a little bit.”
Lybeck turns his attention to the stops, taking eight swipes with his file. “I need to take them down a tad,” he says. “I just look at the dirty marks on them. It’s like a machinist’s layout dye. It’ll tell you where you’ve been and where you have to go yet. Because of all the leverage on the stops, a little bit of removal goes a long way.”
Lybeck removes the nippers from the vise and examines them. While progress has been made, there’s work yet to be done. “They’re getting close, and we hardly took anything off with the file,” he says. “When you barely squeeze them, the blades are touching the machine rivet side.”
He takes five more passes with the file to even the blades.
Removing the nippers from the vise, Lybeck holds the nippers up into the light. “I like this,” he says. “There’s just a little bit of an even gap between the blades so they’re not going to hit. They won’t dull each other, but I think they’ll nip pretty good.”
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