Clipper Woes- mechanical advice needed.

[Plainandtall]

backstory- my clippers did this to me last year- somehow I managed, I forgot they needed servicing- never got an answer to what the problem was- fast forward to today…

Bring in the old man (I gave him a full bath to 2 days ago in prep for this clip) Fire up the old gold osters and put the oil and blade lube where it goes.
Start clipping him- everything is clipping great. take some breaks to let things cool and re-oil etc. Get 2/3 of the way through the job and the clippers stop cutting. Motor is humming along like normal- everything looks and sounds normal but the clippers will not cut one hair- they just smush into the hair and stick there.

Let me clarify- they are cutting perfect one second- and the next second they don’t cut any hair. not. a. hair.

Let me clarify also- I’ve used clippers with blades that needed to be sharpened- they cut bad…but they cut some… these blades cut BEAUTIFULLY and then not at all.

So I take the blades out- flip up the little drive spring, take off the square nut… brush out, wipe down everything as best I can- put it all together again- oil it up again and it won’t cut. a. hair.

deep breath (horse looks horrible got to get this fixed!)

take it all apart again- this time I also take off the top tensioning plate where the oil hole is- brush and wipe and pick everything I can- put it back together- fire it up- it cuts BEAUTIFUL for about 4 feet of clipping- and boom- once again- motor purring along and it will not cut a single hair.

Does anyone know what could be going on that it causing this sudden reason for the blades to stop cutting?

[goodhors]

Is the top blade still moving, yet won’t clip the hair? Or you have no blade movement? You said you have tightened the tension screw a little, correct?

[Plainandtall]

Everything sounds normal, feels normal, looks normal, everything appears to be functional and I can not perceive any change from one moment to the next- but one moment it’s clipping like an army barber shop on induction day - and the next moment it’s like a warthog in a barbedwire pit. It goes from perfect clipping to nothing at all in the blink of an eye without any noticeable change in anything except total failure to cut hairs. I’m stumped!!!

[jumpermom]

I have an Andis clipper. Something like that means I have to replace the blade drive. If I remember correctly,I usually remove the blade, flip the tab that blade sits on, take off the small cover just below it, and check the blade drive. In the Andis it is a little clear plastic piece that basically moves the blades back and forth. Two small screws hold it in place. It never looks worn or even different from the new ones. But it makes a difference! I don’t know if the Oster version would have something similar.

[hosspuller]

The Oster blade drive is a plastic arm on a pivot. Look to see if anything is broken. The next item is look at the blade holder clip. make sure it’s holding the blade to the blade drive arm.

[phoebetrainer]

Have you got a second set of blades? I used a freind’s clippers a lot one year and they did this with every horse!!! I changed the blades to the other set and they’d work again fine. When I went to buy my own clippers I made sure not to buy that brand!!!

[WNT]

If they are old gold Oster/Sunbeam type clippers, the drive assembly is a big spring steel affair; I have seen them break before but the blades stop moving completely. It would be possible it is worn out and lost some of its spring, I suppose.

Could your tension knob be working loose? I feel like this happened to me with my Oster clipmasters and I threw my hands in the air and started using my Andis AGC 2 speeds. Never did follow up on the big clippers.