What is the National Beauty Tools Sharpeners Guild (NBTSG

What is the National Beauty Tools Sharpeners Guild (NBTSG)

By Jeff Andrews, Northern Tails Sharpening

The National Beauty Tools Sharpeners Guild (NBTSG) was started years ago as an industry trade group established to advance the

knowledge and skills of beauty and grooming tool sharpeners. The organization certifies sharpeners of shears, scissors, thinning shears and clipper blades in order to establish a fair and

unbiased evaluation of their sharpening abilities. The guild also provides resources assisting certified sharpeners with support for optimum business

practices, training and the advance-

ment of the sharpening industry.

Seminars are held

in different areas of

the country allowing all sharpeners to test and hone their

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Jeff Andrews is "One of America's Favorite Sharpeners." Along with his years of grooming experience in two of his own shops, he is a "World Class Sharpener" that can sharpen all grooming equipment to better than new condition. Jeff is an author and pioneer of many maintenance and grooming video's and articles. They are for groomers who want to make their equipment last longer and save money on their sharpening costs. These videos and articles are on his website free to download and keep for reference. www.northerntails.com

abilities.

Many sharpeners promote themselves as “factory trained,” but what does that mean? To most people it likely means the sharpener was trained in every aspect of the sharpener’s job, and the company deemed them an “expert” with their products and services.

I have been factory trained by eight different companies. The factory invites you to their technical department, or they send a factory representative to your shop. They show you the procedures to maintain their products. For example, they showed how to sharpen a shear and a blade. When they are sure you understand the procedures, and can acceptably observe you performing the procedures, they give you their certification. Nothing else.

Is being certified by a factory enough? NO!

Even after being shown factory approved procedures sharpeners may develop bad techniques which lead to poor sharpening.

Perhaps it would be otherwise if the factory checked back with the sharpeners ensuring they are still restoring items to factory standards. But they

don’t.

Factory-trained sharpeners may be sharpening incorrectly because no one checks up on after initial certification from the factories. In fact there is no

continuing education. Factories have never checked up on me or even called me about my training and present status.

Enter the NBTSG

Why is the NBTSG different? To begin

with they promote continuous improvement with regular training and several levels of certification. They don’t take sharpening lightly. They offer the training to get a sharpener to a “Master Level” and beyond. It is simply up to the

sharpener to continue training and testing.

The NBTSG holds seminars and train-

ing all over the country to its members and prospective members.

Certification testing is not easy. You

have to bring tools back to factory standards within a time limit. Shears or

blades used for certification testing are bent, scratched, out of alignment and dull. The insides of blades are messed

up too.

Taking these tests you have to figure out what the problems are, and bring shears or blades back to the same con-

dition it was when it was manufac-

tured. So why am I bringing up the fact that the NBTSG exists? Any sharpener that becomes a member, takes the training and gets certified is not only held to a high standard, but regularly encouraged to maintain their high standards. You can feel very confident when you give your tools to them sharpening. They will not destroy your tools like so many have done to you in the past.

The NBTSG has several levels of certifi-

cation. The first level is “Journeyman.” It means a passing score in sharpening shears or clipper blades.

The next level is “Certified.” This means

a passing score in sharpening and repair of shears or clipper blades.

The “Master” level represents a superior score was accomplished in sharpening and repair for shears or clipper blades.

The top level is “Grand Master” when the sharpener obtained a superior score to become a “Master” in both

shears and clipper blades. The next time someone comes into

your shop and asks if they can sharpen your tools, think twice. Remember this article and what you learned about the NBTSG.

Now you have information about the standards of training and certification. Protect your investment in your expensive tools. I would trust a sharpener who has undergone continuous improvement training and testing and can prove it with documentation. Are you sure being factory- trained is adequate for you. I am not advocating that you should only use NBTSG sharpeners. There are good sharpeners out there who don’t belong to the NBTSG. However I would trust NBTSG members to sharpen my

tools any day of the week. Sharpeners that rely on their past “factory trained” designation and have no recent continuing education are a cause of concern. If they don’t do a

good job your tools may pay the price. Ask about their training status. You have the right to protect your tools. You