Comb Blade Geometry

Tooth types
Toothed-model instrument

Keep count, construction, published rate, and trial together

Tooth count is one descriptor; geometry and model-specific maker data can produce different published ratios at the same count.
Apply to Comb Blade Geometry
COUNT ≠ CUT RATE
Count convention Profile + spacing Blade arrangement Rate + trial
  1. 01 Count Use the maker's counted teeth, zones, and per-blade convention.
  2. 02 Geometry Record profile, width, gaps, grooves, overlap, and escape path.
  3. 03 Arrangement Name one- or double-comb construction, orientation, and handed model.
  4. 04 Result evidence Keep any published ratio model-specific and use a controlled trial.

Do not inferCount, a tooth-name, or a retail label cannot supply a universal removal percentage, hair-type match, placement, or result.

Description

Comb blade geometry is the internal shape of the grooves between thinning-shear teeth. It shapes capture and release, but it does not set the removal rate.

Comb Blade Geometry (クシ刃の形状)

Comb blade geometry is the internal shape of the gaps between the teeth of a thinning or texturizing shear. It describes how hair is captured, held and released as the blades close. It is one construction field among several; it does not set the removal rate, which stays with the maker’s published figure for the exact model.

Quick look

  • What it is: The internal shape of the grooves between teeth on a thinning or texturizing scissors
  • Common designs: V-groove (V溝ヘッド), stepped (段刃ヘッド), flat/grooveless (フラットヘッド/溝なし)
  • Impact: How hair is captured, held and released during each closing stroke
  • Selection principle: Match the maker’s documented geometry and published rate to the finish you want

Why it matters

The groove form between the teeth shapes the cutting sensation and how the finished blend reads. Two thinning scissors with the same tooth count can feel different in use and blend differently, because the groove, the spacing and the tip profile are separate variables.

V-groove (V溝ヘッド, V-mizo heddo): a notch at the tooth tip. Each tooth tip carries a V-shaped groove or notch intended to retain one or more strands as the blades close. Joewell, Matsuzaki and Yasaka use V-groove vocabulary, and Hikari specifies V-shaped thinning teeth; Jaguar describes its own prism serration as a fine V-tooth form. Maker and educator descriptions often contrast that grip with freer-release shapes. No shared angle, depth or performance band is published, and capture also depends on groove depth and width, tooth spacing, the opposing blade, blade set and how the hair is presented.

Stepped (段刃ヘッド, danba heddo): maker-defined stages. Stepped is an umbrella term. It can describe ledges or multiple grooves on each tooth, alternating tooth lengths, or another terraced house profile. Joewell’s multi-groove steps, Naruto’s numbered multi-stage suki families and Yasaka’s stepped-tip descriptions are each documented by the maker that publishes them, but their names, stage counts and rates do not translate into one another. A diagram or close product photograph is required before treating two makers’ step systems as equivalent.

Flat / grooveless (フラットヘッド/溝なし, furatto heddo / mizo-nashi): no pronounced groove. A flat or grooveless tooth tip lacks the pronounced capture groove found on some thinning teeth. Flat and grooveless overlap but are not automatically identical, so a catalog drawing or explicit maker wording decides the label for a named model. Joewell’s grooveless HXG range alone spans approximately 15% to approximately 80%, so the construction cannot supply a rate or a “softest” rank.

Comb blade geometry interacts with tooth count, tooth spacing and tooth-tip profile to set the character of a thinning scissors. Changing one of these shifts the behavior of the tool. When selecting, read the geometry alongside the maker’s published cut rate for the exact model.

Sources and limits

The constructions are described from maker vocabulary and diagrams. Joewell, Matsuzaki and Yasaka publish V-groove or U-groove marks; Hikari specifies V-shaped thinning teeth; Jaguar uses its own prism wording; Naruto documents its numbered multi-stage families. Those are house terms, and this page does not treat them as one interoperable standard.

What the page cannot supply is a rate or a line-visibility ranking for any geometry. A published rate belongs to the exact model, and a tooth count, head name or retail label such as “blender” or “texturizer” cannot fill a missing figure. Where no rate is published, record it as unknown and test the tool on an inconspicuous section.

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Quick clarifications

Frequently Asked Questions

3 answers you can open one at a time
What are the main comb blade geometries on thinning scissors?

Three constructions are named most often. V-groove (V溝ヘッド, V-mizo heddo) cuts a sharp notch into each tooth tip; stepped (段刃ヘッド, danba heddo) uses a maker-defined ledge, stage or alternating tooth height; flat or grooveless (フラットヘッド/溝なし, furatto heddo / mizo-nashi) has no pronounced capture groove. A maker may also combine profiles or use a proprietary name. The label describes a construction, not a removal rate or a finish ranking.

How does stepped geometry differ from V-groove?

In the maker descriptions, the difference is how hair sits during the cut. A V-notch channels strands toward the cutting point at the base of the tooth. A stepped or terraced profile lets strands sit at different depths or stages, which makers present as a softer, more gradual engagement. Stepped is an umbrella word: it can mean ledges or multiple grooves on one tooth, alternating tooth lengths, or another house terraced profile, so two makers’ step systems need a diagram before they can be compared.

Why can two scissors with identical tooth counts feel different in use?

Because comb geometry, tooth spacing and tooth-tip profile all shape the character of the tool, and none of them sets the removal rate on its own. Two 30-tooth thinners can feel different when the groove form differs, and Joewell publishes several 30-tooth models at different rates depending on the tooth system. Compare the maker’s published rate for the exact model alongside the geometry rather than the count.

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Last updated: September 28, 2026 · by