Step Comb
Tooth typesKeep 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 Step Comb
- 01 Count Use the maker's counted teeth, zones, and per-blade convention.
- 02 Geometry Record profile, width, gaps, grooves, overlap, and escape path.
- 03 Arrangement Name one- or double-comb construction, orientation, and handed model.
- 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
A step comb is a thinning tooth head with a maker-defined stage or ledge. Stepped is an umbrella term; the exact model's published rate sets removal.
Step Comb (ステップヘッド/段刃ヘッド, suteppu heddo / danba heddo)
A step comb is a thinning tooth head with a maker-defined stage, ledge or alternating tooth height, so the teeth are designed to meet the section in sequence rather than all at once. Stepped is an umbrella term rather than one geometry, and the maker’s published cut rate for the exact model is the figure that describes removal.
Quick look
- What it is: A thinning tooth head with a maker-defined step, ledge or alternating tooth height, so hair is caught in stages
- Grip: Progressive by design; the stages are meant to engage the hair at different points during blade closure
- Best for: Where the maker designs the model for softer thinning lines; check the stated use and the published cut rate
- Result: Depends on the model and its published rate; test on a small section first
Why it matters
Stepped is an umbrella term. Depending on the maker it can describe ledges or multiple grooves on each tooth, alternating tooth lengths, or another terraced house profile, and the names, stage counts and rates do not translate between makers. Joewell documents multiple stair-like grooves on a single tooth; Naruto documents numbered multi-stage tooth and comb families; Yasaka uses step language at the comb tip for two products with very different published rates. A diagram or close product photograph is required before treating two makers’ step systems as equivalent.
Where a head does use graduated heights, the design intent is a staggered cutting action: taller teeth or an earlier stage catch hair first, and the next engages slightly later, spreading the cut across the closing stroke instead of concentrating it at one point. That is the maker’s stated mechanism. Line visibility has not been independently measured across profiles, so treat a claim of softer lines as a claim to test rather than a property of the word step.
How it compares
It is not a fixed middle tier. Yasaka’s two stepped-tip models sit at approximately 65% and approximately 20–25%, and Joewell’s S3T-30 is listed at approximately 30% against approximately 20% for the two-groove S2T-30 in the same family. Removal per pass and how much a line shows depend on the model’s tooth count, spacing and published cut rate, so compare those rather than the profile name.
Related links
Sources and limits
The stepped family is described here from maker-published material: Joewell’s multi-groove steps, Naruto’s numbered multi-stage tooth and comb families, and Yasaka’s stepped-tip descriptions. Those systems are independently documented, but they are house systems, and this page does not translate one maker’s stage count or rate into another’s.
The page gives no rate and no line-risk ranking from the word step. The rates quoted belong to the named models. Where a maker publishes no rate, record it as unknown and strand-test the tool.
See Also
Frequently Asked Questions
2 answers you can open one at a timeHow is a step comb meant to reduce visible thinning marks?
Makers describe the staggered contact as the mechanism. Where a uniform head brings every tooth to the section together, a stepped or multi-stage head is designed so taller teeth or an earlier stage catch hair first and the next engages slightly later, spreading the cut across the closing stroke. Treat that as the maker’s design intent: line visibility has not been independently measured across profiles, and it also depends on the model’s rate, section, placement and number of passes.
Where does step comb sit between V-tooth and flat profiles?
It is not a fixed middle tier. Stepped is an umbrella term that can mean ledges or multiple grooves on a tooth, alternating tooth lengths or another house terraced profile, and makers publish very different rates under it. Removal per pass depends on the model’s tooth count, spacing and published cut rate, so compare those rather than the profile name.
Comments & questions
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