Tooth Tip Profiles
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 Tooth Tip Profiles
- 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 tooth tip profile is the shape at the end of each thinning tooth. Makers name the shapes themselves, and the profile alone does not set removal rate.
Tooth Tip Profiles (V, U, rounded)
A tooth tip profile is the shape at the end of each thinning tooth, where it first meets the hair. Makers name these shapes with their own vocabulary: V-groove, U-groove, flat or grooveless, prism, rounded and proprietary forms. The profile is a construction field; it does not set the removal rate on its own.
Quick look
- V-notch and V-groove: the capture shape most makers name; Joewell, Matsuzaki, Yasaka and Hikari use V vocabulary
- U-groove: a rounded channel, marked separately by Matsuzaki from its V-groove and grooveless heads
- Flat or grooveless: no pronounced capture groove; Joewell’s grooveless range spans approximately 15% to approximately 80%
- Rounded and proprietary heads: maker-specific rounded tips and compound geometry; ask for the drawing
- What none of them supply: a removal rate, a line-risk ranking or a hair-type prescription
Why it matters
The tooth tip (歯先 / クシ先) is where a thinning or texturizing shear first contacts the hair, so its form affects how strands are captured and released. Maker and educator descriptions often contrast the grip of a V-shaped notch with freer-release shapes. Those descriptions explain a mechanism; they are not measured outcomes. No comparative test located in the knowledge base establishes that one profile leaves the most visible lines, is softest, or suits a given hair type.
What each maker-marked shape describes
- V-notch or V-groove (V溝ヘッド, V-mizo heddo): a V-shaped groove or notch at the tooth tip, intended to retain one or more strands as the blades close. Joewell, Matsuzaki and Yasaka use the term; Hikari specifies V-shaped thinning teeth; Jaguar describes its own prism serration as a fine V-tooth form. No shared angle, depth or performance band is published.
- U-groove (U溝): a rounded channel or notch at the tip. Matsuzaki’s tooth-mark glossary separates U-groove, a rounded/radius U variant, V-groove and a grooveless head, but supplies no radius, channel width or removal band. The claims that U-groove is a middle path or carries a low line risk have no comparative test behind them.
- Flat or grooveless (フラットヘッド/溝なし, furatto heddo / mizo-nashi): no pronounced capture groove. Joewell’s grooveless HXG models alone span approximately 15% to approximately 80%, so the word predicts very little about rate.
- Prism and proprietary heads: Jaguar’s prism serration, Yasaka’s prism-cut comb tip and maker-specific rounded tips are house vocabulary. Each needs its own drawing and published rate before it can be compared with another maker’s shape.
- Compound or zoned heads: more than one profile, spacing or removal zone on the same tool. Record each zone separately.
What changes the result
Tip shape interacts with tooth width and spacing, groove form, head geometry, opposing blade, blade set, orientation, section, angle and the number of passes. Two models sold under the same tip name can publish very different rates, and the same count can sit behind different figures. Compare the exact model’s published rate and its own drawing, then test on a strand.
Service notes
Complex tooth profiles should go to a sharpener who can identify and preserve the original geometry. Ask how the tip features will be protected, and keep the pivot tension set to the maker’s specification so the teeth meet cleanly rather than catching.
Related links
Sources
- Wolff Industries: What Are Thinning Shears and When to Use Them (https://wolffindustries.com/blogs/technical-blog/choosing-the-right-scissors-for-barbers-and-stylists-buying-guide)
- Mizutani: What Is Texturizing Shears? (https://mizutaniscissors.ca/)
- Sam Villa: Haircutting Thinning Shears Guide (https://www.samvilla.com/blogs/hair-tutorials/texturizing-thinning-or-blending-shear-which-to-use)
- Jatai: Thinning Shears vs Texturizing Shears (https://jatai.net/)
Sources and limits
The profile vocabulary on this page comes from maker material: Joewell, Matsuzaki and Yasaka publish V-groove and U-groove marks, Hikari specifies V-shaped thinning teeth, and Jaguar uses its own prism wording. Retail and educator pages add descriptive language on top of those terms. None of it is a dimensional standard, and the four external guides listed above are secondary sources rather than maker specifications.
What the page cannot supply is a rate, a bite ranking or a hair-type rule from a tip name. Where a maker publishes no rate, record it as unknown. No comparative performance ladder and no count-based outcome is claimed for these profiles, because none is sourced.
See Also
Frequently Asked Questions
3 answers you can open one at a timeWhich tooth tip profile has the strongest bite on thick hair?
V-shaped profiles are the ones maker and educator descriptions most often associate with grip, because the notch channels strands toward the cutting point as the blades close. That is a description of mechanism, not a measured ranking: no comparative test has established that a V-notch is universally correct for dense or coarse hair. Tooth width and spacing, groove form, blade set, section and angle all move the result, so compare the exact model’s published rate.
Which tip profile suits fine hair?
None follows from the tip name. Rounded and proprietary smooth-entry profiles are the shapes makers most often position for soft blending, and U-groove marks are documented by Matsuzaki, but the claims that U-groove is a middle path or that rounded is the lowest-marking option have no comparative test behind them. Work on an inconspicuous section first and use multiple light passes rather than one heavy closure.
Does tooth count change how a tip profile performs?
Tip behavior shifts with tooth count, spacing and the rest of the head, which is why a strand test is worth the minute it takes before using a new thinner on a client. Count alone does not predict the rate: Joewell publishes several 30-tooth models at different rates, and Hikari’s 721 and 724 publish the same 40% at 30 teeth and 40 teeth. Keep the maker’s figure attached to the exact model rather than to a count band.
Comments & questions
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