V-Tooth
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 V-Tooth
- 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 V-tooth is a thinning tooth with a V-shaped notch at the tip. The notch is a capture shape, not a rate; the maker's figure for the model sets removal.
V-Tooth (V溝ヘッド, V-mizo heddo)
A V-tooth is a thinning tooth whose tip carries a V-shaped notch or groove, intended to retain strands as the blades close. Makers such as Joewell, Matsuzaki, Yasaka and Hikari use V-groove vocabulary for it. The notch is a capture shape, not a rate: the maker’s published figure for the exact model sets how much hair comes out.
Quick look
- What it is: V-shaped grooves or notches at the tips of the teeth on a thinning blade
- Grip: The capture shape makers most often describe as gripping; the rest of the head still sets the working result
- Best for: Judged from the model’s published rate and its own drawing
- What it does not supply: a removal rate or a line-risk ranking
Why it matters
The V-tooth (V-groove) is a notched tooth head used by several makers of thinning and texturizing shears. Each tooth tip carries a V-shaped groove or notch, creating a comb-like pattern. When the blades close, hair caught between the teeth is cut, and hair sitting in the gaps passes through uncut.
Maker and educator descriptions give the V-shape a defining characteristic: grip. The angled walls are described as channeling hair inward toward the cutting point so strands do not slide out before the blades close. Those descriptions explain a mechanism; no comparative test located in the knowledge base establishes that a V-groove is the world’s most common tooth form, that it leaves the most visible lines, or that it is universally correct for dense hair. Capture also depends on groove depth and width, tooth spacing, the opposing blade, blade set and how the hair is presented.
Cut rate and tooth count
V-tooth thinners are made across a wide range of tooth counts and cut rates, and the count alone does not set the rate. Hikari’s 721 carries 30 V-shaped teeth and its 724 carries 40, and both are published at 40%. Joewell publishes several 30-tooth models at approximately 15%, 20% and 30% depending on the tooth system. Use the maker’s figure for the exact model.
Practical considerations
Hair sitting in the gaps passes through uncut, so the transition between cut and uncut strands can read as a line if the angle drifts between passes. On fine or silky hair, test on a small section first, or keep the passes deeper in the interior where any line stays covered. Multiple light passes are easier to control than one heavy closure.
Related links
Sources and limits
The construction is described from maker material and secondary guides. Joewell, Matsuzaki and Yasaka publish V-groove marks; Hikari specifies V-shaped thinning teeth and publishes the model rates quoted above; Jaguar describes its own prism serration as a fine V-tooth form. The external guides listed in the knowledge base are secondary sources, and their framing of V-teeth as the aggressive option is educator language rather than a measured comparison.
What the page cannot supply is a rate from the word V, or a universal rule about which hair it suits. Rate and line visibility belong to the exact model, the section, the placement, the angle and the number of passes. Where a maker publishes no rate, record it as unknown.
See Also
Frequently Asked Questions
3 answers you can open one at a timeWhy does the V-tooth grip hair so firmly during the cut?
Each tooth has a V-shaped notch cut between it and the next, and maker and educator descriptions say the angled walls channel hair inward toward the cutting point and hold it there as the blades close. That is a description of mechanism, not a measured ranking: no comparative test has established that a V-notch grips better than every other profile or that it is universally correct for dense hair. Grip also depends on groove depth and width, tooth spacing, the opposing blade, blade set and how the hair is presented.
What cut rates do V-tooth thinners come in?
A wide range, and the tooth count alone does not set the rate. Check the maker’s published cut rate; Hikari’s 721, for example, is listed at 40%.
When should V-tooth thinners be avoided?
On fine or silky hair where marks would be visible. The strong bite that makes V-teeth excellent for thick hair also creates a sharp transition between cut and uncut strands that shows up as visible lines on delicate hair. For fine-hair clients, test the thinner on a small section first, or keep the V-tooth for the interior of the cut where any lines stay hidden under longer hair on top.
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