69 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome Hair Clippers, February 28, 2010
I have to start by admitting that I am a cheapskate, and I nearly always try to find the lowest-cost option when I make a purchase. In the case of hair clippers, however, there is only one option if you want the very best in quality, reliability, endurance, and over the long run, value; that option is the Oster 76 Clipper. Don't even consider wasting your money on anything else.
I grew up in the 70s and sported long shaggy hair (while I could). However, male pattern baldness began to rear its ugly head in the early 90s, and I was forced to go for shorter cuts (or else look ridiculous). My haircuts became continually shorter through the years, and evetually I settled exclusively on buzzcuts. Hence, in the mid 90s, I swore off barbers and began to cut my own hair.
Since that time, I've owned two "cheapie" Wahl clipper kits, and while these units did work, they did not deliver the quality of cut that you can only get at a barbershop or with the 76s. My haircuts now range from a 3/8" buzzcut down to occasionally shaving my head whenever I get a wild hair (excuse the pun).
As a sidebar, I've grown to love my short hairstyle because of the ease of care, tidy appearance, and the low cost involved. I also don't have to worry about making appointments and intruppting my busy schedule. Being able to cut my hair at home also saves gas, time, and money that I would otherwise have to spend at a barbershop/stylist establishment.
My hair presents two haircutting challenges: 1) The sides and back grow fairly thick, and 2) The top hair is fine and whispy and grows sparsly. My Wahl clippers would bog down when cutting the sides and back resulting in an uneven cut, and when cutting the top, they would leave several long hairs uncut even after several passes. In order to get a good-looking cut, I would have to go over, and over, and over my head, and still the cut was not perfect. I would literally spend upwards of an hour cutting my own hair.
Enter the Oster 76s! I received these clippers about 6 months ago with an 1/8" blade (being the cheapskate I am, I bought them used on Ebay for $60). Upon receiving the unit, I immediately plugged it in and put it to the test.
Folks, these clippers are awesome; I compare them to a Mack Truck. When mowing down the heavy hair on the sides and back of my head, I could not hear even a hint of the motor bogging down. Similarly to the Everready Bunny, it just kept "mowing," and "mowing," and "mowing!" This is great, I thought, but what about the hair on top of my head? My answer came in mere seconds as I completely sheared this portion of my head in one pass with only one additional pass to assure that no strays remained (actually I don't think I would have even needed the second pass). The resulting haircut was perfect with no missed spots and not one stray hair left uncut, and the entire process took maybe 10 minutes. I was amazed!
Since that time, I've purchased three more clipper blades again using Ebay (#2 which cuts 1/4", #0A which cuts 3/64", and #000 which cuts 1/50"). In the future I am going to also buy the #3 1/2 which cuts 3/8", #1 1/2 which cuts 5/32, and possibly the #00000 which cuts 1/125" (for those occasionaly headshaves). These blade sets are expensive--up to $35 each--but you can get an assortment of three or four through Ebay for around $35 or $40.
Obviously you will want to take care of the clipper unit and all your blade sets. The clippers need to be oiled once in a while, and there are places that you'll need to apply grease too (I haven't done this yet). You will also want to attend to your blades after each use. Simply use a soft brush to remove any loose hairs (be sure to clean between the top and bottom portion of the blade as this area is area sort of hard to clean). Next apply the tiniest drop of oil to each of the areas where the top and bottom portions of the blade contact each other and are subject to wear. Finally install each blade set on the clipper unit and run it for a few seconds to distribute the lubricating oil. While it might appear that this is a lot of effort, it actually only takes about a minute.
There a few other comments that I'd like to add. With continual operation (perhaps after 2 or 3 consecutive haircuts), the blade units can start to get hot (I have not encountered this problem because of the short amount of time it takes to cut my hair). You should be aware of this possiblity, though, and to remedy the problem, simply lubricate and cool the blades occasionally using Oster Kool Lube Spray (you can spray the blades while they are still attached to the clippers with the clipper motor running).
Another consideration, the Oster 76s are completely serviceable, and the owner can perform many of these tasks himself. The main power switch, power cord, clipper lever, and the two brush sets are relatively inexpensive and are fairly easy to replace.
I truely believe that this is the last set of clippers I will purchase in my life. These clippers are not "stylish" or "sleek" or "modern-looking." In fact, the 76s are the result of years of innovation beginning with the 1924 invention of the hand-operated hair clipper by the Oster Manufacturing Comany. The 76s have been around for years, and nobody has been able to improve on their time-tested history of quality, dependability, and value. You can search as far and long as you wish, but you won't find any better clippers than the Oster 76 model.
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53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tired of cheap clippers? - this is what you need., November 25, 2007
This review is from: Oster 76076-010 Classic 76 Professional Hair Clipper (Health and Beauty)
A professional grade clipper to last a lifetime.
If you're ready to step up from the cheap disposables most people try to get by with, the Classic 76 is worth considering. All of the parts are serviceable and replaceable meaning it will be around for a long time.
That said... these are huge clippers - and whether you can adjust to that or not, the size is still less than ideal. There are other models, from Oster and others, in this same price range that might be more appropriate for the average person.
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