How to Shear the Belly and Crutch with Blade Shears(hand shears)

I've had several requests to make a video on this and finally had a good chance to record something. I had to use two sheep as the first one didn't have enough wool between the legs to show a full crutch.

[@abigailmarton7636]

Thank you for sharing and teaching. You help a lot.😊

[@ianmoller6200]

Thx you for that Allen, much appreciated.

[@jeremy3679]

I have shorn a few sheep but it's not getting any better. I think my blade is not good as it takes me literally an hour to sheer one sheep, with a lot of lower back pain due to difficulty of sheering. So I have a few questions:
1. do different brand produce different quality blades?
2. I see different sizes of blades, does size matter?
3. which blades are you using? They seem to cut much better than mine, even though they are sharpened well.

[@allantheshearer]

Different brands produce different shapes of blades. Generally it's easier to learn with slightly smaller shears around 6-6.5 inch blade, these are normally more versatile as well. In the video I'm using TUS 7.25 inch shears which are great for shearing quickly once confident. I'd recommend getting some 6.5 inch shears from Shear Sharp NZ