OMG...A Question

[Side Show Bob]

Hey,

I know you have used a Flowbee to cut your hair. Do you think it's possible for one to make their own?

I know a barber in San Francisco uses a homemade one, but I haven't seen it.

Also, hows the new hair coming along? Any recent photos?

Thanks

SSB

[OverMachoGrande]

Hey, man! I'm bumping this for myself! I didn't mean to take so long, but what I want to do is take some up-close pictures of the device and post them here -and I've just run out of time.

I think it'd be REALLY HARD to make one yourself, but I'd actually like to do that so I could maybe make something a little wider, or that can give me more of the cut I want.

It's an awesome device, but yeah... I'd like to look into modifying it! I'll get back to this thread hopefully tomorrow!

I actually want to start going into the "art of sylish cutting" with a flowbee-type device, too. Now that my hair is bushy, I want to do something a little longer, but I want it to look pretty trendy instead of how I looked in 1990! I don't really know how to do that, but I have some ideas.

[Side Show Bob]

Thanks. I'd be interested in hearing any suggestions you might have.

[OverMachoGrande]

Ok, I'm sorry it took so long to get back to this, but I haven't been posting much this week because I've been so busy "offline"! I also apologize for using my blackberry for pictures here instead of a decent digital camera, but since I moved, I still haven't set up "charging stations" for all of my cameras, video camera, etc., where everything is permanently docked when I'm not using them, so it's easy for me to forget to do that and run out of batteries! lol...

Ok, I think the flowbee works fantastically, but you know me... I think it'd be AWESOME if we took this to the final step that EVERYONE has in mind, and put something on your head that gives you your perfect haircut every single time! lol... Science fiction? Maybe... but we can all dream, right?

I really want some more information about the barber that made his own. See... the flowbee itself is a "one piece" unit that comines the vacuum chamber and the blades:



So, you can look at that and see that it's great at what it does. The "hair length adapters" (shown two pictures down) fits almost perfectly around those huge teeth, and it sucks the tips of the hair through those blades perfectly.

With a normal WAHL:



...I have a hard time getting my head around how it would have to look to make it so it's even CLOSE to being efficient. With the Flowbee, pretty much every strand of hair that gets sucked into those large blade openings gets cut, whereas something modified with a standard electric clippers wouldn't cut as well. Any vacuum hose you modify will still be a lot bigger area than the "teeth" of the WAHL.

Of course, with the flowbee, you also have the pre-made adapters that fit right on:



...and snap into place, and that makes the length pretty easy to "dail in".

Let me ask you something though... are you interested in trying to figure out how to make this because you are a pirate and a DIY'er at heart like me and just want to save a hundred clams, or is it because the Flowbee might not do exactly what you want it to do? If the second part is the case, it'd probably be pretty easy to just modify the flowbee itself, and that may solve a lot of problems!

Man... now you've got me thinking about how cool it'd be to have a helmet or something that would automatically cut your ALL YOUR HAIR instantly to length you wanted it! We could actually figure out how to "program in" cool hair cuts, because let me tell you... having played with the flowbee a lot and now having the hair fit to style, styling hair is very similar to a wood-working project or a craft project. You cut certain lengths and layers, and they have differing end results.

What I'm actually doing now is eliminating the "tapered blade" of the flowbee, and I'm growing the sides and the back of my hair all one length -no, not "all one length" meaning that all the hair is cut in a straight line in the bottom, but meaning that EACH STRAND OF HAIR is the same length. Meaning that each hair will be 4" long or something. This will make it look very trendy... it won't be bushy in certain areas because each hair will be on it's own "layer", and it will fall down more down the sides of your head vs. wing out.

Anyway, that's months and months before I can get it that way, and it may end up looking horrible, but what I'm going to do is try to get it where I only use two adapter sizes on my whole head... about 4" on the sides and back, and about 5" on the top. It might be that the very back of my hair ends up too long that way, but we'll see!

-John (O.M.G.)

[OverMachoGrande]

By the way, THIS is what I'm talking about with the hair cut:



If everyone could allow themselves to "get over it" for a second and just look at the hair, it seems like if you look at the sides and the back of his hair, they all may be cut pretty much like I just said. "All one length" (meaning each actual strand is the same length, like 4"), and the top of the hair (including the bangs) may be slightly longer than the rest.

I really think that's the "trick" to these sort of hair styles.

Anyway, YES... This is why I've been preaching about laser helmets coupled with hair transplants. I expect to pull off a version of this, and don't lie to me... most everyone in here -after facing the ravages of baldness for any time at all- would freaking LOVE to have hair like that! Don't lie to me, man! lol... Like I said, I think I can, but if I can't, I'll admit it, and at least I'm at the point where I can TRY. It'll take me like probably into 2010 before all the hair gets like that, though. I intend to keep cutting it so every time the hairs get more even and more even, and that's a long process considering some of the hairs on the back of my head are only about 1/2" right now.

[Side Show Bob]

OMG,

I'm interested in building a home made unit because I may save a few bucks and because it may work better. The Robocutter is available for $40 so

money isn't that big an issue but I don't want to cut much at a time. I can control things better that way. My hair is longer on top ( 4" max and tapers

down to the middle of my ears). I have no problem cutting my own hair with barber and thinning scissors and especially, with a razor comb which is

awesome. The problem is the back of my head. I need three hands and only have two. A robo cutter would solve that last problem. One hand for the mirror

and one for the cutter. I've tried making various stands for the mirror, an obvious solution. But none have worked. The problem is that my vision is

getting crappy and it's too hard to see well bouncing off 2 mirrors, no matter what I do.

As for a homemade device, I'm thinking of PVC pipe, in a 90 degree configuration, with a razor blade at the bend. As the hair is pulled around the corner, over

the razor blade, it would be cut. Adjustable legs could be attached to the input side to control length of cut. Maybe it's too simple. I'm not sure.

[Anxious1]

guys, im not sure this helps, but i have a wahl clippers like that one, and i just went to a shaving shop and found number 10 and number 12 blades, which is a good few inches. its like the ease of shaving all over , but gives the length i want without all the stuffing around and gay stuff those hairdressers or barbers do, no offense to them.

u could easily make blades for ur clippers any length u want, just cut it out of some plastic. but they sell up to blade 12.

[Side Show Bob]

Anxious1,

I'm not sure I understand. How long does the #10 and #12 blade allow the user to cut their hair?

I need about 3" max on the back side, tapering down to 1". Does the wahl cutter have some kind of guide

to adjust the length of hair it cuts?