MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Welcome to the National Shear Sharpeners Guild

Our mission is to:

*Establish the highest standards of hair shear sharpening excellence

*Offer the highest form of education to sharpeners, by the Top Master Sharpeners in the industry

*Provide stylists with a reliable source of qualified professional sharpeners.

-Nick Cutter, Grand Master Sharpener

2010 Seminar

November 6-9th in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Stratosphere Hotel! Stratospherehotel.com or 1-800-99-TOWER

Register NOW!  (Prices good until Sept. 30, 2010.)

NSSG Registration

Rooms package:(Group code C-NSSG)
Nov 6th $69.00, 7th $29.00, 8th $29.00

Prizes!
1st place $2,000.
2nd place $1,000.
3rd place Jewel tool

(Three highest scores win. Certification & Master status will require usual points. Competition entrance only is allowed. All instructors within the past 5 years are ineligible to win prizes.)

Sat Nov 6th
6PM-8PM Check in at the Stratosphere Buffet Restaurant.
(If you would like to dine there the adult dinner is $19.99)

Sun Nov 7th
8:30AM-10:00AM Uwe Eickert - Shear evaluation
10AM Sharpening 101 ALL DAY is being divided into two sections. Please indicate on your registration so we may have the correct amount of space available.

101 Beginners: If you have never sharpened before. Instructor Nicki Cutter
101A Back to Basics: If you are working a year or less, this is the class for you. Instructor Sidney Rubenstein

10AM-noon Remaining groups will rotate between:
1. Jason Pintel - honing, setting, and edging by hand (no machines)
2. Uwe Eickert - honing, setting, and edging as done in the factory
3. Nick Cutter/Roger Kaye - honing, setting, and edging on a variety of machines
12:00-1 Lunch will be provided
1:00-5:00 Continue rotation

Mon Nov 8th
9:00-11:00 Ewe Eickert - Metallurgy
11:00-12:00 Sales & Marketing
12:00-1:30 Lunch - not provided, you are on your own
1:30-2:30 Haircutting, Stylists terminology
2:30PM-4:30PM Competition/Certification
2:30PM-4:30PM Non-competitors "Show & Tell Roundtable". Q&A, Bring problem scissors, marketing materials.

*Competitors will be provided individual help from instructors during the sales and marketing and haircutting classes.

Tues Nov. 9th
9am-Noon
Vendor show
Competition winners announced.

2010 Convention Details:

Sunday Grand Master Sharpener and 5th generation shear manufacturer - Uwe Eickert - shear evaluation - Knowing whats wrong is essential to proper repair. Uwe will discuss how to identify real and potential problems with scissors. Part of this presentation will address how the judgeing of competition scissors is done.

Uwe, Nick and Jason Pintel will demonstrate all aspects of sharpening, setting, honing and edgeing in 3 simultanious workshops. Each group (seperated by experience level) will attend a 2 hour session with each of the 3 instructors. Beginners will be treated to an all day hands on class with Roger Kaye, Sidney Rubenstein. Bring your machine and tools if possible.

Monday afternoon Show and Tell. You become the instructor. This is the time to share ideas and tips, marketing ideas, problem scissors and solutions.

2010 Seminar

November 6-9th in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Stratosphere Hotel!

After 2 days of intense class work covering all aspects of shear design, manufacturing, sharpening and maintenance there is a testing & certification process offered to those who are ready to have their skills evaluated. Each participant is issued 2 extremely damaged scissors to restore to working order and appearance. A designated person from the J.A. Fleuridas Corporation will collect the shears and anonymously hand them to the judges. A team of judges scrutinize each entry and gives a detailed evaluation of their work. Some obtain a "certified sharpener" status, some qualify as a "Master sharpener" and some are invited to keep practicing and come back next year and try again. The NSSG sets the bar for excellence in the sharpening industry through education, innovation and appreciation of our craft.

2009 Seminar

Thanks to everyone who came to Las Vegas for the NSSG for making this seminar one of the greatest!!
-- The Fleuridas Family

Pictures from previous certifications

Uwe Eickert:

Uwe has a bachelors in Mechanical Engineering, with a minor in Metallurgy. He spent many years working in the plastics industry, then founded Arius Corp, a cutting tool manufacturing company. Uwe has built up several companies, profitably selling all of them. Uwe finished his MBA in 2008, specialzing in corporate finance and valuations. Uwe is currently president of EBITDA Inc and CEO of Academy Games. In 2008 was named one of 4 "Grand Master Sharpener" by the NSSG

Nick Cutter:

In 2008 was one named "Grand Master Sharpener". Nick Cutter of EdgeMaster USA has been involved with the NSSG since 1994 in which he Certified Master Sharpener. He has since been serving as certified judge and authorized hands on trainer for the NSSG. Nick shares his experience creating the ARC scissor for Paul Mitchell's Robert Cromeans and the Top Blade scissors for Adam Shuman of Farouk Systems. He most recently designed a scissor line for the Enjoy Hair Care Company. In 2009 was named President of the NSSG.

Jason Pintel:

Mr. Pintel has been teaching the fine art of sharpening for more than twenty-five years and has taught sharpening professionals from all over the world. A top stylist himself with over forty-four years of experience in the beauty industry, Mr. Pintel knows a stylist's livelihood is dependent upon the performance of the tools he or she uses. It was his quest for better shear performance though enhanced sharpening techniques which lead him to develop his sharpening methods. Mr. Pintel is a much sought after consultant to shear manufactures all over the world. His years of industry experience combined with his knowledge of state-of-art industry tool design and styling techniques, gives him an unsurpassed level of insight into needs and wants of customers in the beauty trade.

Sidney Rubinstein:

Sidney started as a Hairstylist in New York and Boca Raton FL. He then started sharpening professionally part time in 1981 and then full time in 1997. He earned his Certified Master Sharpener in 2008.

Roger Kaye:

Going into scissor sharpening was easy, but learning scissor sharpening took years. Honing his skills was a journey. When he started, there were only 3 people in the USA, who he knew sharpened scissors. No one was teaching anything. So he had to just figure it out. He built his very first scissor-sharpening machine by re-working a belt sander style-sharpening machine for sharpening knives, and sharpened scissors on it for 17 years. He later learned scissor sharpening from companies like Joewell & Buttercut. In 1997 he invented a scissor-sharpening machine, which has now become the benchmark for all other sharpening machine companies.

Nicki Cutter:

You could say she's a 'nic' off the old edge. The daughter of Nick spent days hanging around dad's sharpening shop as a young girl. And now has been sharpening hair shears for over 3 years. She trained side by side dad for an entire year, and in 2008 became the first female to Certify Master Sharpener. She has since been assisting as instructor and judge NSSG and enjoys being part of the family business. She is now an advocate for female sharpeners and would tell them "It's not just for the boys anymore."

Certified Sharpeners:

Arizona

Michael Barker

Glendale, AZ
602-770-1222

Arkansas

Doug Crabtree

Little Rock, AR
501-224-1132

California

Nick Cutter

San Diego, CA
888-EDGEMASTER (888-334-3627)
www.edgemasterusa.com
Email: info@edgemasterusa.com
Facebook

Nicki Cutter

Temecula/East County San Diego
800-974-6425
www.edgemasterusa.com
Email: edgemastersocal@yahoo.com
Facebook

Steve De Caccia

Vallejo, CA
707-554-3238

Richard Fanfa

Frank Hegedus

Corralitos, CA
831-761-2625

Robert Kornhandler

Santa Barbara, CA
805-963-1212

Vic Mastrella

Newbury Park, CA
805-498-0734

Kevin Morgan

Robert Oh

Pro Sharp Edge
Irvine, CA
949-933-6153

Sidney Rubinstein

Los Angeles, CA
800-725-3246
www.ExpertSharpeners.com

Chris Saruwatari

Victorville, CA
800-869-5132

Connecticut

Stephen Wisniewski

Sandy Hook, CT
800-937-6609
Email: stephensrapidedge@hotmail.com

Florida

Joel Rayman

877-220-3155

Idaho

Craig Cazier

Shelley, ID
(208)-680-3351
precisionsharpening.net

Illinois

Dennis Brooks

Decatur, IL
217-422-0911

Larry Brooks

Decatur, IL
217-422-0911

Mike Robertson

618-487-5036

Indiana

Jay Grunewald

Munster, IN
219-836-2629

Robin Neighbors

Evansville, IN
812-428-0368

Kansas

John Drew

Belle Plaine, KS
620-488-3638

Craig Swanson

Shawnee Mission, KS
913-441-2795

Kentucky

Kevin L. Buck

Shear AdvantEdge
Harrodsburg, KY 40330
859-613-3354
Email: shearadvantedge@hotmail.com

Louisiana

Robert Sheets

2 Sharp, Baton Rouge, LA
866-Mr-Sharp (677-4277)
www.MasterSharpener.com
Email: Rob@MasterSharpener.com
Facebook

Massachusetts

Bud Raithel

Diamond Edge Sharpening, Burlington, MA
781-706-0562
Email: DiamondEdge1@hotmail.com

Frank Hall

Everett, MA
617-571-2325
Email: HallSHARP@msn.com

Michigan

Barry Chapman

Mason, MI
517-243-0001

Jerry Bushman

The Scissor Professionals, Farmington Hills, MI
866-401-3343

Joel Rayman

Fenton, MI
810-750-6711

Missouri

John Toscano

Fenton, MO
800-547-4277

Nebraska

Fred Reppert Jr

Sharp Edges by Reppert Carbide, West Point, NE
Shop: 402-372-3096
Cell: 402-372-6128

Nevada

Charles Compton

Las Vegas, NV
702-452-0599

New Hampshire

Allan Crowther

The Shear Sharp, Inc., NH
603-424-4980
Email: A0007CROW@aol.com

New Jersey

Robert Armswood

Wall Township, NJ
908-216-3688

Jack Fleuridas

Patterson, NJ
973-263-9144

John Margherita

Franklin Lakes, NJ
201-848-6161

John Voshell

Cherry Hill, NJ
800-338-0805

Paul Wolfe

The Sharper Edge, NJ
609-841-0892
Email: SharperEdgeShears@comcast.net

New York

Mark Bertsche

M&M Sharpening, Warrensburg, NY
Serving upstate NY from Albany to the North Country
518-260-5916
Email: mbertsche@verizon.net

Carlos Guerra

Scissors Edge
615 Harlem Rd, West Seneca, NY
Shop: 716-821-0070
Cell: 716-903-8385
www.scissorsedge.info

Paul Naused

Shear Savvy
Albany, Poughkeepsie New York Area
877-214-3552
www.shearsavvy.com

North Carolina

Neil Brunck

Neil's Rapid Edge
734 Silverleaf Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28217
704-521-8480
www.neilsrapidedge.com
neilbrunck@netscape.net

Cecil Tabor

East Bend, NC
336-699-2011

Ohio

Kevin Sutyak

Parma, OH
440-845-6611

Ken Buken

A Plus Certified Sharpening, OH
Serving Southwestern Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeastern Indiana
513-777-1711

Oregon

Joe Carson

BJ's Rapid Edge, Portland, OR and Southwest WA
360-696-4957
Email: bjsrapidedge@comcast.net

Pennsylvania

Gerry Charney

Mars, PA
724-355-0373

Texas

Mark Holt

Houston, TX
832-656-6085

Emilio Morales

Austin tx. 78729
512-466-6201
Emiliom454@gmail.com

Graham Stuckey

Austin, TX
512-791-9673

If you have evidence of being a Master Sharpener or Guild Member from the past, please contact us.

Our mission is to:

NSSG

The NSSG sets the standard, educates and qualifies shear sharpeners to be knowledgeable and skilled in their profession. Attendees are trained by industry professionals to restore worn and damaged shears to their original brilliance. Individuals can choose to pass a rigorous test to earn the title of certified or master sharpener. Cosmetologists can rest assure that they are dealing with a professional that knows the specialized techniques required for TODAY'S high tech cutting tools.

NSSG meets once a year for hands on education, demonstrations on equipment, scissors and also culminates in a sharpening certification.

The NSSG is hosted by the J.A. Fleuridas Corporation. J.A. Fleuridas is a company that has been in business for over 20 years. It was originated by Master Shear Sharpener, Jack Fleuridas.

Jack Fleuridas:

Jack started in the beauty salon industry in 1956 selling hairdryers for Ullman Industries. In 1958 he went to work for Bonat Inc a manufacturer of permanent waves, shampoos and other hair treatments along with hairdryers as their North East sales representative. (New England States and New York) .In 1971 he was promoted to Marketing Manager and moved to New Jersey. As time went on he became Vice President of Marketing and also general manager of Bonat of Canada. In the early 1980's Bonat purchased Select Brandsat. At which time, he was appointed general manager of Select brands. He ran Select Brands until 1987, when he quit to start the J. A. Fleuridas Company.


Contact Information:

J.A. Fleuridas Company, Inc
7 Cooper Landing RD
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034

Phone: (800) 338-0805
Or 760-842-5418
Fax: (856) 216-7240
Email: info@nssg.biz

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