Most stylists choose shears by handle fit, weight, and length, but the edge grind matters just as much for how a shear performs at the point of contact with hair. There are three edge types you'll encounter in professional shears: smooth (beveled), convex, and micro-toothed (serrated). Each is ground differently, and that grind determines what the shear is actually good at.
Smooth (Beveled) Edges
A smooth edge is the standard bevel grind found on most general-purpose hair shears. The blade is ground at an angle down to a flat, clean edge line, similar in principle to a standard knife bevel. This produces a crisp, straight cutting line with minimal drag, which is exactly what you want for blunt cuts, precision bobs, and any technique where the cut line itself is the visual result. Smooth edges are also comparatively straightforward to maintain, since the flat bevel is a well-understood geometry for most sharpening setups. If your work leans toward clean horizontal or diagonal lines rather than soft, blended ends, a smooth edge is the reliable default.
Convex Edges
A convex edge is ground with a rounded, continuously curving bevel that tapers down to an extremely fine edge, rather than a flat angled bevel. Because there's no flat bevel plane creating a wedge, a well-ground convex edge can be honed thinner and sharper than a standard bevel while still holding up structurally, which is why convex shears are prized for effortless, low-resistance slicing through dense or coarse hair. The trade-off is maintenance. Convex grinds require specialized sharpening equipment and a sharpener with real experience in that geometry — a flat-bevel setup or an unpracticed hand can round over or flatten the curve, ruining the edge's core advantage. If you're running convex shears, it's worth confirming your sharpener actually services that grind before you hand blades over. Our guide to how professional shear sharpening actually works walks through what a qualified sharpening pass looks like, regardless of edge type.
Micro-Toothed (Serrated) Edges
Micro-toothed edges have a fine row of small teeth ground along one or both blades. Instead of slicing cleanly through the hair shaft in one motion, the teeth grip strands and distribute the cutting force across multiple contact points. This reduces hair slippage during the cut, which is why micro-toothed grinds show up most often on texturizing and thinning shears rather than cutting shears meant for defined lines. The result is a softer, more blended finish suited to removing bulk, blending sections, or softening a hard edge left by a smooth-blade cut. Because the teeth distribute wear differently than a single continuous edge, micro-toothed blades also tend to be more forgiving between sharpenings — but that same tooth structure means they are not built for blunt precision work. Using a serrated edge where you need a clean line will leave a textured, uneven result rather than the crisp finish a smooth edge produces.
Matching the Edge to the Job
- Smooth/beveled: blunt cuts, precision lines, classic bob work, straightforward maintenance.
- Convex: exceptionally sharp, low-resistance slicing; requires a sharpener skilled in convex geometry and the right equipment.
- Micro-toothed/serrated: texturizing, thinning, and blending; more forgiving to maintain, but not a substitute for a blunt-cutting edge.
Many working stylists keep at least two of these edge types on hand — a smooth or convex shear for line work and a micro-toothed thinning shear for texture — rather than trying to make one blade do both jobs. Edge type is also independent of blade length and the underlying convex-versus-bevel manufacturing question covered in our piece on what actually makes a shear a shear, so it's worth evaluating separately when you're building out your kit.
If you're comparing edge types across different shear builds, our shear collection is a reasonable place to see how smooth, convex, and micro-toothed options are typically presented side by side.