In half a century of shearing sheep, Dan Dailey has accumulated a collection of vintage shearing equipment. He demonstrates the equipment and his shearing skills several times a year for interested groups.
Dan Dailey takes about five minutes to remove nearly a year’s growth of wool from Marquina, a Merino-Cormo-Corriedale cross ewe owned by Joyce Mellot of Waynesboro, Pa. Dailey and Marquina were part of the Franklin County Friends Through Fiber team that won the 2022 sheep-to-shawl competition at the Pennsylvania Farm Show.
In half a century of shearing sheep, Dan Dailey has accumulated a collection of vintage shearing equipment. He demonstrates the equipment and his shearing skills several times a year for interested groups.
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — Dan Dailey sheared his first sheep half a century ago when he was a 4-H member. He developed his skills in his teen years, and went on to work his way through Penn State, shearing sheep on his way to a degree in animal science. He got a job as a professional shepherd, then moved on to managing a confinement hog operation, where a rampaging boar nearly cost him a leg.
After that attack, Dailey switched to less hazardous work. Today, he designs building components, mostly roof trusses, for a structural building company in Thurmont, Maryland. He designed the house he lives in today with his wife, Terry, and where their two sons, Aaron and Mark, grew up.
Although Dan Dailey owned sheep for much of his adult life, he doesn’t have any now. Both his father, Bruce Dailey (also a sheep shearer), and grandfather, Murl Dailey, were shepherds.
While the boar incident led to a change in occupation, Dailey’s preoccupation with sheep and shearing sheep did not flag and continues to this day.
He shears hundreds of sheep each year for friends, neighbors and small flock owners whose farms are convenient to the route he takes to and from his day job in Maryland. That’s more than enough to keep his skills up to date for that one extra-special sheep he encounters every year at the Pennsylvania Farm Show’s popular sheep-to-shawl competition.
Dan Dailey takes about five minutes to remove nearly a year’s growth of wool from Marquina, a Merino-Cormo-Corriedale cross ewe owned by Joyce Mellot of Waynesboro, Pa. Dailey and Marquina were part of the Franklin County Friends Through Fiber team that won the 2022 sheep-to-shawl competition at the Pennsylvania Farm Show.
He has been shearing that special sheep — a different sheep every year — for the past 15 years for a team from Franklin County that calls itself Friends Through Fiber. The spinners, weavers and sheep owners who started the team all live close to Dailey’s home, just outside Chambersburg. They call on Dailey when it is time to shear their sheep in the spring.
When those sheep enthusiasts decided to form a sheep-to-shawl team, Dailey was the only choice for the crucial first step in the event — separating the fleece from the sheep. During the competition — Wednesday afternoon of Farm Show week — the Small Arena is packed for every minute of the two-and-a-half-hour contest.
Once they get their hands on the fleece, the carders, spinners and weavers go to work to produce a 76-inch shawl, each with a unique design. Friends Through Fiber took first prize in the 2022 challenge, repeating their first-place finish of 2019. Dailey’s job isn’t over once he puts his shears away. He becomes the “PR guy” for everything sheep, circulating through the crowd answering question after question about sheep and their wool.
“After my five minutes of shearing, I go on PR duty. You’d be amazed at the questions I get. Do you eat lamb? How do you cook it? Why is wool so scratchy?” he said. “Many years, I answer so many questions that by the end of the day, I have no voice left.”
Dailey’s voice was just fine earlier this month at his Franklin County home when he talked about his collection of antique sheep-shearing tools and his knowledge of sheep lore.
Shepherds have been relieving sheep of their wool for thousands of years, at least, according to Dailey. He cites Biblical Scripture as proof.
There is a story in the first Book of Samuel, and a passage in the second verse of chapter 25, that reads: “And there was a man of Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.”
Dailey likes history, and he likes to share his knowledge of sheep-shearing history with others. He takes his traveling display to classrooms, fairs and field days several times a year.
In his talks, Dailey notes that spring-type shears have been used to shear sheep since the dawn of the Iron Age, which began around 1,000 B.C., give-or-take a century or two.
Sheep shears were the advanced technology of their time. By 1574, in Sheffield, England, cutlers — professionals who make things with sharp edges — were manufacturing sheep shears in quantity. One well-known cutler that used Sheffield steel was Robert Sorby, who started his company in 1624. The Robert Sorby company is still doing business in Sheffield. Their current catalog lists an extensive line of woodworking tools, but no sheep shears. The Sorby shears on Dailey’s demo board were made sometime in the 1900s. Dailey said it’s hard to find really old sheep shears because, being made of iron, they are gradually consumed by rust.
Dailey’s antique collection contains samples from cutlers who have been making sheep shears for centuries.
Dailey said that these tiny shears were not meant for miniature sheep. He theorizes that they were made instead for cutting threads in sewing.
Mechanized sheep shearing equipment came into widespread use in the latter part of the 19th century. By the early 20th century, some of the earliest shearing heads were already obsolete.
This Stewart No. 6 mechanized sheep shearing machine was made in 1896. It is operated by a hand crank that powers a reciprocating cutting head. It had no ball bearings, and became very difficult to crank when in use.
Dailey’s antique collection contains samples from cutlers who have been making sheep shears for centuries.
Dailey said that these tiny shears were not meant for miniature sheep. He theorizes that they were made instead for cutting threads in sewing.
Mechanized sheep shearing equipment came into widespread use in the latter part of the 19th century. By the early 20th century, some of the earliest shearing heads were already obsolete.
This Stewart No. 6 mechanized sheep shearing machine was made in 1896. It is operated by a hand crank that powers a reciprocating cutting head. It had no ball bearings, and became very difficult to crank when in use.
Many of the companies that made the classic hand-operated shears have been in business for centuries. Familiar names include Disston, Henckels and Wilkinson. Disston today is a Philadelphia company that makes precision cutting tools. Henckels is a German company most noted these days for its scissors and poultry shears. Wilkinson Sword is still in business in England where it makes Wilkinson Sword razor blades.
All are represented in Dailey’s collection, as well as more obscure brands, such as one shears from the Columbian Cutlery Co. in Reading, Pennsylvania.
lt was inevitable that somebody should come up with a way to mechanize the shearing of sheep. Hand shears are labor intensive. Even so, an experienced hand shearer can produce 80 to 120 fleeces a day. The first U.S. patent for a sheep-shearing machine with reciprocating blades — like a sickle bar mower, only smaller — was issued in 1855. By 1895, after many more patents and improvements to the original invention, shearing machines were in widespread use.
Dailey has a hand-powered, mechanized shearing machine, a Stewart No. 6, listed for $18.75 in a 1908 catalog published by the Chicago Flexible Shaft Co. The machine was made for both horses and sheep. A shearing head at the end of an articulated arm is made for sheep. A clipper head at the end of a flexible shaft took care of horses.
The machine required two people to operate, one to shear or clip, and one to turn the wheel that powered the apparatus. The size of the wheel made it a functional flywheel, but there were no bearings. When one of the cutting heads was in use, the workload on the person turning the wheel was considerable.
The Stewart No. 9, with ball bearings and an enclosed flywheel running in an oil bath, represented a considerable improvement. The 1935 Stewart catalog listed the No. 9 for $22.95, and headlined its description with the sentence: “Where Electricity Is Not Available, This Is the Machine for Flocks Up to 200 Head.”
Dailey bought his first No. 9 from a local retiring flock owner who had worn it out. Dailey got it running again, and still uses it in demonstrations. He picked up another No. 9 from an internet auction. He figured he got it at a good price, until he got it home and discovered that it didn’t have the brass tag identifying the model number and manufacturer.
“So I thought, ‘What good is it to a collector without a tag?’ and I called my dad.”
Dailey was relating his tale of woe, when his dad stopped him.
“You know what you have there?” he asked.
“That machine was made in 1943. All the brass we could produce was going to the military, to fight World War II,” his dad said.
So Dailey hung up from his weekly phone visit with his dad, satisfied that he had a rare gem, which he now calls his pride and joy.
His No. 9 remains a go-to tool for Dailey’s demonstrations, but his workhorse for his shearing customers and demonstrations is a heavy-duty electric Lister Nexus shearing machine. It can be plugged into a wall outlet or hooked up to a generator. There’s a flexible shaft running from the motor to a cutter head designed specifically for sheep.
If you want to see a pro at work, you might want to stop by the sheep-to-shawl competition at the 2023 Pennsylvania Farm Show. But you’ll have to get there early, because it only takes Dailey and his competing shearers about five minutes to get a year’s worth of fleece from each team’s sheep.
The winning woven product of the chocolate-themed sheep-to-shawl competition at the 2022 Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg looked good enough to eat.
There were virtual presentations this week of traditional Pennsylvania Farm Show events like baby ducks sliding into a tiny pond, an up-close-…
The Empire Sheep Producers Association recently provided guidance on how producers can improve their wool.
Shepherdess Joyce Bankert's love of fiber arts is more than a hobby — it's a way to connect with her community.
Antiques expert Anne Gilbert answers readers’ questions on wooden bowls, boot jacks and antique lighters.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Weekly recap of your favorite B section columns, recipes and kids’ content.