Do clipper attachments really cut at their rated length?

Quoted from an email message to the Buzztown Barber Shop from "Dave".

Dave wrote me a message about the length that clipper guards cut hair. He believes that the clipper length attachments discussed on "The Cuts and Other Terms Defined" page of this web site do not cut hair as short as the stated measurements. If anyone can provide some more information or comments about clipper attachment lengths (and in particular the short Oster attachments), please let me know. Thanks Dave for your message.

Here are Dave's comments:

First, hair grows about 1/2" a month: that's about 1/64" per day, close enough.

If I shave my head, it takes a good 2+ days before the Oster #000 cuts anything at all. You can tell a. from the sound and b. by using the clippers over a beam of sunlite coming in the window and watching for falling "chips". I have also used the clippers and then shaved off a bit which I measured using a magnifier and a precision steel rule. Result: a tad longer than 1/32", which agrees with the above.

I don't have any #0000 electric clippers, but I do have a pair of 0000 hand clippers, which cut to about 1 day's regrowth, or 1/64".

My Wahl adjustable clippers run from "10 to 30", which I interpret as #0 to #000, the actual lengths being a bit over 1/16 for the "10" to the equivalent of the Oster #000 for the "30".

Note the discrepancy with the 1/100" and 1/250" in your tables.

In short (pun intended) the lengths claimed by the makers are all shorter than reality, the difference being more significant percentage-wise at the short end of the scale.

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