NOVAH Clipper Guards: Every Size and What It Cuts

By Elias Becker · Written and reviewed by a working barber · Updated September 2026 · 8 min read

What Length Does Each NOVAH Guard Cut?

Each guard holds the blade a fixed distance off the scalp, and the number stamped on its metal plate is the length of hair it leaves behind.

A leaves 1/16 inch, 1.5mm. 1 leaves 1/8 inch, 3mm. B leaves 3/16 inch, 4.5mm. 2 leaves 1/4 inch, 6mm. 3 leaves 3/8 inch, 10mm. 4 leaves 1/2 inch, 13mm.

The lettered guards are the half sizes. A sits between bare blade and the 1; B sits between the 1 and the 2. That placement is the whole point of them, and the next section explains why it matters more than the numbers do.

Why Do the Lettered Half Sizes Matter So Much?

Because roughly 3mm is the threshold above which the human eye stops reading a length change as a gradient and starts reading it as a step.

Look at the whole-number progression: 3mm, 6mm, 10mm, 13mm. Every jump is around 3mm or more. Cut a section at a 1 and the section above it at a 2 and you have created a 3mm change over no distance at all, which is exactly the visible line people mean when they say a haircut has a shelf in it.

The half sizes cut that jump in half. A at 1.5mm sits between the skin and the 1. B at 4.5mm sits between the 1 and the 2. Working A, 1, B, 2 instead of 1, 2 means each change is roughly 1.5mm, which falls below the threshold where the eye catches it.

This is why a kit without half sizes is harder to fade with, and why barbers talk about the half guards far more than the long ones. The long guards set the haircut. The short and half guards make it look deliberate.

Which Guards Do You Actually Use for a Fade?

A fade is built from the bottom up in short increments and blended downward, and in practice most of it happens in the bottom three guards.

A typical low to mid fade uses the A and the 1 through the lowest section, the B to bridge into the middle, and the 2 where the fade meets the length on top. The 3 and 4 are for the length itself rather than the fade, and a lot of home cuts never use them at all.

The order matters as much as the guard. Establish the lowest length first, then work upward one guard at a time, letting each pass stop slightly higher than the last. That overlap is what creates the gradient. Jumping straight from the shortest guard to the longest and hoping to blend afterwards is the most common way a home fade goes wrong.

The video above shows the sequence on a real head, which is worth watching once before a first attempt.

Do You Still Need the Taper Lever?

Yes, and this is the most useful thing on this page.

Guards set the length. The taper lever changes the length between guards. With the lever closed, a given guard cuts its marked length. Opening the lever moves the blade slightly, so the same guard now cuts a little longer, somewhere in the gap between that guard and the next one up.

That is how the remaining gaps get closed. Even working in half sizes you still have a 1.5mm step between guards, and the lever lets you land inside it without changing guard at all. A blend done well is usually one guard with the lever moving, not five guards in sequence.

Practically: make your pass with the lever closed, then repeat the same pass with the lever half open, slightly higher. The two passes overlap and the line between them softens. Guards alone will not fade. Guards plus the lever will.

What Do Guard Numbers Mean in General?

The numbering is close to standard across the industry, which is why a barber understands what you mean by a number 2 without asking whose clipper you own.

The convention runs in eighths of an inch. A 1 is 1/8 inch, a 2 is 2/8 which is 1/4 inch, a 3 is 3/8, a 4 is 4/8 which is half an inch. Longer sets continue the pattern: a 5 is 5/8, a 6 is 3/4, an 8 is a full inch.

So the number is literally how many eighths of an inch the guard leaves. Once you know that, you can convert any guard number in your head, and you never have to memorise a chart again.

Two caveats worth holding onto. The lettered half sizes are not part of that convention and vary between manufacturers, so an A on one brand is not necessarily an A on another. And the convention describes intent rather than a guaranteed tolerance, which is part of why guards from one machine should not be trusted on another.

Which Guard Should You Ask a Barber For?

Useful to know even if you never cut your own hair, because the number is the shared language.

A 1 on the sides is a short, clearly cropped look where the scalp shows through. A 2 is the most commonly requested all-over length: short and tidy, scalp not visible on most hair types. A 3 reads as short but still obviously hair, and is a common choice for growing out. A 4 is the longest in this set and leaves enough to comb.

For a fade, the number you want is the one at the top of the fade, where it meets the length. Saying you want a fade up to a 2 tells a barber the whole shape, because the bottom of a fade is understood to run down toward the skin.

One honest note on hair type: these descriptions assume straight to wavy hair. Coily and very curly hair reads considerably shorter at the same guard, because the hair coils back on itself rather than lying flat. If that is your hair, going one guard longer than the description suggests is the safer first choice.

Why Is a Guard Cutting Shorter Than Its Number?

Almost always because it is not fully seated, and it is worth checking before concluding the guard is faulty.

Check it clicks on. A guard pushed on most of the way sits slightly proud, and the blade is then closer to the scalp than the marking says. This is the single most common cause and it produces exactly the surprise of a bald patch where you expected 6mm.

Check the taper lever is closed. If the lever is open, every guard cuts longer than marked, which people usually notice as the opposite problem.

Check for hair packed behind the teeth. Compacted cut hair changes how the guard sits and how the blade meets it.

Check the guard is not warped. Plastic guards that have been dropped or left somewhere hot can distort slightly, and a warped guard cuts unevenly across its width rather than uniformly short.

One more, less obvious: the angle you hold the clipper at changes the effective length. A guard flat against the head cuts its marked length. Tilted so only the front teeth contact, it cuts shorter. That is useful deliberately and a problem accidentally.

How Do You Look After Guards?

Guards are the cheapest part of the kit and the easiest to ruin through neglect.

Brush them out after every cut. Hair packs into the teeth and behind the plate, and a packed guard does not seat properly, which takes you straight back to the previous section.

Let them dry fully if you wash them. Water trapped between a guard and the blade is how corrosion starts on the steel it sits against.

Keep them out of heat. A guard left on a radiator or in a hot car can warp enough to cut unevenly while still looking fine.

Store them in order. Trivial, but hunting for a B with a half-finished fade on someone's head is how mistakes happen. Laying the set out in sequence before you start is thirty seconds that repays itself.

Do NOVAH Guards Fit Other Clippers?

Treat the answer as no, and fit guards to the machine they came with.

Guard attachments are not standardised across manufacturers. The clip geometry, the width of the blade they sit over, and the distance the plate holds them off the blade all vary, and a guard that physically clips onto a different clipper may still not hold the length it is marked with, because that marking describes a distance from a specific blade.

The failure here is quiet, which is what makes it worth mentioning. A mismatched guard does not fall off dramatically. It sits slightly wrong and cuts slightly short, and you find out after the pass.

If a guard is lost or damaged, replacing it with the matching one is the reliable route. They are inexpensive, and a set with one substituted guard is a set with one length you cannot trust.

NOVAH Pro Clipper + Trimmer

A cordless clipper for the bulk of the cut and a trimmer for lineups, edging and detail work, sold together as one set.

View on Amazon

Frequently Asked Questions

What size is a NOVAH number 2 guard?

A number 2 leaves 1/4 inch, which is 6mm. That is measured with the taper lever closed and the clipper held flat against the head. Opening the lever or tilting the clipper will leave the hair slightly longer or shorter than the marking.

What are the A and B guards for?

They are half sizes. A leaves 1.5mm and sits between bare blade and the number 1; B leaves 4.5mm and sits between the 1 and the 2. Whole-number guards jump by roughly 3mm, which is around the point the eye starts seeing a step rather than a gradient, so the half sizes let you halve that jump and keep a blend invisible.

Which guards do you use for a fade?

Most of a low or mid fade happens in the A, the 1, the B and the 2. The A and 1 do the lowest section, the B bridges into the middle, and the 2 is usually where the fade meets the length on top. The 3 and 4 set length rather than fade, and many home cuts never use them.

Why is my clipper guard cutting shorter than it should?

Most often the guard is not fully clicked on, so it sits proud and the blade runs closer to the scalp than the marking says. Also check the taper lever is closed, that no cut hair is packed behind the plate, and that the guard is not warped from heat or a drop. Tilting the clipper so only the front teeth contact also cuts shorter than the marking.

Can you fade with guards alone?

Not cleanly. Even using the half sizes, there is roughly a 1.5mm step between consecutive guards, and that gap has to be closed by the taper lever, which changes the cutting length between guard sizes. A well-blended fade is usually one guard with the lever moving rather than a sequence of guards.

Do NOVAH guards fit other clipper brands?

Treat it as no. Guard attachments are not standardised: the clip geometry and the distance the plate holds the guard off the blade both vary by manufacturer, so a guard that physically clips on may still not cut its marked length. The failure is quiet, showing up as a pass that came out slightly short rather than a guard that falls off.

Sources

1. NOVAH guard set measurements as marked on the guards
2. NOVAH Essential Bundle product specifications
3. Milady Standard Barbering, on guard increments, clipper angle and blending technique
4. NOVAH Grooming technique notes, compiled from working barbers
5. NOVAH x Faded Culture fade tutorial, embedded above

Related Reading

• How to Blend Clipper Guard Lines Without Leaving a Shelf
• How to Do a Skin Fade at Home, Step by Step
• NOVAH Pro Clipper Review: Motor, Blade and Build Examined
• Low Fade vs Mid Fade vs High Fade: How to Choose
• NOVAH Trimmer Review: Lineups, Edging and Zero Gapping