What is a Blade Drive? The blade drive is a special, flexible part of your clipper that converts the spinning motion of your motor into a side-to-side motion to move the cutting edge of your blades. This piece gets hammered against metal thousands of times per second so eventually, it needs to be replaced. As the drive wears down, it loses stiffness and consequently, power. If you're a full-time groomer, you'll probably be a ready for an update every few months.