OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

122289 John Lederer <john@j...> 2003‑09‑25 Sharpening scissors
I have an old pair of scissors that say "C.W. Dahlgren Eskilstuna" that 
I use in the shop.  They used to cut very well, until I used them on  
fiberglass.

I was going to resharpen them...and realized I really don't know a good 
method -- I have always followed my Mother's advice of cutting aluminum 
foil to sharpen scissors, but I suspect something more is needed here.

What is a good method?  Is there a scary sharp equivalent for scissors? 
Is the dulling process similar to that of a chisel or plane blade, or is 
it different?

And while I am at it.. ...why are some scissors so much better 
than others? Some seem to keep the alignment of the two edges  perfectly 
regardless of the load, while others don't, yet casual observation 
doesn't indicate any great difference in the method of attaching the two 
blades.

 My wife cuts the family hair -- she sees it as a time when the kids 
(and me I guess)-- can't really duck questions. I have twice bought her 
expensive hair scissors. Both times she has reverted to an old pair of 
German scissors, and I have to admit that they cut better than the 
expensive new ones I bought, yet I don't understand why.

Any scissors dynamics experts out there?

Regards,
John Lederer
Oregon, Wisconsin


122293 Jim Thompson <jdthompsonca@s...> 2003‑09‑25 Re: Sharpening scissors
I have no clue as to the "right way" to sharpen scissors. But I sharpen 
them all the time around this house. I have a medium grit diamond plate 
3" X 8" that I use. I carefully place the scissor blade on the plate at 
the already established angle and then just sharpen away until I get a 
slight burr. SWMBO is quite happy with the results. We sort of collect 
old scissors for her sewing stuff. Quality old ones seem to be better 
than the new stuff. Some of the old scissors have laminated blades much 
like old planes.

On Thursday, September 25, 2003, at 03:13  AM, John Lederer wrote:

> I have an old pair of scissors that say "C.W. Dahlgren Eskilstuna" 
> that I use in the shop.  They used to cut very well, until I used them 
> on  fiberglass.
>
> I was going to resharpen them...and realized I really don't know a 
> good method -- I have always followed my Mother's advice of cutting 
> aluminum foil to sharpen scissors, but I suspect something more is 
> needed here.
>
> What is a good method?  Is there a scary sharp equivalent for 
> scissors? Is the dulling process similar to that of a chisel or plane 
> blade, or is it different?
>
> And while I am at it.. ...why are some scissors so much better 
> than others? Some seem to keep the alignment of the two edges  
> perfectly regardless of the load, while others don't, yet casual 
> observation doesn't indicate any great difference in the method of 
> attaching the two blades.
>
> My wife cuts the family hair -- she sees it as a time when the kids 
> (and me I guess)-- can't really duck questions. I have twice bought 
> her expensive hair scissors. Both times she has reverted to an old 
> pair of German scissors, and I have to admit that they cut better than 
> the expensive new ones I bought, yet I don't understand why.
>
> Any scissors dynamics experts out there?
>
> Regards,
> John Lederer
> Oregon, Wisconsin
>
>
> Archive: http://www.frontier.iarc.uaf.edu/~cswingle/archive/
> To unsubscribe or change options, use the web interface:
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122291 Nichael Cramer <nichael@s...> 2003‑09‑25 Re: Sharpening scissors
John Lederer wrote:
> [John asks about sharpening his new scissors.]

Hi John

I can't answer this specifically, but if you don't have
the book, I'd heartiliy recommend getting a copy of Leonard
Lee's book on Sharpening.  Covers just about everything
you could want to know about sharpening just about anything.

Heck, there's even a section on tuning up tweezers...

> My wife cuts the family hair -- she sees it as a time when the kids 
>(and me I guess)-- can't really duck questions. I have twice bought her 
>expensive hair scissors. Both times she has reverted to an old pair of 
>German scissors, and I have to admit that they cut better than the 
>expensive new ones I bought, yet I don't understand why.

One small point here is how a scissors should be sharpened
depends on how it's going to be used.   For example scissors
used on paper or material need nice, mirror sharp edges.  On
the other hand, scissors for hair need small serations (otherwise
the hair "squirts" out as you close the scissors).

Anyway, see Lee's book.  He says it all much better than
I can.

N


122309 Bill Kasper <dragonlist@i...> 2003‑09‑25 Re: Sharpening scissors
On Thursday, September 25, 2003, at 03:13 AM, John Lederer wrote of his 
scissors:

> I was going to resharpen them...

just don't run with them, ok?  god knows, you of all people might have 
some sort of hilarious (in *hind*sight) bloodletting accident...

bill
felton, ca


122310 scott grandstaff <scottg@s...> 2003‑09‑25 Re: Sharpening scissors
 I love shears and must have sharpened dozens if not hundreds over the
 years. Scissors are like 2 chisel edges coming together, only worse.
 You never, ever touch the long, hollow ground inside surfaces of the
 blades. Never. You aren't going to get the geometry right so leave em
 alone. In fact, this is what you look at when considering an old pair
 of shears. Many people get confused and run a file or stone to the
 inside edges and you'll have to grind all the way to the bottom of this
 to get the damage out. Shears that want to spread and not cut have many
 times been messed with in this way. The outside, chisel bevel edges are
 the only ones you work on. The pivot screw usually won't come out. Most
 are peined over. So, just open the scissors as wide as they'll go and
 grind or rough stone the bevel at approximately the same angle. If
 they've seen hard service you'll have to take off some meat. Enough to
 form a good burr. From there I go to a finer stone and work the same
 bevel only. Don't be tempted to "flatten the back" remember. You can
 keep going as far as you like or the job demands, right up to stropping
 on a hard surface. For chopping up sandpaper or trimming hedges or
 something, don't bother, they'll cut fine right off the roughest
 grinding. But for everyday, general purpose from hair to cloth I'll go
 to at least about 180 except I use a stone but sandpaper would do as
 well. The first time you close them, it shears off whatever is left of
 the burr you formed. Don't pull up the pivot too tight. Better too
 loose than too tight but obviously, super loose isn't in order either.
 Kind of medium loose, easy swinging is what you're after. Start with
 some old plain cast iron scissors for practice. Millions upon millions
 were made. Anything that was 1/2 decent with a goodly thickness of
 blades when made (Wiss, Kleen Cut etc etc. If they weren't proud enough
 of them to mark them, get a better pair. It's the same 25cents at the
 yard sale either way) These will be your favorite scissors once
 sharpened, until you move up the ladder to finer and finer pairs, but
 the cast iron ones will cut smooth and perfect and you haven't risked
 anything. I'm usually not a huge fan of stainless steel, but the first,
 original Fiskars were great shears. Made em famous. The hard smooth
 orange handles. Later ones with the pebble grained orange or blue can
 be made to work pretty good but you'll have to have an old pair to copy
 the grinding on and reshape the blades to match. Even then, they'd cut
 back the thickness of the steel so they'll never be as good. You'd
 think, if you made something so well it put your company at the top of
 a very old game and made you rich you'd be tempted to leave well enough
 alone. Bean counters, ugh. yours, Scott

*******************************
   Scott Grandstaff Box 409 Happy Camp, Ca 96039 scottg@s...
   http://www.snowcrest.net/kitty/hpages/index.html

122316 Ron Hock <ron@h...> 2003‑09‑25 Re: Sharpening scissors
You can freshen up scissors quickly with a burnisher (one of ours, of
course). Not for edges that have been seriously trashed (fiberglass?!?)
-- just "cut" the burnisher with the scissors, pushing and pulling the
burnisher in and out of the blades, re-forming the cutting edges on both
blades at the same time.

Rev. Ron

PS: My mother said her mother would use the neck of a milk bottle for
the same effect. She didn't have one of my burnishers...

John Lederer wrote:
> 
> I have an old pair of scissors that say "C.W. Dahlgren Eskilstuna" that
> I use in the shop.  They used to cut very well, until I used them on
> fiberglass.
> 
> I was going to resharpen them...and realized I really don't know a good
> method -- I have always followed my Mother's advice of cutting aluminum
> foil to sharpen scissors, but I suspect something more is needed here.
> 
> What is a good method?  Is there a scary sharp equivalent for scissors?
> Is the dulling process similar to that of a chisel or plane blade, or is
> it different?

-- 
Ron Hock (ron@h...)
HOCK TOOLS -- http://www.hocktools.com
16650 Mitchell Creek Drive  Fort Bragg, CA 95437
(707)964-2782 toll free: (888)28-BLADE [282-5233] fax (707)964-7816


122317 Jim Thompson <jdthompsonca@s...> 2003‑09‑25 Re: Sharpening scissors
Fantastic tip! I would never have thought of that! Thank you.

On Thursday, September 25, 2003, at 10:32  AM, Ron Hock wrote:

> You can freshen up scissors quickly with a burnisher (one of ours, of
> course). Not for edges that have been seriously trashed (fiberglass?!?)
> -- just "cut" the burnisher with the scissors, pushing and pulling the
> burnisher in and out of the blades, re-forming the cutting edges on 
> both
> blades at the same time.


122325 Michele Minch <ruby@m...> 2003‑09‑25 Re: Sharpening scissors
>
> You can freshen up scissors quickly with a burnisher (one of ours, of
> course). Not for edges that have been seriously trashed (fiberglass?!?)
>
having spent several years laying up f*b*rgl*ss boats in the late 70's, 
I am familiar with scissors for this endeavor.  You can by "knife-edge" 
scissors that work very well for this job and are very easy to 
re-sharpen.  They have one blade that has the normal be(v)(z)el angle 
that looks like 75-80 degrees, and one blade that has a "knife edge" of 
about 25 degrees on it.  My place used Wiss, good big professional 
ones, and they were very satisfying to use on that 24 oz roving that 
looks life burlap made out of glass.

On regular scissors, I just open them up wide and step through SS to 
about 400-600, attacking only the be(v)(z)el and not the back.

Ed Minch


122327 "Steve from Kokomo" <stjones@k...> 2003‑09‑25 Re: Sharpening scissors
Michele (actually Ed) Minch said:
> They have one blade that has the normal be(v)(z)el angle

Geeks know that the proper form for this is

     be{v|z}el

OT Content: The bevel/bezel controversy applies mostly to old tools. Most
Normites haven't heard of a bezel. Except on watches, of course.

-- 
Steve - another Kokomo galoot
feeling wasteful, bandwidth-wise; sorry.


122348 "Jeff Gorman" <amgron@c...> 2003‑09‑26 Re: Sharpening scissors
: -----Original Message-----
: From: scott grandstaff [mailto:scottg@s...]
: Sent: 25 September 2003 17:26
: To: oldtools
: Subject: [oldtools] Re: Sharpening scissors
:
: ....... So, just open the scissors as wide as they'll go and
: grind or rough stone the bevel at approximately the same
: angle. If they've seen hard service you'll have to take off
: some meat. Enough to form a good burr.

Just a thought, and confessing to experience, remove the burr before
closing the blades. Forgetting does no good to the edge.

The burr is removed with the insides dead flat on a stone of course.

Jeff
-- 
Jeff Gorman, West Yorkshire, UK
http://www.amgron.clara.net



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