They are reasonably sharp, but the cutting edges cannot be made to come 
together to cut except for approx 1in from the hinged end, regardless of 
how the bolt is tensioned. I believe that I will try Old Sneelock's 
suggestion (but not today), and post before & after pics RSN.

Thanks for all the suggestions & advice. This may be a lost cause, but 
I've little to lose here
Don

On 7/27/2014 5:37 PM, Thomas Conroy wrote:
> Leave them as is. That's the way they're supposed to be.
>
> Well, I've got to qualify that a bit. Good scissors have slightly bowed blades
and a slightly loose rivet. This means that the blades will touch and cut in
only one place, which will move as the blades are closed. When they are closed
you will be able to see light betwweenthe blades, which will be touching only at
the tip and near the rivet. If both blades are straight, they may not touch and
cut at all for part of their length. But all the ones I've looked at, I'm pretty
sure that both blades were curved, not one curved and one straight. 1/8" does
sound rather a lot, but not impossibly so; my impression is that 1/16" total
between the blades might be more normal for scissors that size.
>
> Do they cut OK, assuming they are sharp? I would guess that too much curvature
will make the blades snag and chew each other up, so if they act dull that is
probably just a matter of sharpening. In that case, sharpen but don't try to
bend the blades. If you do try to straighten them, leave a bit of curvature in
the curved blade and you might even consider adding a bit of curve to the flat
one.
>
> Tom Conroy