Scissor Sharping

[Bert51]

I am looking for advice on how to sharpen an old pair of Scissors.

I took them to a local sewing shop and ask to talk to some one how does sharpening and a young man comes to me and asked if he could help.

I showed him the scissors and looks at me with a silly look on his face and said, "we cannot sharpen them".

When I asked why, he said that they will not fit in there Jig.

I have tried then on a oil stone and all it did was polish them a bit, took them out to the shed, put them in a vice with could of bit of wood I famde to hold the blade and found a old file I have had for years, but not used from England and two or three passes ruined the file.

I do not wish to use the bench grinder on them, but they need to be sharpened.

I have enclose a photo or two and yes the blade have a right angle bend in them.

Thanks, Bert.

[Rockoboy]

Depending on where in Australia you are, There will be somebody around who can sharpen these for you. In Perth, I would go to Cut-It-Out in Perth City.

Alternatively, I would find somebody who can get them picked up by Hughan's Saw Sharpening Service. They pick up from lots of smaller retail stores and return sharpened tools.

Disclaimer: All useless information unless you happen to be in Perth or regional W.A.

[Bert51]

Thank you Rckoboy, but sadly I have not been in Perth since I went over for my granddaughters 21st a few years back and she up north, where I used to work, a life time ago.

The jig the local mob have will only fit straight blades.

I cannot believe how hard the metal is.

Bert.

[chrisash]

They look like expensive tailors shears and cost a few bob when new, I would suggest you find a good quality taylor and ask them to sharpen them or who they send them to, unfortunately many clothing factories these day just use electronic cutters. A wet stone would be my weapon of choice

[zuludog]

Search YouTube for 'sharpening scissors'; there are lots of videos. I haven't watched them all but you should be able to pick up enough information

I have watched the scissor sharpening video by Paul Sellers. He is a traditional carpenter, and his advice is usually simple and effective

Edited November 21, 2019 by zuludog

[fredk]

For just a few ££ I bought a knife & scissors sharpening unit from a local supermarket household items section. It has steels in one slot for knife and another slot for scissor blades. The handle/holder part is design so that you sharpen at the correct angle.

[Bert51]

I have looked on Youtube and the net and thy tell me the angle to sharpen them, I purchased one the to knife and scissor sharpeners that fredk mentions, but these blades have a right angle in them and will not go into the housing the length of the blade.

I have several pairs of Wiss scissors and I can sharpen them on my oil stone, but these blades are so hard I have ruined a good file and a daimond sharpening stone they sold me at a hardware store.

I may have to take them to a sharpener in the big smoke.

Bert.

[fredk]

I don't know the whys and wherefores but I've found the harder the blade it sharpens well on a plain steel. My local butcher uses a plain steel rod for sharpening his knives and they are razor sharp. I used to have a proper professional butchers knife. The only way I could sharpen it was along the stainless steel shaft of my spud masher. No stone would sharpen it.

[Nate1977]

Maybe try a chefs steel? 

[chrisash]

Have a look at this video 

 

[kgg]

Haven't see a pair of scissors like that for a long while. I would suggest finding someone with a machine similar to the Twice as Sharp machine that can do multi angles. The steel is going to be hard but when properly sharpened the edge will last a long while. Do not, I repeat, Do Not let anyone use a bench grinder on them. They will ruin them and probably take the temper out of the steel. I had a set of nice $450 scissor for dog grooming which I let some ass try to re-sharpen that I wasn't aware of their sharpening method. Ruined. After that I got my own Twice as Sharp as well a nice 16 inch plate sharpener for clipper blades.

Ask a tailor or better ask a high end hair dresser where to send them. It is not uncommon for hair dresser scissors to cost $2-3000 a pair.

kgg

[Bert51]

Thank you for your help,  I am unable to file these scissors, I had a near new, but old English WILTSHIRE file and it is ruined, it just slid across the surface, they are that hard.

I am very reluctant to give them to any one to sharpen, the blades had a right angle fold in them, with the bend they will not fit in any jig I have seen on the net or youtube.

I looked at Twice as Sharp some time back, but I do not think the blades will fit into their jig, again the right angle bend would be the problem.

I have a bench grinder that I have used well (abused) over the years, but I do not like the idea of holding by hand and rick getting a blue spot in them.

Again, thank you for your help,

Bert.

[ljk]

I do a lot of sharpening both as a volunteer and in my trades.  in your instance I would

acquire two EZE-LAP diamond sharpeners, fine and medium. about $5-$8 each US.

Take the scissors apart and clean the inside surface with oil and fine wet a dry sandpaper.

 your just cleaning nothing heavy. Now take a magic marker and coat the

sharpening edge. Now using the  EZE with water sharpen surface on each knife until marker edge

is clean.  You may only need fine edge if new. Now reassemble, should cut the paper to the point.

Using this method I could cut 20 pair of motorcycle chaps before need to resharpen. Fabric

unless Kevlar could last for weeks. 

I use 8"   MDF with veg. on one wheel and and sharpening

powder on the other. ( mix powder with a little Titebond 3 and apply with brush. Elmers will work.

For most knife work  I use 1"x30" homemade belt sander and finish with leather 8" wheel.

Today I did 2 garden pruning shears with mini air powered belt sander, this gave a good

edge with a little bite to grab the limb.

I use 1725 rpm motors for wheels helps from burning tips.

good luck Lynn

[Bert51]

I acquired a new four sided Diamond stone and that made a big difference and was able to remove the previous owners attempt at sharpening them. May need another new stone shortly.

Thanks to Lynn the use of a magic marker between passes made a large difference. I have been sharpening my own Knifes and scissors for 40 plus years and thought I had a good handle on it, but the magic marker showd me that the cutting edge was a lot rounder then I though possible, after ever pass I could still see a thin black line on the edge, with out the mark I would not have seen it in good light.

Thanks again for that one Lynn.

Thank to all, it looks like I am on the right track, all I need to do now is reset them....................

Bert.

[Frodo]

14 hours ago, kgg said:

Haven't see a pair of scissors like that for a long while. I would suggest finding someone with a machine similar to the Twice as Sharp machine that can do multi angles. The steel is going to be hard but when properly sharpened the edge will last a long while. Do not, I repeat, Do Not let anyone use a bench grinder on them. They will ruin them and probably take the temper out of the steel. I had a set of nice $450 scissor for dog grooming which I let some ass try to re-sharpen that I wasn't aware of their sharpening method. Ruined. After that I got my own Twice as Sharp as well a nice 16 inch plate sharpener for clipper blades.

Ask a tailor or better ask a high end hair dresser where to send them. It is not uncommon for hair dresser scissors to cost $2-3000 a pair.

kgg

 

[Bert51]

Thank Frodo, I forgot to take a photo with some measurement in it, these lovely old scissors are just over 13 inches long.

The only makers mark on them is #196 stamped on the inside of the blades near the hole, no name on them anywhere.

Bert.

[chrisash]

That's probably the prisoners number from the UK

[Bert51]

I thought they were old, but I don't think they were First Fleet old, maybe 196 of 775?.

Edited November 22, 2019 by Bert51

[dikman]

I use a belt grinder to sharpen scissors. You don't have to press hard and they run cooler than a grinder wheel. It almost sounds like the steel has been hardened and not been tempered as a file will just skate over a piece of steel in that condition. It will be extremely hard but also brittle.

[Gunnarsson]

9 hours ago, dikman said:

It almost sounds like the steel has been hardened and not been tempered as a file will just skate over a piece of steel in that condition. It will be extremely hard but also brittle.

I have a few more or less modern scissors made of laminated steel, i.e. the steel right where the cutting edges are is a hardenable steel attached to a different type of steel that will not harden (or harden as much). This allows the manufacturer to leave the edge steel quite hard (and relatively brittle) to give long lasting sharpness, while the softer steel in the rest of the blade gives it ductility so it doesn't break from normal use. 

The same technique was used in many kinds of cutting tools back in the day when high quality steel was rare and expensive. The cutting edge was expensive hardenable steel, while the rest of the tool was a soft, cheaper steel. Back then it was more of a way to make the tool cheaper, today it's probably way more expensive than monosteel construction but gives some interesting possibilities.

[SilverForgeStudio]

On 11/21/2019 at 5:39 PM, Bert51 said:

Thank you for your help,  I am unable to file these scissors, I had a near new, but old English WILTSHIRE file and it is ruined, it just slid across the surface, they are that hard.

I am very reluctant to give them to any one to sharpen, the blades had a right angle fold in them, with the bend they will not fit in any jig I have seen on the net or youtube.

Bert.

Bert- are you local to ANY machine shop? If you have access to a machine shop they may be able to put you on to someone who sharpens things with a "TOOL AND CUTTER GRINDER" used for finishing and re-fluting drills and helical mills- 

Reason I suggest a machine shop is they would have a Surface Grinder that may handle the 90 deg face well-  Hope this helps- perhaps a bit of a barter would do you well there? 

Hope this helps- I know in my other hobbies I have found local guys to do odd work or one-offs as a favor for a casting or a bit of leather work. 

Be safe and let us know what you wind up doing!

Kerri

[NelsonG]

On 11/20/2019 at 11:33 PM, Bert51 said:

I am looking for advice on how to sharpen an old pair of Scissors.

I took them to a local sewing shop and ask to talk to some one how does sharpening and a young man comes to me and asked if he could help.

I showed him the scissors and looks at me with a silly look on his face and said, "we cannot sharpen them".

When I asked why, he said that they will not fit in there Jig.

I have tried then on a oil stone and all it did was polish them a bit, took them out to the shed, put them in a vice with could of bit of wood I famde to hold the blade and found a old file I have had for years, but not used from England and two or three passes ruined the file.

I do not wish to use the bench grinder on them, but they need to be sharpened.

I have enclose a photo or two and yes the blade have a right angle bend in them.

Thanks, Bert.

 

[NelsonG]

The Wolff Industries scissor sharpening machine is probably the best thing out there for scissors. I used to sharpen scissors professionally and had 2 Wolff sharpeners,  1 for regular scissors and 1 for high-end beauty salon shears.

[raskill]

Hi there,
I’ve got a question relating to the sharpening of shears and fabric scissors. 

I want to purchases a professional machine for this job, but I’m unsure what system is better for scissors…. The Wolff Twice as Sharp dry stone system or something like the Tormek wet stone system??

What system is better for fabric scissors and what are the pros/cons of each???

Appreciate any comments

✂️✂️✂️✂️

Thanks

[Hardrada]

On 11/21/2019 at 9:57 AM, chrisash said:

Have a look at this video 

 

Thanks for posting that!

 

Most useful video of AD 2022! (So far... )