Do these work? I have several pairs of scissors around the house - all very frustrating to cut nylon with. Could I buy on of those little sharpeners and sharpen them or should I just buy some new ones.
The sharpener I'm referring to is on of those where you basically just make cutting motions on the sharpener.
Thanks.
Jbo
Yes, a scissors sharpener that has sufficient guides works. They won't take out dings or knicks in the blades, unless they are the motorized variety.
The cardinal rule for sharpening scissors: don't sharpen the inside edge!
Interesting. I have been sharpening my wife's sewing scissors and my own now for years using a flat diamond hone from DMT (the extra fine grit) simply by honing the inside flat surface.Originally Posted by pedro
My wife's sewing scissors are a really heavy pair of cutter's scissors (shears?) that she got from a cutter in the trade in Philly 50 years back. He used an identical pair professionally on a daily basis to cut the pattens in the fabric, cutting several layers of fabric at the same time.
She also has several other professional grade scissors she uses for sewing. I personally like the Fiskars.
We had them sharpened once by a professional and swore to never have another person sharpen her scissors again. I have watched 2 or 3 professionals sharpen scissors and don't think I would trust any of them to sharpen our scissors.
I have found that I can restore a very good cutting edge with only 4 to 6 swipes with the extra fine DMT diamond hone on that flat inside surface. I never hone just the edge. Maybe, I've been gradually ruining our scissors every time I sharpen them??
Those who sacrifice freedom for safety, have neither.
Do not dig your grave with your teeth. (Unknown)
correct... although if you haven't noticed any problems by now you probably haven't done too much damage. Scissors work because each blade has a knife edge that move past each other. Two knives working on the same line equals a cut. If you mess with the inside edge you can make it so those knives do not meet properly and snugly. This is particularly true if some butcher decides to treat them like a knife blade and taper on both sides. Now.. since you have a good pair of trade shears they are probably screwed together rather than riveted so you are able to adjust the tension on the blades. Knowing you from the forums _you_ would do that even without thinking about it. You'd just do it. But in the future... it would be best to leave the inside alone. Scissors are an art to sharpen.
I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.
"Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
Mrs. Loftus to Huck Finn
We Don't Sew... We Make Gear! video series
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Bobbin Tension - A Personal Viewpoint
What Rev said.
Rev - had some time to think about this some more and examine the situation.
I think that either honing the outside edge or the flat of the inside surface is okay.
Both are gradually grinding away the scissors so that they will have to be replaced at some future date in some future generation.
What is not good is trying to grind the inside edge as you say - that changes the manner in which the scissors work - they are no longer 2 knives swiping past each other to cut the material.
Here's my thoughts on grinding the outside edge or the flat inside surface:
- outside edge
Usual method of sharpening employed by professional sharpeners. Doing this can be very difficult for most home DIYers simply because trying to get the hone at the correct angle and holding it there is next to impossible without a mechanical guidance apparatus. Consequently, sharpening via this method should best be left to the professionals.
Also this method will sharpen out nicks in the blade by grinding the whole edge back past the nick. This of course shortens the life of the scissors even more than a normal sharpening.- inside surface - using a hone on the flat inside surface (NOT the inside edge) is very easy for home DIYers to accomplish - just lay the flat hone, flat on the surface and keep it flat against the surface. Note: this assumes that you are using a flat hone and not a grinding wheel arrangement. I prefer my DMT hones - the Double Sided DiaFold® Sharpener, Fine and Extra Fine.
This method will not work with nicks in the edge of the blade and so the first method would have to be used if that is a problem.
You are correct in that this method should ideally be used only for scissors that use a screw for the pivot pin and that ideally the screw should be removed prior to sharpening and then the whole inside surface can be honed, including the area of the pivot and the scissors put back together adjusting the tension on the screw.
However, I also use this method on the cheap (well relatively cheap) Fiskars scissors that we use for cutting threads and ripping seams - the small ones with about a 2" to 3" blade and extremely fine point. About half have the screw pivot and the rest have a rivet pivot. Given the choice between a professional sharpening that would cost more than replacing the scissors or just using this method, I opt to use this method even on the ones with a rivet pivot. At least I don't have to throw away the ones with a rivet pivot as often. I have been sharpening a few of them quite a few times.
Both methods work by grinding away some metal and hence will eventually grind away the scissor blades. Don't really know which will grind away too much of the scissors first. But I prefer to use the extra fine side of the DMT hone and 4 to 6 swipes with the hone is sufficient most of the time to restore the edge. At that rate, the scissors will outlast either my wife or myself. Better that than having to replace the scissors or pay even more to have them professionally sharpened.
As far as the original poster using that plastic sharpener from Fiskars - we have one or 2 of those and I have found them to be almost useless in restoring the sharp edge.
Those who sacrifice freedom for safety, have neither.
Do not dig your grave with your teeth. (Unknown)
I believe that when you use a very fine hone on the flat, on the inside edge, what you are really doing is a rather aggressive stropping. That is to say, instead of actually removing any material and creating a burr, you are actually bending and refining the burr which was created when using a coarser abrasive on the outside edge. This can work, and obviously does for you. The chances of removing enough material to do harm are pretty low.
Scissors do not work like two knife blades swiping past each other. They work like two shear blades swiping past each other. This may seem like a fine pointbut it is critical to an understanding of the way to sharpen the blades. I've seen $10,000 steel shear blades ruined because they were not sharpened properly.
In order to tell if your sharpening system is effective, you can use a simple technique that I have used successfully for years. Just take a sharpie marker and paint the edges of the scissors. Whatever sharpening technique that you use will leave it's mark in the ink, telling you whether or not you are at the correct angle. The sharpie marker is easily removed afterwards.
Just my $0.02
IMO... if I am picturing this correctly you might just as well cut sheets of sandpaper with them. Absolutely nothing worse for a pair of fine quality fabric shears. Scissors are sharpened on the outward surface only. Anything that grinds at the inside surface will reduce the edge of the scissor blade. If you buy cheap nasty scissors then throw them away and buy some good quality scissors. Some folks swear by Fiskars... I usually swear at the them. My preference is Gingher or Wiss or Case. They will hold an edge really well as long you don't cut paper with them. Good scissors are worth the investment to have them sharpened properly. Even so be careful where you take them. I've had scissors ruined because some gorrila decided to treat them like they would knife.
I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.
"Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
Mrs. Loftus to Huck Finn
We Don't Sew... We Make Gear! video series
Important thread injector guidelines especially for Newbies
Bobbin Tension - A Personal Viewpoint
Rev, I think that what jbo_c is talking about is a sharpener that's set up so that you are drawing the edges along the abrasive in the same manner as if you were making a cut with the scissors, but the abrasive only hones the outside facet of the blade. The sharpeners of this style that I've used are set up with guides so that the angle is correct and consistant.
BTW, I totally agree with you about using caution when selecting a sharpening service. There are a lot of butchers out there.(and I ain't talking about meat packers)Personally, I think that it is worth the effort to learn how to sharpen your own equipment.
I've never seen anything like that so that would explain my misunderstanding. My preference is a pair you can take apart so each edge can be done by itself properlyRev, I think that what jbo_c is talking about is a sharpener that's set up so that you are drawing the edges along the abrasive in the same manner as if you were making a cut with the scissors, but the abrasive only hones the outside facet of the blade. The sharpeners of this style that I've used are set up with guides so that the angle is correct and consistant.
BTW, I totally agree with you about using caution when selecting a sharpening service. There are a lot of butchers out there.(and I ain't talking about meat packers)
I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.
"Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
Mrs. Loftus to Huck Finn
We Don't Sew... We Make Gear! video series
Important thread injector guidelines especially for Newbies
Bobbin Tension - A Personal Viewpoint
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