German Scissors

Old CW4

Old CW4

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Sep 8, 2006
Messages
870
A long time ago, circa 1958, I was assigned to Germany as a young Army private. As soon as possile, I applied to bring my wife over and we set up houskeeping on the German eoonomy. Duing one of our trips out into the German ecomony, we booght a pair of scissors. The cost was a few marks, a couple of dollars in those innocent days. Now, many years later, my wife died in 2002, I still have the scissors. I've used them to prune plants, cut carpet, and God knows what else. Bottom line, they've stayed sharp through everything. Last night, ashamed of the 'build up' of gunk on the blades, I used a brass brush and oill to scrub it off. Wow! What a prize. I had to admire the qalifty of the steel and the precision with which these 'cheap scissors' were made! The blaces are curved so cutting edges shear precisely from start to finish. After I used the brush, I was astounded when they cut a soft paper towel from start to finish with a clean cut and fantastic precision. Wow! We should have such a product on the US market.....!
 
Very nice and thanks for sharing. :)
Do you have pics?

I would think quite possible the Japanese may have taken the place as the country of origin for such great steel and performance... I know they have long passed Germany in many areas of cutlery. :o
 
Germany at the peak during wartime made some of the most amazingly durable and quality items. I love me some old German made items.
 
Also in Europe the Germans are still known as producers of high quality products. Knifes, tools, cars and even food. Here in the Netherlands (and perhaps also in other European countries) people say that the Germans are sometimes a bit too serious and too formal, but Germans are also respected because of their thoroughness, their feeling for making quality products.

I've probably told it in some other threads on traditional knives: Dutch farmers, gardeners and others who work on the land and use work knives, prefer the German work knives. The knives of Friedrich Herder are very well known, especially in the northern part of the Netherlands. Also work knives from Adola and Herbertz are used a lot. They are widely available, cheap and of good quality.
 
Gingher scissors are highly regarded .And of course many American cutlery companies were started by German immigrants.
 
God! I can't believe I misspelled so many words in my original post. I do apologize. Oh well, it was about three a.m. and I was overdue for some sleep. I took another careful look at those scissors and really, for the first time, noticed the fantastically precise curve of the blades so they intersect each other (cut like razors) from the handles to the tips as they close, which also makes them somewhat self sharpening. I have to think the Germans still retain 'secrets' about high quality steels, metal forging, and manufacturing the rest of the world has yet to learn. And, yes, the same with the Japanese and Chinese. Those two cultures were (are) very advanced in metalurgy when we of European extraction were still chipping flint. It does make me more humble. When I think back over the use and misuse both my wife and I put those scissors to for 50 plus years I am amazed as this was their FIRST time to be sharpened! However, having at one time spent 10 years in Germany, I somewhat understand it. The Germans won't accept inferior junk as we in the US are prone to do based on flashy tv commercials or 'come on and get screwed' Internet ads.....
 
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