Sharpening Scissors??

Michael J. Spangler

Michael J. Spangler

Joined
Oct 8, 2003
Messages
2,181
so i was getting a haircut the other day and the lady cutting my hair was complaining about not having her scissors back from sharpening yet, i asked how much she payed for them to be sharpened and i believe it was about 30 bucks or so.
i asked a friend about it and he said its a tough angle to work with. is there a fool proof way of sharpening these things? maybe a disc grinder with an angle table. thanks a lot guys

Grasshoppa
 
Some of the V style ceramic stick sharpeners have a whole on the side for scissors. I think the one that I have is a Lansky.
Joe
 
A pair of Japanese hair scissors can cost $300 or more.They have to be disassembled to sharpen properly.The flats are lapped,and the bevel honed.
 
I use my 1x42 belt grinder and just match the original bevel with a 320 or 400 grit belt, clean the flats and tighten them up a bit, you got to think, sharp like a shear, not sharp like a knife. If a person lets it be known that he sharpens scissors, little old laddies will beat a path to his door :p I have charged $2.00 for over 20 years but now we live so far out in the middle of nowhere, I don't do many any more.
 
You might want to talk to the "Village Sharpener" up here in Marlboro. He's an ex NCCA president who turned his scissor collecting habit into a sharpening business. Very nice guy too.
 
It has a slot that is set just for scissors, which I think run at about 15 degrees off of horizontal. Works excellent.
 
I use my sharpmaker, as the scissors I have encountered haven't been in need fo major re-shaping.

But schissors are just mysterious, not hard. You have 2 blades that are composed of a flat back and one bevel. Keep those surfaces flat and clean (no 4000 grit waterstone finish needed!) and you're good to go!
 
I use a spyderco truangle, it is great for standard snips including haircutting shears of cheap manufacture. Most of the crock stick will also sharpen scissors if you tip them about 45 degree. You may have to fiddle, but there is an angle one can set them to and it works fine.

HOWEVER! Quality hair shears and scissors are a whole other animal. They can have lots of complexities such as spiral blade, or micro serations. Stay clear if you don't know what you are doing, they can cost thousands of dollar. That nice little lady cutting hair for 15 bucks a doo in a production shop may have several sets of 500 dollar shears.

It also pays to know how to tension the scissors and peen the joints.
 
I sharpened a pair of my wifes sewing scissors once. Let me give you a survival tip, don't make them as sharp as a knife. She really liked how easily that they cut fabric, but she hated how easily they cut her fingers. She still whines about that......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top