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Dulling the shearsA dull scissor can be a disappointing proposition. Your scissor use, the cost of your shears and the rate at which your scissors become dull will help also you decide if you need to buy a sharpener or send your shears away for sharpening. -
Craft scissor stone sharpenerScissor sharpeners consists of at least two basic parts: a hard material for sharpening, such as a natural or artificial sharpening stone or prefabricated sharpener, and a housing that prevents the stone and you from being injured while the sharpener is in use.
A simple scissor sharpener may be comprised of a a flat ceramic stone in a protective bag, used for small arts-and-craft types of scissors. Sharpening stones are used on all types of blades, including knives. Stones may also be embedded in workbenches or flat lathe setups.
Sharpening stones may be called oilstones or waterstones, according to how the stone and blade are best lubricated during sharpening. Lubrication keeps the stone smooth while you are creating a fine metal dust with your scissor.
Sharpening stones are available at differing grades of grit, with sharpening qualities determined by fineness of the grade per square inch. Rough grades are used to smooth irregularities in the scissor blade, and fine grades of stone are used to sharpen dull blades without irregularities. Natural rough grade oilstones have been mined for centuries in a specific area of Europe between France and Belgium called corticule.
A naturally mined oil stone in the Midwestern U.S. is made mostly of silica and is called Novaculite. Novaculite is of a finer grade than the European corticule. Waterstones, coming mostly from Japan, are made of differing elements, such as clay deposits, and generally have a finer grit than oilstones. -
A cheaper, modified version of the simple stone may be a sharpening implement secured firmly in an easily handheld plastic housing.
Patents have even been developed for specific trades, such as in the medical field, which may have specific sharpener requirements. For example, a medical handheld scissor sharpener may have special indentations for the finger and thumb, or specified angles at which the blade is sharpened, in order to create the most accurate sharpening possible. Generally, scissors have blade angles at between 75 and 80 degrees.
Electric sharpeners have natural or manmade wheels that spin in a protective housing where the shear is inserted to sharpen it.
A round sharpening stone may also be housed in a spinning machine created especially for the sharpening of scissors and other blades that are manually held against the spinning stone to sharpen it. These very costly machines are used by professional sharpeners and crafts people.
The mechanical scissor sharpener may be made of a manmade, hardened metal such as tungsten carbide, which is extremely hard to break. Tungsten carbide is created at extremely high temperatures by a chemical process that melds tungsten metal with carbon atoms. Carbide is very strong, as it can be heated to several hundred degrees and is resistant to acid wear as well.
An artificial scissor sharpening stone may also be made of ceramic, or metal compounds such as aluminum oxide or silicon carbide, which happens to have some similarities to the diamond in its composition.
Some artificial sharpening surfaces have small diamond particles embedded in the surface to keep it hard and sharp.
Sharpening rods are also coated with the same material as flat sharpening stones, but generally are not lubricated as the dust falls to the ground. Rods are tilted at a specific angle to make blade sharpening easy and repeatable. -
A simple, handheld scissor sharpener is very inexpensive. An electric model can approach $100, a more professional model three times that much. A professional turning lathe can cost in the thousands of dollars; it has additional specific attachments such as diamond-coated sharpening pads.
Sharpening stones may be inexpensive, according to the grade and beauty of the stone. Larger stones with more elaborate wooden housing and storage units will add to the price. -
Because carbide dust can create lung problems when the user is exposed over time, it is important to wear a mask if sharpening many pairs of scissors, or if using a tungsten carbide spinning lathe to sharpen your scissors.
When you sharpen scissors by hand with a stone, rest the handle of the scissor against the table with the blade resting upwards with the tip of the scissor away from your body. Sharpen the scissor against a stone or sharpener at an angle, drawing the stone away from you against the angle of the shear. Watch your fingers; the blade is very sharp. Do not sharpen the inside of the blade because you will harm its cutting ability. An exception to this may be a hollow shear, which needs a specific sharpening tool. -
Sending a beauty shear for sharpening may cost a nominal amount--a good idea because it's a lot cheaper than buying new.
Some wallet minded do-it yourself sharpeners have even reported using the knife sharpener on the back of the electric can opener, or cutting through sandpaper or steel wool to sharpen their scissors. However, if the steel wool scratches the inside of the shear, it may not cut properly. Calculate the cost of buying a new shear with the cost of buying a reliable sharpener to determine which method will be best for you. Consulting product blogs can assist the buyer in a new sharpener purchase.
