Scissor Overhaul.

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Jim Watson

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Maybe not weapons, except in some old drawing room murder mysteries, but I bet somebody here can help.
Where could I get Mom's old Boker brand scissors refurbished?
The screw joint is loose and the blades dull.
But they are a heirloom and I would like them to be more useful.
 
Jim Watson said:
Maybe not weapons, except in some old drawing room murder mysteries, but I bet somebody here can help.
Where could I get Mom's old Boker brand scissors refurbished?
The screw joint is loose and the blades dull.
But they are a heirloom and I would like them to be more useful.
Click to expand...
I’m no help on the screw but the Spyderco Sharpmaker has a stone setting for scissors. I’ve not tried it so I can’t speak to its efficacy.
 
Do you have a sewing craft center like Joann's locally? If they don't have a scissor sharpening service in-house they can usually point you to someone locally who can help. If you have a quilt shop they can help you as well.

There are also professional sharpening service providers in or near most large towns. They will be found pretty easily. You can check with any tailor or alteration shop for who services their scissors.

Professional scissors are wonderful tools that, when cared for as you are trying to do, are a delight to use.
 
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I was a commercial fly tyer for many years (part time - nights, weekends, starting in 1979 until just a few years ago). Small (and occasionally not so small) scissors are one of your primary tools. Like all tools they need care and the edges maintained. Here's my routine... If the scissors are secured by a screw, remove it (if they're secured by a rivet you'll find sharpening them very difficult...) and only sharpen one side at a time - paying very close attention to the angle of that edge (scissors aren't knives - they're cut at a very specific angle that's not at all what you'd want for a knife blade...). I use a soft Arkansas stone with light oil for basic work - then move to a hard stone for the finished edge. Once you've done both sides you still need to re-assemble the scissors and secure that screw so that they're held together properly and that pair of scissors will cut the way they did when new... My best results have always come by actually peening the threaded end of the screw after I've tightened the scissors as much as possible. You want to be able to work the scissors without great effort -and yet keep them tight enough to cut properly... I've also found that carefully cleaning the surface of scissors on the side where they mate (using a good single edge razor blade) to remove any old adhesive, glue ,or any kind of residue or rust will also increase their cutting efficiency....

I no long tie flies commercially but do a bunch of bucktail jigs for customers - all done to order - and yes cutting the hair is hard on small scissors.. .Here's one pic of the finished product...
PYiYsb5.jpg
I do put some miles on a pair of scissors...
 
I would check with the local seamstress / tailor shops and see who they use, or contact your local barber / hair stylist and see who they use.

I have a pair of commercial grade shears from my leathercrafting time and there is a HUGE difference between the "consumer" grade and "professional" grade shears. Take care of them and they will last a long time and treat you well.
 
Hey, we do have a Joann's Sewing Center and I know a county fair prize winning quilter. I will ask them.

If there is nobody local, I will see what JohnKSa can do.
 
Just check with the local hardware store. If they send out to the local sharpening service, that service will 100% do scissors. Ask them to tighten up as well, and they /should/ be able to remove the screw and sharpen them disassembled, then re-assemble properly.

I have myself re-tightened any number of scissors but often the screw is not designed for service so it'll loosen again and there's no good way to peen it either; they were originally an interference fit, but the loose side is always the blade, so even IF you magically got a new screw, it wouldn't help.

Me, I'd just clean them up and leave unused in the scissor cup or whatever as a reminder, but get some new ones (Fiskars are still the standard) for actual fabric cutting work.
 
Jim Watson said:
Maybe not weapons, except in some old drawing room murder mysteries, but I bet somebody here can help.
Where could I get Mom's old Boker brand scissors refurbished?
The screw joint is loose and the blades dull.
But they are a heirloom and I would like them to be more useful.
Click to expand...

I keep my scissors sharp using my Worksharp, but probably want to learn on some less “heirloom” scissors before using on your good pair.
 
post some pictures. If the pin is a press fit, you might just be able to tighten it back up easy enough with a punch and a hammer. putting an edge on scizzors is as easy as sharpening a kitchen knife or a lawnmower blade. you could do it, or I'd imagine a local hardware store would do it for you for 10 bucks or I think a chainsaw blade is 14 bucks, so - something like that. not mutch. I've never put an edge on a scizzor or garden cutting tool, clippers and the like, wire snips, don't think I've ever had to do it more than once time to any tool like that. Unless you are abusing it, and the old scizzors are probably higher quality than a cheap pair you would get today, will last and work forever. I have a few old family tools, one is a pair of I think quilting scizzors, outside of my getting some epoxy all over them when using them to cut edges of fiberglass matted with epoxy, they are still the best scizzors in the house, never sharpened them, never did anything, but cut with them.

I have some 40 year old hand maid little leather bullet holders, we made them as kids. I think the same pair of scizzors were used to cut the leather back in the day. Just to make my post about firearms.
 
I pulled some antique brass-framed shears out of an abandoned farm house outside of Eugene, Oregon that were in fair shape but needed sharpening and tightening up.
I tried normal sharpening techniques - no good.
I wound up using a section of carbide tool stock as a burnishing rod - worked OK but took a while.
The pivots were mild steel rods with spring steel washers against the brass frames and were easy to tighten up on the anvil with a hammer and cupped riveting tool.
I wish that I could have kept those massive old tools.
 
I tried normal sharpening techniques - no good.
Click to expand...
Because of the way scissors are typically designed and the way they are used, there's not much penalty to making the blades very hard. The "edges" are usually around 90 degrees and there's very little sideways stress to worry about. I have run into some that are extremely hard--almost like glass. Diamond stones work on those--just use a very fine grit.
 
Mentioned this thread to SWMBO and her comment was “when you find a set of scissors you like, buy three pairs and hide two from the husband and kids”

I have seen her calmly watching a child cut corrugated cardboard with her best dressmakers scissors and sweetly tell the kid that pair now belonged to them so they had their own and should not borrow Mom’s in the future.

Nothing quite like finding your nice barber scissors being used to cut poster card stock for some school project!

-kBob
 
My mom cut hair and we knew not to touch her barber scissors--ever.

She bought a new pair years and years ago and gave me her old, "worn out" pair. Sharpened them, cleaned them up a bit and then tightened the pivot some. They work as good as new.

You can test the cutting ability of a pair of scissors with a single ply of toilet paper or kleenex.

Don't hold the scissors normally, the normal grip tensions the blades against each other and you want to test how the scissors work without that "assist".

Use them like a pair of pliers, just squeezing the handles straight together without applying any sideways pressure at all.

If the scissors are sharp and in good condition, they should cut the toilet paper cleanly all along the blade length.

If the scissors have a lot of wear and you're not going to completely rework the pivot, they may not be able to pass that test, no matter how sharp the blades are. But in practice, if they cut cleanly along 50% of the blade length with the test above, then when held in a normal grip they should be 100%.
 
There remains a specialized sharpening industry, primarily servicing manufacturing users who dull tend or hundreds of scissors a month. The trick will be finding a shop that will talk to you about one scissor.

Start with the phone book, and for every "No" ask who else you should call.
 
Believe it or don’t there were still Tinkers traveling about in the late 1950’s that would sharpen and tighten up scissors.

The last I saw when I was about five had two dollars folded up and pinned under his collar…. so he would not be picked up for vagrancy!

-kBob
 
I know I'll never buy plastic-handled scissors ever again. When the plastic breaks you have two useless blades. I can't bear to throw the blades out, it seems like such a waste.
 
When the plastic breaks you have two useless blades. I can't bear to throw the blades out, it seems like such a waste.
Click to expand...
Cast some new handles out of aluminum.
 
Old handles may be glued, duplicated in G10 or other superior product, or 3D printed, in addition to the suggestions above. Good scissors are worth salvaging. Cheap scissors will always frustrate.
 
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