fabric scissors need to be sharp to do their job effectively.
cutting other things, even paper, can (and will) dull the blades enough so they’re no longer suitable for their original intended task.
then when gramma, or whoever, wants to use ‘their scissors’ to cut some fabric, and they aren’t functioning properly… let’s just say it may not go well for the guilty party.
tl;dr: they’re no longer pure and must be replaced with new virgin scissors.
You think cutting through a tree won’t dull scissors? Fabric is made from plant fluff or hair.
More seriously - Yes you can sharpen them but many fabric stores no longer offer the service regularly. Some knife sharpeners will do it but others won’t. My scissors can be sent back to the maker to be sharpened but then I would be without my fabric scissors for weeks. If you do it yourself you will fail.
This is one of my favorite comments of all time. I have sent a screen shot to three different people that get pissed when I won’t let them use my shears.
They are more difficult than knives because they have to be sharpened so that they work as a set. If you screw it up, they no longer cut clean along the correct plane.
Any disruption of the interference fit between the contact or cutting faces can ruin scissors - it’s a lot like grinding a straight razor, but where you have incredibly strict angle requirements across a compound surface. You’re absolutely right though that the #1 mistake people make is to mess up the hollows by flat sharpening them like knives.
Sharpen the angled side at the proper angle, and remove the burr by flattening the smooth side of the blade on a decent diamond stone.
I have my great grandfathers barber’s shears, and that’s how they’ve been sharpened for going on 100 years now. You need a stone wide enough for the whole blade, so that its uniformly flat, but other than that it’s pretty logical how they need to be sharpened.
It’s a shame more fabric enthusiastics don’t do this, we’d have an army of skilled blade sharpeners and weapon/fabric enthusiastics could join forces and reign supreme
You’re highly wrong, then. Go get a straight razor and drag it through some paper, then see how nice it is to shave with. Fabric shears have surfaces honed to the same degree.
Paper is made out of wood, the fibers are much harder than most sewing fabrics like cotton. It’s only easier to cut because it’s so stiff compared to fabric so even dull scissors can split it.
fabric scissors need to be sharp to do their job effectively.
cutting other things, even paper, can (and will) dull the blades enough so they’re no longer suitable for their original intended task.
then when gramma, or whoever, wants to use ‘their scissors’ to cut some fabric, and they aren’t functioning properly… let’s just say it may not go well for the guilty party.
tl;dr: they’re no longer pure and must be replaced with new virgin scissors.
That’s when they become “stabbing scissors”!
Can’t you just sharpen them? Won’t fabric dull them? You can’t tell me that paper dulls scissors faster than fabrics.
I highly doubt using fabric scissors one time for cutting paper will do anything to them
You are hereby banned from the sewing room.
You think cutting through a tree won’t dull scissors? Fabric is made from plant fluff or hair.
More seriously - Yes you can sharpen them but many fabric stores no longer offer the service regularly. Some knife sharpeners will do it but others won’t. My scissors can be sent back to the maker to be sharpened but then I would be without my fabric scissors for weeks. If you do it yourself you will fail.
This is one of my favorite comments of all time. I have sent a screen shot to three different people that get pissed when I won’t let them use my shears.
had no idea about the level of complexity in sharpening scissors. TIL
They are more difficult than knives because they have to be sharpened so that they work as a set. If you screw it up, they no longer cut clean along the correct plane.
It’s not that bad, they’re single bevel so you’d have to try to sharpen the wrong side of the blade to fuck it up too badly
Any disruption of the interference fit between the contact or cutting faces can ruin scissors - it’s a lot like grinding a straight razor, but where you have incredibly strict angle requirements across a compound surface. You’re absolutely right though that the #1 mistake people make is to mess up the hollows by flat sharpening them like knives.
It’s a single bevel.
Sharpen the angled side at the proper angle, and remove the burr by flattening the smooth side of the blade on a decent diamond stone.
I have my great grandfathers barber’s shears, and that’s how they’ve been sharpened for going on 100 years now. You need a stone wide enough for the whole blade, so that its uniformly flat, but other than that it’s pretty logical how they need to be sharpened.
Seriously, what’s with these people thinking fabric scissors are magic? If anything, they’re significantly easier to sharpen than a knife.
It’s a shame more fabric enthusiastics don’t do this, we’d have an army of skilled blade sharpeners and weapon/fabric enthusiastics could join forces and reign supreme
You’re highly wrong, then. Go get a straight razor and drag it through some paper, then see how nice it is to shave with. Fabric shears have surfaces honed to the same degree.
Does cutting fabric not dull the blades? It seems like a lot of fabrics should be tougher to cut through than paper?
Paper is made out of wood, the fibers are much harder than most sewing fabrics like cotton. It’s only easier to cut because it’s so stiff compared to fabric so even dull scissors can split it.
Yes, and you can sharpen them, it just takes time.