Sewing Scissors

[Brian Christiansen]

I have a couple of pair of sewing scissors. Two are Fiskars, and will
tell the story of why I have 2 if somebody wants me to, but my main
questions is about my other pair.

I have another pair that I suppose is part of my "inheritance" from my
late mother. It is a pair of heavy duty Wiss scissors that are almost
11 inches lomg when measured from the end of the handle to the end of
the blade, and the "cutting part" of the blade is 5 inches long and
fairly heavy duty.

From a technical standpoint, I suppose the Wiss is a much better pair
of scissors, but most of the time I use the Fiskars, the reason being
that the is a little bit of rust on the Wiss but not the Fiskars.

I suppose a bit of rust on the outside isn't any big deal, but some rust
is showing up on the inside. The best idea I can think of is to perhaps
and the blade with either really fine grit sandpaper or extra fine steel
wool, treating the blade with some oil, and perhaps getting hold of a
whetstone.

I was also kind of wondering if, after I recondition them, if I should
make some kind of holder/protector for them.

[Night Mist]

I cannot recommend a whetstone for scissors. The blade edge is not shaped right for that. I would just clean them up and see if there was anyplace locally to get them adjusted. If not it is a seemingly simple matter to adjust the screw, but I bet it is not simple at all. There may be something online or at the library about it. In truth, these days I would bet on the library for correct information.

NightMist

Post by Brian Christiansen
I have a couple of pair of sewing scissors. Two are Fiskars, and will
tell the story of why I have 2 if somebody wants me to, but my main
questions is about my other pair.
I have another pair that I suppose is part of my "inheritance" from my
late mother. It is a pair of heavy duty Wiss scissors that are almost
11 inches lomg when measured from the end of the handle to the end of
the blade, and the "cutting part" of the blade is 5 inches long and
fairly heavy duty.
From a technical standpoint, I suppose the Wiss is a much better pair
of scissors, but most of the time I use the Fiskars, the reason being
that the is a little bit of rust on the Wiss but not the Fiskars.
I suppose a bit of rust on the outside isn't any big deal, but some rust
is showing up on the inside. The best idea I can think of is to perhaps
and the blade with either really fine grit sandpaper or extra fine steel
wool, treating the blade with some oil, and perhaps getting hold of a
whetstone.
I was also kind of wondering if, after I recondition them, if I should
make some kind of holder/protector for them.
--
My Yonkoma: https://www.flickr.com/photos/brian0908/albums/72157680223526176
The E-mail associated with the account is a "spamcatcher" account that I
got to every couple of months to empty out, and anything sent to it will
not be seen for probably several months, if it is seen at all.
Brian Christiansen

[Kay Lancaster]

Post by Brian Christiansen
I suppose a bit of rust on the outside isn't any big deal, but some rust
is showing up on the inside. The best idea I can think of is to perhaps
and the blade with either really fine grit sandpaper or extra fine steel
wool, treating the blade with some oil, and perhaps getting hold of a
whetstone.

I'd give them a rubdown with very fine steel wool and a little sewing
machine oil as a lubricant to get rid of the rust, then send them out
to be properly sharpened by someone who knows what they're doing.
Scissors sharpening is a tricky business.

Open the scissors blades on either pair, and look at the very narrow
bright line that is just under the sharp edge of the blade. That's the
"ride line". If you damage or remove or grind off that line, you've got
dead scissors that probably are permanently wrecked. Amateurs like me
can wreck scissors very quickly with any sort of grinder. In addition,
various types of scissors require different grinding angles, hard to maintain
by hand without practice.

Post by Brian Christiansen
I was also kind of wondering if, after I recondition them, if I should
make some kind of holder/protector for them.

"wet" a cotton cloth with sewing machine oil and give the scissors, blades
and all, inside and out, with the cloth, leaving a thin film of oil. Store
the scissors, particularly if you're in a damp or salt air climate, in a
closed plastic box wrapped in the oily cloth. When you're ready to use
the scissors, wipe them down with a dry rag to remove excess oil and cut.

Return the scissors, wiped down again with the oily rag, to closed storage,
wrapped in the cloth. The idea is to keep a thin film of oil on all the metal
surfaces so rust doesn't form.