welcome

the sharper edge

welcome

the sharper edge

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes…” Romans 1:16

scissors.co.za

hairdressing scissors and shears - sharpening and repair, that is what i do

if you’re a hair stylist, whether still training or an international professional, you have one thing in common - the tools of your trade, scissors, or hairdressing shears as some would refer to them apart from anything else, your looks, your personality, the ambience (or lack thereof) of your salon etc. what the client will remember is not only the result of your craftsmanship but HOW it was achieved. this is where your scissors can make or break you

Close-up of Concave Blade indicating Ride Line

sharpening general whether it be right handed, left handed or thinning scissors, i will be able to sharpen and repair almost 99% of them; and if i can’t i will tell you so as there are proprietary pivot mechanism i will not be able to work on in taking the blades apart! if you have scissors with micro-serrations at the cutting edge - i can not re-cut the serrations and will mostly polish the edge in order to give the scissors an ability to slice. if you don’t want to have the micro-serrations removed you must inform me! here are some of the sharpening steps... • after receipt of your scissors i inspect them, oil them and take the blades apart to be cleaned, repaired and sharpened. • at that stage or even prior to this i take ‘before’ photographs of the blades, noting damage and or peculiarities. • i then enter unique markings with a very fine diamond drill which will indicate whether i have seen them before. • if damage is considerable and necessitates grinding on the outside blades, this is done on a Swedish Tormek™ whetstone, although only as a last resort as the removal of excessive steel shortens the life of the scissors. • thereafter the rides are re-done with three or more Japanese whetstones. for more on the scissor ride go here. • then i polish the outside edges - a process which also sharpens the blades. this is done with a soft cotton buff and diamond polish material. • before reassembly i check each blade on at last three points along its edge for sharpness - the one test is it has to hack into rubber under its own weight at a 20 degree angle! one true saying comes to mind “if you can see an edge, there is no edge”, in other words the edge is still blunt as light reflects off a surface which indicates it is flat or rounded - try it yourself! • if need be i now take ‘after’ photographs for record or report purposes. • then i clean your scissors, oil them, set and balance them and before packing them i test them on human hair. • they must be able to dry-slice up to the very tip. • obviously i must not be able to feel a nick or roughness when opening and closing your scissors! • the final test is the ‘acoustic’ test - they must make a very smooth ‘swish’ sound when opened and closed very near my ear. the entire process is done under very good light conditions whilst frequently checking progress under a strong back-lighted magnifier and a if needed a digital microscope. an optional report on your scissors with images - which you can use for insurance or other record purposes - can be provided for an added R75. some of the equipment apart from the necessary tools and jigs i use japanese whetstones of various grits (coarseness) to hone especially the inside of the scissor blades. sharpening on stones is an ancient tradition/technique. many nations, especially the japanese, have refined smithing to an art. The most excellent, sharpest and well polished edges can be obtained by using water stones. i use stones of varying grit (coarseness) in order to work up to a superlative polished finish. those are a King 1000 grit, an Ohishi 4000 grit and a Kitayama Super Polish Waterstone with an effective grit of 8000-12000. here you can see a Jaguar scissor blade lying on the Kitayama stone. note the slurry/sludge. it is a ‘messy’ job because the sludge on the stone is necessary for achieving the smoothest and best polished ride. the 4000 and 1000 grit stones as well as the Nagura (soft chaulk which assists in creating slurry) are seen in the back- ground. honing the inside ride is a frequently neglected but essential part of scissor sharpening and can NOT be done in your salon on a portable scissor sharpening device, chances are it can’t or won’t even be done in a little van or caravan parked outside. the most important reasons for it not being done is because it is time consuming and thus not very profitable, you need the right tools and you actually need some knowledge. scissor anatomy: more on the inside ride of your scissors: as can be seen above, the ride is the thin mirror line on the inside of the blade at the cutting edge. as the two blades close these ride lines must glide over each other perfectly horizontal in order to ensure that the razor sharp cutting edges of the blades do not hack into each other and that their very thin and sensitive cutting edges are firmly supported. especially on concave blades (most styling scissors) a damaged, worn down or absent ride line will result in bad cutting and a blunt scissor. these images might help:

In this image you can see yours truly re-doing the ride by gently pushing and drawing the blade on the whetstone whilst pressing evenly down on it with his fingers.