Shop project run amuck

[Guest]

Or “How to spend 3 hours cutting a piece of duct tape”.

I needed to custom-cut a length of duct tape, and trim the edge of a vinyl sticker. I have scissors in the tape box, marked especially for that purpose. Dang those tape cutting scissor blades have become gummy over time. I had to clean those blades first to get a decent cut across the tape.

Hmm, crap, the non-tape shop scissor blades are not in much cleaner shape, and I can’t find a pair to use on the vinyl sticker either. I’ve been lazily grabbing whatever scissors are handy for cutting whatever was at hand. I know better, and even the tiny surgical scissors I use for detail cuts could use some attention.

I might as well check the scissors stored in the FRP box, marked and reserved for cutting glass and kevlar. How the hell did those blades, never used for anything except cloth, acquire residue?

In for a penny, in for a pound. House scissors, bathroom scissors, 1[SUP]st[/SUP] aid kit scissors. EMT scissors, Swiss Army knife scissors. Dammit what have I gotten myself into?

I cleaned the blades with 0000 steel wool and acetone and wiped off any remaining softened grime. 22 scissors = 44 blades



A couple are goners; I had cut wet epoxied glass strands with them and not immediately cleaned the blades.

Having cleaned the blades I went ahead and sharpened those that seemed dull.

Three hours to cut a piece of duct tape. No wonder I’m so slow in the shop.

 

[pblanc]

Or you could have gone to Harbor Freight. I have found that these inexpensive scissors cut even Kevlar cloth remarkably well with their slightly serrated edges:

http://www.harborfreight.com/multipurpose-scissors-47877.html

But if you like to torture yourself, I have a few dozen scissors I can send you for servicing, and I will even pay the shipping both ways.

 

[oldie moldy]

I like your collection of scissors and I do know how that sticky tape gums things up. I've got quite a collection myself. Our local thrift shop often gets boxes of things cleaned out by the children when some old person dies. Usually it's just rubbish, of no value to the kids but still and all the objects formed the fabric of someone's life. Often I ask to look at the collection of scissors; most times it's just junk from China but sometimes I find real treasures. Quality scissors from Germany or England, abused to be sure, but with a little work they'll perform well once again. Of course I don't know, but it's not hard to imagine some poor little old person trying to cut with them; usually they are dull and the screw has come loose to where the blades aren't in contact. I expect the owners eyesight had gotten to where they couldn't see what was wrong, just knew they wouldn't cut. And no one to help them. A lot of stories connected to these cast off things, if we only knew.

Rob

 

[riverstrider]

Yikes. I think someone has a scissor hoarding issue to address. One should not own more scissors than canoes. There are, of course, two solutions to that problem.

 

[Guest]

But if you like to torture yourself, I have a few dozen scissors I can send you for servicing, and I will even pay the shipping both ways.

Gee Pete, thanks for a most generous offer, but I’ve moved on to other tortuous tasks. While sharpening the scissors I realized than I hadn’t sharpened my knives and other cutting edge tools in quite a while.

I still haven’t, and probably won’t. I am not especially skilled with a whetstone, and for years I had a friend of a friend who was a professional sharpener, with a shop dedicated to all things edged. I could just bring him everything that needed sharpening – knives, saws, chisels, whatever – and he would put a perfect and purposeful edge on it.

I can get an OK edge, at least on a simple knife blade, but I can’t come close to what he could achieve. I need to find another sharpener guy, or travel back in time to find an old Italian pushcart vendor calling “Scissors, knives, axes, you bringa, I maka lika nuuuuu !”

Rob, if you ever see them in the thrift store those tiny surgical scissors are the bomb for small detail cuts. And yeah, most of them are German, like Tiemanns, but Roboz and Sklar makes some teensy surgical scissors in the US.

Also handy for old man nose hair.

 

[Guest]

Yikes. I think someone has a scissor hoarding issue to address. One should not own more scissors than canoes. There are, of course, two solutions to that problem.

Strider, I’m still close to a 1:1 ratio, and at one time did own more canoes than scissors.

I’m working on equalibrium. I need a project boat to keep me busy in the shop and have been checking every Craigslist from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, but unless I want to try turning a sow’s ear Pelican into a silk purse canoe I’m outa luck so far.

 

[pblanc]

Gee Pete, thanks for a most generous offer, but I’ve moved on to other tortuous tasks. While sharpening the scissors I realized than I hadn’t sharpened my knives and other cutting edge tools in quite a while.

I still haven’t, and probably won’t. I am not especially skilled with a whetstone, and for years I had a friend of a friend who was a professional sharpener, with a shop dedicated to all things edged. I could just bring him everything that needed sharpening – knives, saws, chisels, whatever – and he would put a perfect and purposeful edge on it.

I can get an OK edge, at least on a simple knife blade, but I can’t come close to what he could achieve. I need to find another sharpener guy, or travel back in time to find an old Italian pushcart vendor calling “Scissors, knives, axes, you bringa, I maka lika nuuuuu !”

Rob, if you ever see them in the thrift store those tiny surgical scissors are the bomb for small detail cuts. And yeah, most of them are German, like Tiemanns, but Roboz and Sklar makes some teensy surgical scissors in the US.

Also handy for old man nose hair.

Try your local hospital. See if you can speak to the Operating Room supervisor or head nurse. High quality surgical scissors get dull too, and too expensive to simply throw out and replace. Most times the OR supervisor will know of a sharpening guy that might be willing to do some work for you.