Hair cutting scissors sharpening help

S

socalkid

Joined
Apr 8, 2011
Messages
216
Hello,

Like most of you I sharpen my own blades. My friends and family come to me when they need to have a blade sharpened and I enjoy doing it a lot. Well my little brothers girlfriend is a hair stylist and she asked if I could try to sharpen a pair of her scissors... I have no idea how to sharpen scissors. Any one have any advice or a how to video? She wasn't satisfied with that last 3 "pros" she used so now its my turn. Oh yeah the scissors she wants me to sharpen cost $300 and these are the cheapest pair she owns:(

Thanks for any help,

Chris
 
I've never sharpened hair cutting shears specifically but have heard that they are usually either convex or hollow ground and so should be sharpened like any other single bevel blade with that grind type.

From sharpening utility, leather and household shears, I can say that the most important thing in my experience is that the angles stay the same and the flats stay flat. I have no other advice except to say that I definitely wouldn't be using a coarse stone. And maybe consider trying fine sandpaper and strop and just skip the stone altogether.
 
Has anyone tried to use the Spyderco sharpmaker for item like scissors? Doesnt it have a hole specifically for one of the rods for items like this?
 
brickman222 said:
Has anyone tried to use the Spyderco sharpmaker for item like scissors? Doesnt it have a hole specifically for one of the rods for items like this?
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much dirrerent angle. The shears individually can cut on hairdressers scissors.

I recommend using worn sandpaper to 2000 grit on a soft backing. You can sand the surface of the sandpaper with another piece to make it finer. or you can microbevel on your best and finest stone. If it has a different grind for the primary, you can sharpen it like a knife, and deburr the flat now and then. finish with a strop. If you dont fully rid the burr, you will damage the edge when you close the shears....visibly damage- constantly check the edge with a light. :)
 
The high $ shears are usually convex. There is an association that tests and certifies people who want to go into the business of sharpening them. I don't recall the name, but you can probably find it with google.

Having never done it, the convex shears seem difficult to me, but like many things, once you learn the basics, it gets easier. Without knowing these basics, I'd hesitate to tackle those shears with my knife sharpening equipment. At least check out youtube, there are a number of videos on convex shear sharpening. It may save you from damaging some really nice, expensive shears, or worse, damaging your reputation as the sharpening guy.

One thing I do know about these is that it's more than just putting a good edge on the blades. There is also getting the blades bent and tensioned just right for the best shearing action. That is probably where the other sharpeners failed. Too much bend and it takes too much force to cut. Too little and they won't cut at all. The tension on the pivot pin plays a part in getting them adjusted just right.

JMHO,
Allen
 
I haven't sharpened any $300 scissors, but I have sharpened my wife's scissors with my paper wheels. I just run them on the slotted wheel with some buffing compound on them. Just be careful and watch the angle carefully. Do not grind the flat side, or polish any burr off of them. When done, if a small burr is present, just work the scissors to let them remove the burr. Personally, I would pass on the job myself because of the liability of the cost of the scissors. There are experts that do these with very expensive machines, therefore they can demand a substantial fee for their work. Apparently she hasn't found one yet, and has only found an amateur willing to take a chance.

Omar
:rolleyes:
 
Sharpening convex hair shears is a VERY complex process, that only bears superficial resemblance to knife sharpening! Sharpening a standard set of craft scissors, kitchen shears or the like is not too difficult, but salon shears are an entirely different animal! Do some research (a LOT of research) and if you can, find someone who does salon shears already to walk you through it. It is NOT a straightforward task, and it is not at all difficult to permanently destroy a set of extremely costly shears in very short order.

Honestly, I'm a fairly good sharpener and do knives professionally. I won't touch salon shears, I KNOW I don't have that skill yet.
 
Komitadjie said:
Sharpening convex hair shears is a VERY complex process, that only bears superficial resemblance to knife sharpening! Sharpening a standard set of craft scissors, kitchen shears or the like is not too difficult, but salon shears are an entirely different animal! Do some research (a LOT of research) and if you can, find someone who does salon shears already to walk you through it. It is NOT a straightforward task, and it is not at all difficult to permanently destroy a set of extremely costly shears in very short order.

Honestly, I'm a fairly good sharpener and do knives professionally. I won't touch salon shears, I KNOW I don't have that skill yet.
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+1 :thumbup:

Newer high end hair shears blade has distal taper convex with belly and (standard) hollow back. Most use steel has cobalt element for giving silky-smooth cutting feedback (geez, sound like a commercial!). Some blades also has micro serration.

I've sharpened around 40 shears for relatives & friends. My current approach:
* check for: dull spots - lol mostly 1/2" tip; damages; gaps
* is it a ball-bearing pivot - easier to sharpen each seperated blade with pivot removed.
* don't touch the back of blade if there is no gap - so easy to ruin the hollow and mostly straight plane with slight curvature toward the tip
* sharpen from edge to face (edge-lead) to minimize edge deformation (burrs) lean toward the back
* use magnifier for the delicate thin tip
* frustrations & PO when the darn tip won't cut moisten neck-strip

Out of those sharpened shears, less than 10 were touch-up (easy jobs), the rest of rescued from professional sharpening services (~$30/shear) ruined the tip. I gave up on 5 because of damaged beyond repair. For sharpening tools, I used waterstones, ceramicstones, diamontplates, diamondsurfaces, files (waterstone, ceramic, diamond) and strops.

Practice your first sharpening on a beater high-end hair shears. Or just rescue/repair a severely damaged one. Get some experience first, then sweat bucket trying to sharpen a good shear afterward.

Have funs learning ...
 
I must agree wholeheartedly with the cautionary notes in this thread. I am a professional sharpener of hair styling shears. I often see the sad work of well-intentioned but overconfident sharpeners who are untrained in this highly specialized skill. Some shears I can save, others are a loss.

Those who want to sharpen salon shears should spend the time and the significant dollars to train with master shear sharpeners, then purchase more thousands of dollars of specialized equipment and practice shears. Practice until you've worn out all those shears and buy more practice shears. It takes a lot of guts to sharpen the first customers' shears. With time and experience your skill and confidence will grow, but continued education and training should always be pursued.
 
socalkid, i sharpen scissors too. do they have what i call a half convex edge? i sharpen a lot of them and they have to be done similar to a convex edge and a belt sander comes in handy. if you do not want to attempt it and if your brothers girlfriend wants them done by someone that knows how to do them i can sharpen them.

if you want help to do them yourself i can give you a call and tell you how to do them.
 
Radical said:
I must agree wholeheartedly with the cautionary notes in this thread. I am a professional sharpener of hair styling shears. I often see the sad work of well-intentioned but overconfident sharpeners who are untrained in this highly specialized skill. Some shears I can save, others are a loss.

Those who want to sharpen salon shears should spend the time and the significant dollars to train with master shear sharpeners, then purchase more thousands of dollars of specialized equipment and practice shears. Practice until you've worn out all those shears and buy more practice shears. It takes a lot of guts to sharpen the first customers' shears. With time and experience your skill and confidence will grow, but continued education and training should always be pursued.
Click to expand...

Truer words have never been said. I learned from some of the most recognized names in the business. It was expensive as all get out, but making sexy young women happy usually is. Lol!

I could not believe what sharpeners were getting away with when I started sharpening hair shears. Most of them were so fouled up that it took 5-10x as long to reprofile and fix them on the first go-round than it did on the second time.

There is a hair shear guild, but nothing is anywhere near as good as sitting down with someone who really does know exactly what he's doing.
 
Radical said:
I must agree wholeheartedly with the cautionary notes in this thread. I am a professional sharpener of hair styling shears. I often see the sad work of well-intentioned but overconfident sharpeners who are untrained in this highly specialized skill. Some shears I can save, others are a loss.

Those who want to sharpen salon shears should spend the time and the significant dollars to train with master shear sharpeners, then purchase more thousands of dollars of specialized equipment and practice shears. Practice until you've worn out all those shears and buy more practice shears. It takes a lot of guts to sharpen the first customers' shears. With time and experience your skill and confidence will grow, but continued education and training should always be pursued.
Click to expand...

Truer words have never been said. I learned from some of the most recognized names in the business. It was expensive as all get out, but making sexy young women happy usually is. Lol!

I could not believe what sharpeners were getting away with when I started sharpening hair shears. Most of them were so fouled up that it took 5-10x as long to reprofile and fix them on the first go-round than it did on the second time.

There is a hair shear guild, but nothing is anywhere near as good as sitting down with someone who really does know exactly what he's doing.
 
i sharpen some 50-150$ dog grooming scissors on a normal basis and everyone is referring people to me, i use a work sharp with the scissor guide, gets them razor sharp and since they are already convex its best to use a slack belt grinder like it, just work a burr on both sides with it then when done "snap" them shut which pops the burr off or take them to leather, my sharpening jobs are better then sending them off they say and they often tip me extra then my normal fee, they also say the 240 grit edge i put on them lasts 2x as long. but i dont know about hair shears as i havent even tried them yet and assume they are different then pet grooming shears.
 
This reminds me, there is a scissor sharpening section in the Spyderco DVD. I need to take another look... got a few pairs of scissors that could use a touch up myself. I'm assuming you can just sharpen like a chisel grind.
 
Ordinary household scissors are easy to sharpen and any competent knife
sharpener can figure them out.

High end hairdressing shears are a different beast altogether. You can EASILY
screw up a $1000.00 pair of shears in a heartbeat. It's not a DIY project, you
really need professional training and a sizeable investment in equipment. Nobody
is more unhappy that a stylist whose shears you've just ruined and they will
spread your bad rep faster than you can imagine.

Bill
 
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I sharpen my own knives and straight razors, no problem, but I won't touch shears. Professional help would be best. Very different techniques and goals.
 
Just curious--why wouldn't you be able to simply strop a set of stylist's shears? I wouldn't attempt to sharpen them for someone without knowing what I was doing...but what's so mystical about shears? I know that we're dealing with a hollow-ground backside and you generally shouldn't ever touch that side of the geometry but wouldn't simple light stropping with polishing compounds be able to produce the razor-like fine edge you'd be looking for without altering the blade geometry?
 
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