Sharpening SAK Scissors

B

BK14

Joined
Sep 13, 2016
Messages
448
Hi all,
I have had my beloved Swiss Army knife for years, and used the scissors for some less than brilliant things in my younger days (I am still quite young, but hopefully a little less dumb). Long story short, years of zip ties, greenbrier, and various other things really does a number on SAK scissors. They are so dull that I can’t even cleanly cut a frayed thread. What can I do about this? I have an Edge Pro and a Sharpmaker. It is a full size SAK but those blades are still very tiny. I have next to no scissor sharpening experience so I am a bit lost. Thanks so much.
 
If they're really super shot you may want to use something more aggressive than the Sharpmaker to restore the edges.
 
If they're really dinged up and severely dull, a simple file could work, and fast.

I used a small triangular file to reset the edges on my Leatherman Micra's scissors, after they'd been used to (attempt to) cut through what looked like a simple nylon cord/string, which turned out to be a nylon-jacketed, braided steel wire. Deep semi-circular divot in each edge, as a result.

Turns out, the steel on scissors like these isn't very hard, and the file worked very fast to reset a flat bevel on each half of the scissors. Went a lot quicker than I anticipated; just a few minutes. Just make sure the file is flush to the existing bevel; then make a single, steady pass at a time along the bevel, sort of diagonally into the edge (moving from inside to outside, relative to the faces of each scissor half). Don't file or grind at all on the inside faces of the scissors' halves; just on the edge bevel itself. Darken the edge bevels with a Sharpie, to help you see how the file is making contact on the bevels.


David
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
If they're really dinged up and severely dull, a simple file could work, and fast.

I used a small triangular file to reset the edges on my Leatherman Micra's scissors, after they'd been used to (attempt to) cut through what looked like a simple nylon cord/string, which turned out to be a nylon-jacketed, braided steel wire. Deep semi-circular divot in each edge, as a result.

Turns out, the steel on scissors like these isn't very hard, and the file worked very fast to reset a flat bevel on each half of the scissors. Went a lot quicker than I anticipated; just a few minutes. Just make sure the file is flush to the existing bevel; then make a single, steady pass at a time along the bevel, sort of diagonally into the edge (moving from inside to outside, relative to the faces of each scissor half). Don't file or grind at all on the inside faces of the scissors' halves; just on the edge bevel itself. Darken the edge bevels with a Sharpie, to help you see how the file is making contact on the bevels.


David
Click to expand...
I actually have a very small file that could do this, thanks so much for the advice!
 
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