Shop Scissors

[Rich Riddle]

What brand or type of good heavy-duty shop scissors do you folks use? Am I the only one ever accused of stealing his wife's scissors when for some unknown and inexplicable reason they materialize in the shop?

[Bruce Wrenn]

I use the FREE ones from HF in my shop. They are priced just right!!!

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Nope, you are not alone. I like to "borrow" my wife's Wustof's kitchen shears too, they are so easy to find! Ought to just buy a set of them.

http://thebestthings.com/knives/graphics/shears5558-1.jpg


Only $20.

[Dan Lee]

Lee valley
http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.aspx?p=59398&cat=1,64488&ap=1
I call em EMT scissors they cut most everything I need them to including 1/8" thick leather for vise jaws

[Phil Thien]

Whatever you do, don't use your wife's sewing scissors, as they are sharpened using the horn of a magic unicorn, and using them on anything but fabric will render them completely worthless.

DAMHIKT.

[John Hays]

I use a pair of Gingher sewing scissors that I've had for over 20 years. And no they aren't the wife's either... that's right, I'm a bro and I sew (every man should, it's a good skill to learn).

They cost me about $30 back in the day, but they're self-sharpening (so no unicorns to hunt down) and worth every penny. In fact, I bought another pair just for fabric, because you never know what will happen to tools in the shop. ;D

[James Baker SD]

Whatever you do, don't use your wife's sewing scissors, as they are sharpened using the horns of a magic unicorn, and using them on anything but fabric will render them completely worthless.

DAMHIKT.

My wife is not a seamstress so she has no good scissors. But as a kid, I made the mistake of using my Mom's dressmaker's shears for cutting paper and boy did I get it. They must have been sharpened by those same horns.

Today I use a pair I got from Lie-Nielsen a few years back. Think they were still U.S. made when I got mine.

[Rick Potter]

I have two pair. One is a very HD set I got at Home Depot a couple years ago. They work fine, but are very awkward to use, and the keep closed tang is always in the way. The other pair I use is from the 99 cent store. Use them all the time, including cutting sandpaper. 3 years old or so, and still cutting. They are all plastic, with thin strips of stainless steel for the cutters.

Rick Potter

[Gary Hodgin]

I got a set of these from LV a few years ago. Decent scissors and I stay out of trouble with the wife.
http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.aspx?p=10215&cat=1,64488&ap=1

[Alan Lightstone]

Surgical scissors. Much more manly to know that they can cut through flesh, and other assorted body parts.

[Jim Matthews]

Whatever you do, don't use your wife's sewing scissors, as they are sharpened using the horns of a magic unicorn, and using them on anything but fabric will render them completely worthless.

DAMHIKT.
Listen closely to our brother; woe betide any man that dare lay grimy hands on scissors, pointy sticks or string in the Wife's sanctum.
The retribution may not be swift, but she knows where we sleep...

253546

[glenn bradley]

I have a pack of 3 sizes that came from the BORG with extra heavy blades. They are Fisker-like but oversized. I have a half dozen or so of the free ones Harbor Freight is always giving coupons for. For cloth work I have a 100 year old pair of long shears that's been handed down (I'm the third generation to use them). These give me a selection to use based on the job at hand.

[Jamie Lynch]

I use Klein electrician scissors. They're tough, sharp and fairly cheap.

[Jeremy Hamaker]

Haven't seen it mentioned here but wifey's scissors actually also present an opportunity to score a few points. Plenty of us have sharpening skills, and the reason she's so paranoid about her scissors is so they don't get dull (well, nicks in them is a bummer too). But any cutting implement gets dull. In fact, her scissors are probably dull right now and she doesn't even realize it. Soooo, maybe a little sharpening party could be in order. If the scissors are of reasonable quality, give 'em a pass or two on your sharpening setup. Just make sure you really know what you're doing when it comes to scissor sharpening, first. I've sharpened a couple of my wife's pair, and scored some big points.

[Paul Snowden]

Whatever you do, don't use your wife's sewing scissors, as they are sharpened using the horn of a magic unicorn, and using them on anything but fabric will render them completely worthless.

DAMHIKT.


I can back this comment but only because your wife will also kill you for touching them.

[Rod Sheridan]

I got a set of these from LV a few years ago. Decent scissors and I stay out of trouble with the wife.
http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.aspx?p=10215&cat=1,64488&ap=1

I use those as well, extremely sharp................Rod.

[Patrick McCarthy]

Am I the only one ever accused of stealing his wife's scissors when for some unknown and inexplicable reason they materialize in the shop?

OH NO, I NEVER go near my wife's scissors . . . . .especially NOT since I found her bidding on ebay for Lorena Bobbitt's (remember John Wayne Bobbitt) used scissors . . . . . some things are just not worth risking. It is also why I now sleep with one eye open.

Nope, don't want her connecting the dots or making any association between being mad at me and the possible uses she could make of the scissors.

[Jim Tobias]

I bought 4 pair of Gingher heavy duty looking scissors at a huge flea market in Hillsville, Va. about 5 years ago. Got them 2/$25. Best deal I ever got at a flea market. They will cut anything short of a 2 x 4.;) Have them spread around the shop but would have a pair every 5 ft if I could find more.

Jim

[mike holden]

When I worked in a pattern shop, I got a pair of Wiss shears with hardened blades. They were used by the plasticians for cutting fibreglas and carbon fiber matting.
They fit my big hands too. Cost about $60 in the early 70's, no idea what they cost now.
Mike

[Chris Tsutsui]

I have a gingher 5" knife edge and the Fiskars 10" tailor shears. Both are great scissors. If I had to have one all purpose scissor then I would buy the orange handle 8" classic fiskars. They are cheaper than the ginghers and more comfortable to use. The ginghers have that nice snap-on chrome feel to them when brand new though.

I've broken 2 of the harbor freight scissors, though they do work.

My heavy duty scissors I use the Wiss 10 1/2” Compound Action All-purpose Cutter. I can cut card board, plastic, gaskets, etc...

Remember to only cut steel wire with the right cutter. I've notched the knife edge of a pair of knipex. :(

[Charles McKinley]

Safety Warning: My friend's 3 year old twins got into granny's quilting cupboard and the one lost the first jiont of his index finger!

[Phillip Gregory]

My wife is not a seamstress so she has no good scissors. But as a kid, I made the mistake of using my Mom's dressmaker's shears for cutting paper and boy did I get it. They must have been sharpened by those same horns.

I made that mistake a long time ago too. She had a bunch of orange-handled Fiskars scissors that looked identical but one was the "good" pair and one was not. I accidentally picked up the "good" pair to cut up some rags and definitely got chewed out. My wife sews as well and I don't touch her scissors. I generally use a utility knife for doing my cutting but also have a pair of my own cheap scissors that I use to cut up rags when I need them to be approximately square (such as for making rifle cleaning patches.)


Surgical scissors. Much more manly to know that they can cut through flesh, and other assorted body parts.

About the only surgical scissors that can cut through much at once would be a pair of trauma shears. The others are generally made for delicate work (iris scissors) to average kind of work (Mayos and Metzes.) A new or newish pair of sterilizable OR-grade surgical scissors would be a very nice thing to have at home but they are extremely expensive unless you steal them from the hospital. (Don't do that.) You can often pick up disposable or pretty close to disposable grade stuff inexpensively though. Forceps are also very handy too.

[Bill Neely]

I've got several pairs of scissors in the shop including some big Wiss industrial carpet/tailor shears, ~14" and real sharp.