Two for One Dollar

[Jim Koepke]

There is an inch or so of snow on the ground. Candy & I had planned to go to Costco today with a daughter and SIL. Candy didn't feel good so that was postponed. We were out of milk so that was my excuse to drive into town even though it really wasn't enough snow to be plowed and it was 31º upon leaving. What the heck, put it in 4WD and be careful. Not many people out, the store wasn't very crowded.

On my way home it seemed like a good idea to stop at one of the places on my list to check in on occasionally. Their stuff seems to turnover rather often. There was a #4 size Corsair Plane (Made by Great Neck, maybe?). Plastic knob and tote, not interested.

What caught my eye was a pile of scissors. Most were in bad shape. One large pair looked tempting but it needed a lot of TLC.

These were the two that came home with me:

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The Fiskars had a $1 tag, the Wiss Inlaid din't have a tag. This was mentioned and Mike said how about a dollar for both, twist my arm please.

The Fiskars is just like another pair seem at an estate sale a few years ago. The price was higher. While walking around thinking about it, someone else bought them. A lot of kicking myself over that one, until today.

Why the fuss? It may not be obvious in the picture but the Fiskars pair of scissors is left handed, something on my hunt list for a while.

They both cleaned up well. There was light rust and Scotch tape (looking like it was from Christmas wrapping from 1973) to clean off. There were also some very light nicks in the blades. A light application of stones took care of this. It is nice to have scissors that do not snag on paper when cutting thin paper and tissue.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

When checking scissors, hold them up close to your ear and listen to the blades as they close. They should make a smooth steady sound. Sections with no sound means the blades may not be "shearing." They may have been used on something too thick or on heavy material.

The can also be held up to look as the blades close. There should be a small section moving up the blades with no light showing through as the blades close.

Little ticks may be from little nicks.

Be careful doing this, you don't want to become a twenty first century Van Gogh.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

About a week ago, a visit to the shop that got this thread started found that all but two pair of the pile of scissors had disappeared. One the way out there was a pair of barber style scissors in the display by the door. Without any cash on hand it seemed immoderate to use plastic for a $5 purchase. Besides often a price will come down for cash.

Yesterday after a day of running around shopping we stopped to see if the scissors were still there. They were and they came home for $4 including tax.

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We looked for a makers mark but didn't find one. I took them out to the shop to sharpen and check. They were lightly cleaned. I didn't see any mark until after taking this photo.

After noticing the name still couldn't be read so they went back out to the shop and were cleaned a little more.

I like patina.

Dunlap was a name used for many things at Sears from 1941 to the late 1950s.

More on Dunlap > http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2014/09/vanished-tool-brands-dunlap.html

Candy was very impressed with the sound of the closing blades after they were sharpened. I like them for how well the trim my mustache, without pulling on any hairs.

jtk