how do i sharpen scissors?

October 23, 2011 5:59 PM

can you recommend an idiot-proof scissor sharpener?

i have lots of scissors, many of them are dull. i've purchased a couple of sharpeners in the past and never really figured them out. i've spent a fortune having them sharpened in the past - and am prepared to do so again. UNLESS YOU CAN HELP ME.

i'm reading reviews on amazon and really can't make heads or tails of what i might need. do all knife sharpeners sharpen scissors? i honestly don't want to read the 1,200 reviews in front of me.

pie in the sky - any price point for the sake of argument is fine. just a) works and b) is easy

thanks.

posted by sockpuppet plots an escape to Home & Garden (8 answers total)

The trick with scissors is that you only "sharpen" one side of the blade. If you work the face where the two blades are in contact, you create a gap that ruins the scissors. To properly sharpen, you just work the beveled face...

If you haven't been following this rule, there is a decent chance you have just been mucking your scissors despite having the proper equipment.

If you _have_ been following this rule, then my comment is useless... I just thought there might be some low-hanging fruit here...
posted by milqman at 7:40 PM on October 23, 2011

Response by poster: i appreciate the tip? only that's the kind of sharpener i'm hoping to avoid. i want to be able to know nothing. i think? i mean, is it easy to learn that thing and then i know it and then i can sharpen my own scissors?

i'm turning into chatfilter. apologies

can i revise my question a little ... is it easy to learn to sharpen my own scissors or should i leave it to a professional? or is their a gadget that's really really idiot-proof?
posted by sockpuppet plots an escape at 7:54 PM on October 23, 2011

I have this and it works great - well enough for my needs, anyway.
posted by ErikaB at 9:13 PM on October 23, 2011

We have this at work and it seems idiot-proof, at least for scissors. It seems more for honing and touching up the edge, not for restoring sharpness to beat up blades.
posted by hydrophonic at 9:25 PM on October 23, 2011

How sharp do you need them? The standard idiot-proof way to sharpen scissors is to use them to cut sandpaper but that doesn't work as well as a true professional sharpening job.
posted by hindmost at 1:50 AM on October 24, 2011

I just fold a piece of aluminum foil several times and cut through it a few times (via Lifehacker years ago). Works great!
posted by melissasaurus at 9:25 AM on October 24, 2011

Response by poster: awesome - i'm going to at least try the last two. i cut a lot of fabric, so pretty sharp - though it's paper that dulls them out. none of the blades are nicked are anything, just dull.
posted by sockpuppet plots an escape at 9:28 AM on October 24, 2011

I have a Spyderco Sharpmaker and it does scissors, as shown in the accompanying DVD which looks like a terrible early-90s talk show.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:55 AM on October 25, 2011