Your Guide To Sharpening Scissors

There are plenty of tools that we use on a daily basis to carry out our tasks that require sharpening. A pair of scissors is one of them. Whether you use it in the kitchen to cleanly remove the trimmings from a turkey carcass or for DIY projects with your kids, it’s no fun working with a pair of scissors that doesn’t cut properly. Not only it doubles your work, it is also quite uncomfortable for your thumb & the index finger as you constantly need to exert extra pressure to make a clean cut.

You don’t have to get rid of a pair every time it goes blunt. It may look daunting at first but you need the same sharpening principles to restore scissors. I’ll share with you a handy guide on keeping your scissors in top shape.

The sharpening technique you use will depend on the condition of your scissors.

• Grinding paper: This is best suited for a pair that still has some life left in its blades. If your scissors are able to cut but require more effort, you can quickly restore back the sharpness with a grinding paper. All you need to do is cut the grinding paper about half a dozen times with both sides of your pair. Also, you don’t need to fret over the paper grain. Any grinding paper will do.

• Using a sharpening stone: You will need to adjust your sharpening approach a bit as compared to a typical kitchen knife as it has a two-sided blade and scissors carry a chisel grind, meaning they are sharpened on the inside only. So the optimum route here is to separate the two blades & treat each one as a singular knife. Plus, there’s also the danger of injuring yourself if you attempt to sharpen your pair without taking it apart.

Here’s how you go about it:

• Depending on the condition, choose the correct stone. For a blunt pair, you need to start with coarse grit. For a partially sharp pair, a finer stone will suffice.

• Before you move to the edge, the inside of the blades needs to be taken care of first.

• Soak your stone in water for a few minutes.

• Now lay the blade flat on the stone and run it gently along the stone’s length from the tip to bottom. Repeat until you get rid of the rust.

• Now it’s time to sharpen the edge. Hold the blade at an angle against the stone so the edge comes into contact with the stone.

• Run it along the surface from the tip to bottom until you observe a burr.

• Now reattach the blades and make a few cutting motions to remove the burr.

Here’s to sharp knives and great food!

Team Sharp Pebble