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day5

tungston carbide scissors

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OK I hate scissors. <_< None of them last for commercial tying. My issue is both the wear on the blades but also the rivet/fulcrum loosing up. Ive center punched them on the rivet and this has helped but they loosen back up after time. Do any or you use tungsten carbide scissors???? Are they worth the extra cost??

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I got a pair for doing the Chicago show. They are nice, but I don't see much of an added advantage. Use your dealer status to just buy half dozen or dozen Dr Slicks for the discounted price and go that route...that's what I did ;)

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I have used carbide scissors for over 30 years, they are great for edge holding however, the pivot construction is identical to standard scissors. If you are wearing out the pivot, I suggest the more expensive designs that can be adjusted. I have several of the very fine point surgery type use on eyes that were offered by Hunter's Angling Supplies in the 1970's, these had defects in the plating and were considered seconds to the medical industry.

 

F. W. Engles is one of the fully adustable designs with excellent steel, mine were about $60 retail when purchased many years ago.

 

 

I believe Dr. Slick has a new model with adjustable pivot nut.

 

Regards,

FK

 

 

 

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I have tungston carbide scisors in my dental lab cost a lot twenty years ago when I bought them.They still work fine after alot of abuse ( I use them to cut gold sheets to make crowns). The blades however are shaped for this purpose and I don't like them for fly tying. I have recently bought a pair of scissors from Orvis with an adjustable set screw that I like very much .

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Wow you must tie a lot!! I've been tying a number of years and I haven't worn out any of my scissors even the cheaper ones. I just tie for myself and a couple of friends though.

 

Just a thought - have you tried the Dr. Slick tension and/or razor scissors with the big adjustable set screw? Those look like they would be hard to wear out?

 

Greg

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Does no one attempt to sharpen scissors? It seems a shame to treat them as consumable/disposable items; I'm hoping there's an alternative.

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Wow you must tie a lot!! I've been tying a number of years and I haven't worn out any of my scissors even the cheaper ones. I just tie for myself and a couple of friends though.

 

Just a thought - have you tried the Dr. Slick tension and/or razor scissors with the big adjustable set screw? Those look like they would be hard to wear out?

 

Greg

 

 

Yea you could say I tie alot. ;) Ive tired the adjustable ones but the screw keeps loosening up.

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I'm not sure about the rivet "lossing", but the blades with take a lot, I went to a local fly tying meeting an the insructor we had that night was cutting bead chain with tungsten carbide scissors.

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Ack!

 

Tungsten carbide scissors are phenomenal, they're also very expensive and brittle. Tungsten is among the hardest metals and holds an edge better as a result - the negatives are that with the hardness comes a metal that shatters easily.

 

I've used these scissors from Bill Hunter and medical supply houses for 30 years. The first pair owned did exactly what you describe - the screw loosened badly and eventually it became so bad I had to discard them.

 

The reason was ME - I used the scissors to cut absolutely everything from bead chain to bucktail and they're not designed for this purpose. It's the fine edge and tiny tips that are the reason you purchased them - but the strain at the center pin of cutting the wrong materials (or too much material) was what caused that area to weaken.

 

The second set has lasted for over 25 years, all I did was use a heavier (non carbide) shear for cutting the larger materials and preserved the fine scissors for the in-close delicate work.

 

I wrote an article on the subject a bit ago - and included links to the medical supply houses that stock hundreds of types and styles - you'll see the really fine stuff (ceramic carbide) can go as high as $250 a pair. Good german stainless can be as low as $29.00. If you buy any of the carbides scissors, modify your behavior just a tiny bit and you'll get a lifetime of use from them.

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Fly tyer guy. if you do ever get a pair of the tungsten scissors, treat them like the last surviving bustard (or indian crow) egg. Don't: - drop, - set them on a pile of anything, - let someone else use them, - let your wife use them, - cut anything harder or larger than a hackle stem for a size 12 dry fly and never cut any tinsel (unless mylar) lead wire or bead chain.

 

Day 5 - Following these rules I have good luck with the tungsten scissors. Drop them once from any appreciable height and they are junk drawer fodder. Being that you tie sooooo much, babying a pair of scissor is likely to slow you down to the point that it would be cheaper to buy multiples of the cheaper ones

 

While I don't tie as much as you, I do tie a lot. I have a shoe box with all my old scissors. I would like to try sharpening, but the cost of professional sharpening is almost as much as a pair of scissors. I really don't know why I am saving them.

 

I have been wanting to attend one of the hair stylists trade shows. The good hair cutter girls that I have been to have some incredible scissors. They also have an incredible price tag($300) and itty bitty finger holes. Surely they make them with manhole finger slots. Might even get a break on the price at a trade show. I have played a little with my favorite girls scissors and they were impressive. Best scissors I have ever used.

 

Last place to look is the medical field.

 

my $.02 with change

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Non serrated scissor are easier to sharpen than a knife. I use an arkansas white (ex fine) stone. Just take your time and make sure your angle matches the factory angle. It only takes 3 or 4 strokes to get them sharp again.

 

KB article is great (great blog too!): You need different sissors for different work. I've never seen/bought decent sissor in a fly shop.

 

I use my yellow handled Fiskars for most tying. I hogged the finger holes out with a dremel. These things are over 20 years old. I don't cut metal or mono with them. I use a pair of 5" serrated for deer hair that I bought at a hair stylist suppy place. They cut great but the finger holes are pretty small. Maybe I'll cut the holes open and

try to widen them.

 

If your scissor have a screw and it keeps backing out, they're crap. Throw 'em out...

 

 

 

 

 

post-14269-1208669070_thumb.jpg

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I have but one word to say to you, son, "Ebay"...

 

None of my scissors are TC.

 

I have non-TC Iris scissors. They are sharp, a name brand (Miltex), and were a steal, 3 for less than $12. Got them on ebay - look up surgical scissors.

 

There are a number of scissors types. Each person likes there own style. The Iris Scissors are curved 4.5", with small finger loops. I have small hands so that is just fine with me. As others have noted, I only use them for hackle and plumage. I also have a pair of cheap scissors that have slight serrations, that I use for deer hair, fur, wire, and other heavy, materials. This pair is sharp, but not for long, I'm sure. At $4 a pair, I'll just throw them when they are dull.

 

I also have a pair of 4.5" curved Tenotomy scissors. These have small points. These are designed to cut tendons in surgery. That means longer handles and shorter blades, so there is leverage. Also from Ebay. These unfortunately were not as good, but after a few modifications, are just fine. I ground the back down to thin the blades. Then I sharpened with 2 grades of sharpening stones. Much better now. Really good for stems, winging feathers, and other stuff.

 

I also have a pair of reject spring handle scissors, I picked up at a show for $5. These normally are about $40 on ebay, have razor sharp tiny blades (5mm) and are good for trimming fuzz, tiny feathers, and other stuff on Atlantic Salmon flies and Rangeley streamer flies, when I'm tying them for display. These were rejects as the tip of one blade has a ding.

 

BTW, as you all havbe mentioned, the pivot screw is the weak link. I eventually wore out a pair of Revlon cuticle scissors, my 1st tying scissors, at the screw. The threads just pulled out. Of course this was after 6 years of tying and probably a dozen resharpenings. Not bad for a $10 pair of scissors.

 

Sharpening- many schools of though here. I either dismantle the scissors, or if not possible open them up. Depending on the condition of the blade I use a fine or extra fine (e.g. arkansas stone). Hold the scissor blade perpendicular to the surface of a very flat sharpening stone. Drag the scissor blade towards the inner flat surface of the blade, KEEPING THE BLADE PERPENDICULAR. Do this lightly. Use oil on the stone. Do NOT tilt the scissor, or worse change the angle of the blade. If you change the angle while sharpening you will roll the edge. NEVER let the stone touch the inner flat surface of the blade. You may wish to stroke in both directions, but ALWAYS end up stroking the blade towards the inner flat surface of the blade. Be careful and do not take off more metal than you need to. Also be sure there is one and only one plane on the edge of the blade. With a very fine stone you can also hone the blade. Look using a magnifying glass or a pocket microscope at the blade edge. Be sure there are no nicks, and that the surface is smooth. If you see striations in the metal, sharpen using a finer grit stone. The blade should not stick or drag when closing. If it does, there is a tiny nick or rough spot.

 

Other schools of thought run the stone along the edge, from the fulcrum screw out to the tips of the blade, again, never rolling the stone around the blade.

 

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Absolutely stunning tip, Ephemerella. I went to look up "Iris Scissors" on eBay and there were dozens of types and a ton of folks selling them.

 

Iris wasn't alone, there are plenty of other flavors and lengths as well - including serrated and carbide.

 

Stainless steel surgical scissors from Germany for $9.99? You cannot touch that price, and I recognized many of the brands as selling for quite a bit more. I do not care for the cheap Dr. Slick stuff - and to get scissors of this quality for cheaper than the fly shop prices is unheard of....

 

Great find - Thou art the Man.

 

PS - Because of the postage costs of eBAY, I would see if you could deduce the vendor's actual web site and order there. Often the web site has much cheaper postage costs than the eBay offering, especially for a $9.99 item (it's tough to pay $9 for the item and $10 for the postage). It's usually easy enough to find the URL in the eBay advert.

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