How to Sharpen a Pair of Scissors on the Twice as Sharp® Sharpening System
This is a quick overview of how to sharpen a pair of scissors on the Twice as Sharp® Scissors Sharpening System by Wolff Industries, Inc. This process consists of:
- Sharpening both blades on the sharpening stone
- De-burring
- Honing one blade
- De-burr
- Hone the other blade
- De-burr
Step 1: Sharpening Scissors
To sharpen a pair of scissors, slide blade across the LEFT wheel slowly with a light pressure against the wheel. Keep the “elbow” joint of the controlling arm pointed in towards the machine and slide blade from pivot to tip. If machine slows down, use less pressure. Release pressure from wheel when tip reaches center of wheel. Repeat until a burr can be felt along the entire length of the blade. This burr, on the inside of the blade, shows that this step has been completed. You feel the burr by sliding your finger towards the cutting edge. A curved cutting edge is sharpened by keeping the edge parallel to the grinding wheel.
Step 2: Repeat Step 1
Release scissors by loosening large black knob. Turn scissors over and repeat step 1 unless the other blade has serrations you don’t wish to grind off. Serrations are useful on kitchen, poultry, thinning shears, and a few barber shears. Shears can be serrated with the Wolff Industries, Inc. Corru-Gator system after sharpening.Step 3: Deburring
NEVER CLOSE SCISSORS THAT HAVE BEEN NEWLY SHARPENED UNTIL YOU DO THE FOLLOWING:
Both sides have now been sharpened and have burrs on them which require careful removal to prevent damage to the cutting edges. On the first two closings, the blades MUST be pushed apart while closing as seen in the picture on the right. If the burrs cut into each other, the cutting edge will be damaged. Press the blades together firmly while opening the scissors to pull the burrs back from the cutting edge as seen in the image below.
EXCEPTION: To deburr cast iron shears, cut through paper, (do not spread blades apart). All sharpening creates burrs, but with proper handling, scissors can be made twice as sharp as most brand new scissors. IMPORTANT DO NOT LET BLADES TOUCH EACH OTHER DURING THE FIRST TWO CLOSINGS.
STEP 4: Honing
Clamp scissors again as you did to sharpen, then lift clamp out of the bearing hole and turn clamp upside down. Swing the top arm to the right to hone on the right hand wheel. Slide the blade back and forth against the right wheel with firm pressure several times. On your final pass across the wheel, slide from pivot to tip stopping when the tip is in the center of the wheel. Repeat several times until a light honing burr is created. Remove scissors and close the blades cutting off the tiny honing burr. DO NOT SPREAD THE BLADES! CLOSE THE SHEAR TO CUT OFF THE BURR, THEN HONE THE SECOND BLADE IF NEEDED, CLOSE THE SHEAR AND CUT OFF THE HONING BURR. It is normal to hone one blade to prevent slide. However on pinking shears, grooming shears, and shears used to slide cut; both blades are honed. If scissors do not cut properly, repeat the honing step. Remember if you are honing both blades you must close the shear and cut off your burr after each blade honed.
For more detail steps, watch our video on how to sharpen an industrial pair of scissors.
As always, if you have any questions, give us a call at 800-888-3832 or shoot us an email at customerservice@wolffind.com