How to Sharpen Poultry Processing Shears

Are you getting the full benefit of your investment in quality poultry-processing scissors and professional sharpening equipment? 

Correct sharpening techniques help protect your staff, cut equipment costs, and boost productivity.

Our guide explains how to sharpen poultry shears so you can deliver longer-lasting, better-performing blades to your team, shift after shift.

Get the Edge: How to Sharpen Poultry Shears

Wolff’s purpose-made poultry-processing scissors are designed to provide unmatched sharpness right out of the box. However, even the best equipment needs to be properly maintained to work at its best.

A busy poultry production line can make up to 25,000 cuts a day. For most processors, that means you are resharpening every pair of scissors or shears (the industry uses these names interchangeably) on your line at least once a shift.

We developed our Twice as Sharp® and WereWolff® professional sharpening systems to ensure our customers unlock the full benefits of investing in quality processing scissors or shears. 

Important benefits include:

Better Yields

Sharper shears cut better and faster. Curved and serrated blades work as designed to get more meat off the bone. That means more birds processed per minute, less waste, and a higher overall yield per bird.

Better Quality

Sharper blades are easier to control, allowing cleaner cuts, better portioning, and fewer poke-throughs. Taking the time to sharpen your poultry processing shears properly lets your skilled team add more value by putting a better-looking product on the shelf.

Improved Line Safety

Sharper blades are simply safer to use. Employees using properly sharpened scissors are less likely to suffer nicks and cuts or cause “buddy poke” injuries to other workers. You’ll see reduced loss-time incidents and fewer missed shifts due to injury. 

Fewer Long-Term Injuries

Dull blades increase the force needed to make cuts. Over time that can result in soft tissue damage or repetitive motion injuries (RMI). Chronic RMI injuries can lead to permanent disability and loss of income for your employees and higher health insurance and compensation costs for your company.

More Efficient Sharpening

Correct sharpening techniques make the most of your sharpening team’s skills and time. They’ll spend the appropriate amount of time on each job which will lengthen the resharpening cycles on every set of scissors. This will also make the best possible use of your sharpening machinery.

Longer Scissor Life 

Wolff’s high-quality scissors are designed to hold their edges better. Properly sharpened poultry shears stay sharper longer and require sharpening less frequently. You’ll scrap fewer scissors and deliver a better return on investment with better-quality shears.

How to Sharpen Wolff Poultry Shears

Now that we understand some of the benefits, let’s take a closer look at the correct steps and techniques for sharpening poultry shears on each of Wolff’s premium sharpening systems.

Twice As Sharp®

The Twice as Sharp® scissor sharpening system sits at the heart of Wolff’s lifetime promise to provide specially honed poultry shears that cut twice as well as any factory-provided blade. Used correctly, the Twice as Sharp® sharpener allows your Wolff processing scissors to continue to deliver premium out-of-the-box performance throughout their use life.

Wolff’s sharpening method is designed to be “teachable and repeatable,” allowing consistent results to be achieved wherever our poultry-processing scissors are used.

Follow these steps to sharpen a blade with the Twice as Sharp® system. Always remember to wear proper personal protection equipment (safety glasses, N95 mask, and ear plugs) and obey all safety warnings.

WereWolff® Scissor Sharpening System

Wolff Industries’ WereWolff® scissor sharpening system is designed to deliver precision honing to produce poultry processing shear blades 2-6 times sharper than other systems.

The system features a built-in burr removal rod. 

WereWolff® sharpeners allow similar blades to be sharpened faster once the guide block is correctly adjusted.  

Follow these steps to sharpen a blade on the WereWolff® system. Always remember to wear proper personal protection equipment (safety glasses, N95 mask, and ear plugs) and obey all safety warnings.

Keep Your Edge With Quality Sharpening Equipment 

The Twice As Sharp® scissor sharpening system was originally developed by Wolff Industries founder Lee Wolff to achieve maximum sharpness for the company’s high-quality, plastic-handled scissors. 

Today, Wolff is the world’s largest manufacturer of professional scissor sharpening equipment. Twice As Sharp® remains the leading system for delivering the professional-grade edges your poultry-processing shears need to deliver safe, effective cutting—shift after shift.

Click below to learn more about Wolff Industries’ Twice As Sharp® scissor sharpeners.