Thread: Sewing Scissors
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Old March 28th 18, 10:42 PM posted to rec.crafts.textiles.quilting
Kay Lancaster
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Posts: 256
Default Sewing Scissors

On Mon, 19 Mar 2018 03:41:21 -0700, Brian Christiansen wrote:

I suppose a bit of rust on the outside isn't any big deal, but some rust
is showing up on the inside. The best idea I can think of is to perhaps
and the blade with either really fine grit sandpaper or extra fine steel
wool, treating the blade with some oil, and perhaps getting hold of a
whetstone.


I'd give them a rubdown with very fine steel wool and a little sewing
machine oil as a lubricant to get rid of the rust, then send them out
to be properly sharpened by someone who knows what they're doing.
Scissors sharpening is a tricky business.

Open the scissors blades on either pair, and look at the very narrow
bright line that is just under the sharp edge of the blade. That's the
"ride line". If you damage or remove or grind off that line, you've got
dead scissors that probably are permanently wrecked. Amateurs like me
can wreck scissors very quickly with any sort of grinder. In addition,
various types of scissors require different grinding angles, hard to maintain
by hand without practice.

I was also kind of wondering if, after I recondition them, if I should
make some kind of holder/protector for them.


"wet" a cotton cloth with sewing machine oil and give the scissors, blades
and all, inside and out, with the cloth, leaving a thin film of oil. Store
the scissors, particularly if you're in a damp or salt air climate, in a
closed plastic box wrapped in the oily cloth. When you're ready to use
the scissors, wipe them down with a dry rag to remove excess oil and cut.

Return the scissors, wiped down again with the oily rag, to closed storage,
wrapped in the cloth. The idea is to keep a thin film of oil on all the metal
surfaces so rust doesn't form.

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