Scissor jig

[Leota]

Hello,
I'm new to sharpening anything but because I'm a seamstress I use my sewing scissors a lot.  I do not cut paper or non-fabrics with these sheers.   The problem is that although the local fabric store has a person who comes to the store and sharpens sewing sheers, I usually do not have time to take my equipment in.  I prefer to do the job myself.  I have 5 pair of sewing sheers and then I have the barber sheers that I use to cut my husbands hair. 
I have a grinding wheel that my husband had in his automotive shop 17 years ago (he's retired now) so I only need a scissors wheel, buffer and jig.  I do not know the brand of grinding wheel.  I do know we got it at Harbor Freight.
Can the Tormek scissor jig be used on any grinding wheel?
Where can I buy the fine grit wheel for scissors?
Thank you for your advice.

[grepper]

It might work if you get the BGM-100 in addition to the scissors jig:
http://tormek.com/international/en/accessories/other-accessories/bgm-100-bench-grinder-mounting-set/

Unlike the water cooled Tormek, the bench grinder will tend get the scissor blades hot pretty quickly, especially around the tips.  You don't want to overheat the blades so you will probably need to take care when sharpening.

If you do it, let us know how it works.

Just do a few Internet searches for bench grinder wheels.  You will need to know the wheel diameter and the approximate grit that you want.  Other than that, there are lots of places that sell wheels.

[Jeff Farris]

The scissor jig is one (of many) that I would be very hesitant to use with a dry grinder. Scissors need a fine grind, very carefully controlled. I am afraid you'll be disappointed with the results. If you don't want to buy a Tormek, maybe find a neighbor who has one and buy the scissors jig for him or her.

[grepper]

I agree, I'd be somewhat hesitant too, but then Twice as Sharp uses a 100 grit dry wheel.  That seems rather coarse to me, but that's what they use.  But it also has a nifty control arm to hold the scissors. 

Just curious Jeff, have you ever tried it?

Do  you see the main problem being that the Tormek type of scissors jig would not give you enough control?

[Herman Trivilino]

I have a grinding wheel that my husband had in his automotive shop 17 years ago (he's retired now) so I only need a scissors wheel, buffer and jig. 

The Tormek jig for scissors will likely not work with that grinding wheel.  When you sharpen scissors with the Tormek machine there is no scissors wheel or buffer.  You just use the same grindstone you'd use for any other sharpening project.

I doubt the investment in the Tormek jigs would be worth it for the little bit of scissor sharpening you need done.  Plus, if the shears you use to cut your husband's hair are beautician's shears, the Tormek won't sharpen them.

Since you have so many pairs, why don't you just leave a few to be sharpened at a time, that way you won't have to go without while you're waiting.

Even though I have a Tormek I send out things like saw blades to be sharpened by the professionals. 

[Jeff Farris]

Herman,

Just want to clear up one thing you wrote.

The Tormek will sharpen most beautician's shears perfectly. The only ones where it struggles are those with a convex bevel, and even there, a trained hand can do the job admirably, as long as the shears are not nicked or extremely worn.

[grepper]

Hmm...  I think it depends on what you mean by "most beautician's" shears.  I'm no expert, but it is my understanding from researching it that it is more than just a convex bevel.  The 800mm radius blade Japanese style salon scissors are whole different ball game and that you would ruin them if you tried to use a grinder to sharpen them.

Hey Black Mamba.... Are you there?  Can you comment?

I thought it would be fun to be able to sharpen salon scissors so I checked it out.  If you Google around for it, it becomes evident very quickly that there is a lot to it, complete with expensive equipment and training, etc.  So much so that I gave up before I even started. 

The Tormek does a fine job on your basic drug store hair cutting scissors.  I know.  I sharpen scissors my wife uses to cut my own hair. They work great!    But at least from what I understand, true beautician's or salon scissors are a different beast altogether.

http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=1527.msg5432#msg5432

Huh.  Just stumbled across this:

Jeff sez:  "This can bring a barrage of hotly contested opinions on a lot of forums."

http://forum.tormek.com/index.php?topic=965.msg2302#msg2302

[Jeff Farris]

The Japanese tools you mentioned are among the many that have convex bevels. My point is, there are a lot more pairs of $20 - $100 hardline bevel beautician's shears out there than $250 - $1000 convex bevel shears.

[grepper]

I thought the idea of using the scissors jig on a regular bench grinder was interesting, so..., of course..., I had to try it.   And..., I just happened to have an old, basically all restoration hope lost pair of scissors!  How could I resist?

I stuck the scissors in the jig, adjusted the grinder tool rest/scissors jig to "about" the same angle as the bevel on the scissors, set the grinder to about 25% speed and started grinding away.  The tool rest is flat and the jig moved smoothly as I slid it back and forth.  No real problem with control.

In maybe 30 seconds I had established a brand new bevel and the scissors were sharp.  I was shaving shavings off the back of my fingernail.  No heat and really fast.

I did this with the stock wheel that came with the grinder.  I think it's maybe 60 grit, so it was pretty aggressive, but nonetheless worked fine.  The wheel is only 3/4" (19mm) wide so you have to try slightly harder to keep the blade parallel to the wheel as you would with the nice wide Tormek wheel,  but not difficult at all.

I'm sure a 250 or 300 grit wheel would be better than the 60 grit one that I tired.  I did this just sliding the top part of the scissors jig on the tool rest, so I'm sure that the full scissors jig on the BGM-100 would be even smoother.

Keeping in mind I have only tried this once so I can't really recommend it, but nevertheless, it worked.  It took only seconds.  The scissors are sharp with an even bevel. 

And... I was fun!

[Herman Trivilino]

The Japanese tools you mentioned are among the many that have convex bevels. My point is, there are a lot more pairs of $20 - $100 hardline bevel beautician's shears out there than $250 - $1000 convex bevel shears.

In my original comment I was referring to the really expensive shears.  I believe you could sharpen them, but personally I wouldn't even attempt it. 

[SharpenADullWitt]

I thought the idea of using the scissors jig on a regular bench grinder was interesting, so..., of course..., I had to try it.   And..., I just happened to have an old, basically all restoration hope lost pair of scissors!  How could I resist?

I stuck the scissors in the jig, adjusted the grinder tool rest/scissors jig to "about" the same angle as the bevel on the scissors, set the grinder to about 25% speed and started grinding away.  The tool rest is flat and the jig moved smoothly as I slid it back and forth.  No real problem with control.

How did you adjust the speed down?  While some grinders, like Craftsman's, have an adjustable speed, most do not and speed devices like router speed adapters, don't work with them.
Generally, you see more high speed grinders (32xx rpm) or low speed grinders (17xx+ rpm) then variable speed ones.
My garage shop has both a Baldor and a square frame (old) Craftrsman.

[grepper]

You guessed it.  I have a Craftsman.

It would be interesting to try it again at full speed.  I don't know why that would not work. Just have to be careful.  At slower speed it worked great.  I almost think that Tormek is missing a marketing opportunity. 

My real issue is the very gritty wheel I have.  It would be fun to try it with something finer.  Might generate more heat though.  Then again, you don't spend very much time on the blade.

[grepper]

So, I just tried it again at full speed.  It was actually smoother and easier than with a slower wheel.  Three wipes across the wheel and I was done.  Heat is not a problem at all, but then a 60 grit wheel moves a lot of air.

It was easy to not remove too much steel, even with such an agressive grit considering it's a pair of scissors.  Also, the old wheel on my grinder is kind of beat up from jamming things like bolt heads at it.  I'm sure it would work much better if it were dressed and trued.

It all makes total sense.  The Tormek is a grinder, and scissors are manufactured using grinders.  Other scissor sharpening systems use dry grinding.

It would be interesting to stick a 300 grit on one side of the grinder and a 600-1000 grit on the other.

The thing I like about it is that it is very fast.

If anyone else tries this, I'd be interested to hear about your experience.

[Herman Trivilino]

We haven't heard from Ron in a while.  IIRC he has the set up to try this.