Sharpening salon shears

[jerry68]

Hi, I just wanted to know if anyone out there is sharpening salon shears with a Tormek T7 ?

Thanks,
Jerry

[Jeff Farris]

This can bring a barrage of hotly contested opinions on a lot of forums.

First you have to determine what kind of shears they are.  If they have a traditional hard line bevel, it is not much different from any other pair of scissors.  Grade the grindstone fine and adjust the support plate to match the original factory bevels (make sure they are identical and if not adjust for each blade).

The convex bevel scissors that are very popular with stylists are another matter.  Professional sharpeners will argue at length that the Tormek is not appropriate for these scissors.  One company bought Tormek and specifically adapted a jig to the machine just for that purpose (but oddly, would never offer just the jig).

My personal, but completely unprofessional experience is that you can do a fine job on convex bevel scissors using the leather honing wheel only.  I do it by polishing the inside surface of blades with it held flat against the leather wheel and then freehand buffing the convex bevel, working very carefully not to bring the angle too high. 

I have had more than a few stylists tell me that their scissors were sharper than new after one of my freehand leather honing jobs.

[aunsell]

HI
I teach a sharpening class at Woodcraft on the Tormek and had a student that bought one specifically for sharpening salon sissors. 

There is a learning curve at first so practice a lot on some junk ones until you get it right but the end result was light years better than the people he had been sending them out to.

A saw the man a year or so later and he had goten good enough that he had started doing sharpening for other people and he said that he loved it. 

When he told me that Salon Sissors can cost $500. or more I knew that he had been doing it right.  There is so many more particulars when doing precision shears than a turning tool, but in the end he said he loved the Tormek and wouldn't let anyone do them from now on 

I sold him his mashine 

[thesharpeningguy]

I think I just saw that equipment.  A White Tormek Salon?  I guess it is now called an Aquahone?  I would like to have one of the arms, especially the one with the radiused mount.  I think that would make these convex shears no problem on the Tormek. 

I have decided not to get into the salon shears at this time.  Not because I can't sharpen them, but because there is so much negative banter on these sharpening sites.  "We are the only ones with the correct equipment and training to sharpen your expensive shears correctly."  In other words, everyone else is a bum.  There is so much back-biting and trash talk out there that I think the industry needs to mature. 

[Fernando]

The stylists are very jealous with their scissors to a large extent because of the cost, to the stylist who sharpens them I have seen that the cheapest scissors go from 200 dollars, and some can exceed even 1000 dollars, and I hear terrible stories about them. bad experiences, for example, that in their first sharpened damaged and disheveled because the person sharpened them with high-speed machines that ended up undamaged metal and scissors did not maintain the edge for a week after that, or that some They sharpened manually and by mistake the scissors fell to the floor and were obsolete.
As I said "aunsell" the cost is a very important factor, and as "Ken" says tormek is a tool of general purpose, my very personal opinion is that the stylist scissors are very spoiled and demanding when it comes to sharpening.

[Ken S]

I have a suggestion for those who want to sharpen salon shears with their Tormeks:

It seems that it may be possible, so purchase several expensive pairs of salon shears. Six sounds like a good number. Practice sharpening with these until you are proficient. Let prospective customers try using your shears.

Let your customers know that you have become proficient by sharpening your own expensive shears.
That sounds fair to me.

Ken

[Grizz]

I have a suggestion for those who want to sharpen salon shears with their Tormeks:

It seems that it may be possible, so purchase several expensive pairs of salon shears. Six sounds like a good number. Practice sharpening with these until you are proficient. Let prospective customers try using your shears.

Let your customers know that you have become proficient by sharpening your own expensive shears.
That sounds fair to me.

Ken

that would be far more sensible than buying the $19,000 + machine designed to sharpen such scissor.

[Ken S]

As much as I like the Tormek, I think someone seriously planning to sharpen salon shears professionally would be better advised to get professional training and equipment designed for the task.

You may call me overly cautious, however, salon shears are serious, expensive tools for hairdressers. They deserve the same respect one would give to a chef and his Japanese knives.

Ken

[Grizz]

As much as I like the Tormek, I think someone seriously planning to sharpen salon shears professionally would be better advised to get professional training and equipment designed for the task.

You may call me overly cautious, however, salon shears are serious, expensive tools for hairdressers. They deserve the same respect one would give to a chef and his Japanese knives.

Ken

I totally agree with that statement !