Today at the beach I had one of those: “That’s a great idea. Why didn’t I think of that!” conversations.
One of the guys I know got to watch a glasser go through the whole process just so he could see how it’s done. My friend is pretty mechanically minded, and he was excited to see how a professional glasser did things. Well, most of what he told me, we’ve all heard before, except the part about the Electric Scissors.
He said the glasser cut the fabric with a small pair of electric scissors, using his free hand to run around the board as a gauge. When he was done, he said the cut was straight and clean.
Anyone else heard of this? It sounds like a great idea to me. I’m going out looking for electric scissors. Doug
I have seen electric scissors, which didn’t impress me much. However, the industrial version of what your buddy probably saw is something like this: http://www.allbrands.com/products/abp01516-0282.html or this cute little devil here: http://www.consew.com/Spec%20Sheet/50SP%20Specs.htm , a rotary shear which the maker reccomends for cutting fiberglass cloth. Note that the 50P has a rather nifty little shapening attachment built into it which is not unusual. The rotary type could be set up with a small shim or spacer to ride along the blankand give you a nice even cut.
While I don’t use one in my boat canvas and sail work ( yet ) I’ve got a seamstress friend that swears by hers. Some others ( from Consew - lots of other brands out there, new and used, they are generally rebuildable, replacement blades and parts are an off-the-shelf item from industrial sewing suppliers like Henderson Sewing [www.hendersonsewing.com]) can be found in any good sized metropolitan area. Look in the phone book for industrial sewing supplies. Expect to pay upwards of $150 for a new one, considerably less for a used one.
Prices run around $80 (think I’ve seen as low as $65).
Ad copy: “can be used with or without a power cord. These scissors are industrial quality and have blades made of carbide steel that never need to be sharpened. Each kit comes with the following: electric scissors; one all-purpose blade for straight quick cutting; one shoe blade for patterns and fabrics; A/C adaptor; and a rechargeable battery.”
That’s what happens when you spend just under half a century being curious and cheap. The curiosity drives you to learn new things, the cheap makes you do things yourself rather than hiring somebody else to do 'em. Old-style New England frugality at work.
Get a sailboat and find out how much it costs to have sail covers and repairs done and shudder … guess I gotta get a sewing machine or two. So, I did, old industrial models for low money, built like tanks of heavy iron and good steel. The techniques are not that tough to learn or do, if you think out your steps in making or fixing stuff and if you’ve done other things like laying out sheet metal panels to be bent and soldered/welded or oddball shapes to be cut and joined in wood it’s pretty easy. I practiced by making canvas covers for all the furniture so the dog can’t claw through 'em like he did to about three couches.
As for having me killed… well, my ex tried that with her cooking. Truly awful.
Howzit rolliges, yep I got one of them about a year and a half ago. But mine has a problem with the charger and won't charge the battery anymore. After using them a few times I found I could do a better and faster job with my regular scissors and stopped using them, so the fact that the battery won't charge doesn't make a difference. Aloha, Kokua
Been using those things for about 5 years or so. Batteries are NiCad so they go bad. I used the power cord as this made the cutters run faster. A bit of a tangle but when you have it down and are doing numbers of boards it can make life a bit easier. Now my cord is worn out and that shorted the wall transformer so I’m back to my good old shears…
I got distracted and lost my post. Anyway some comments. NiCad batteries; 1. Use them alot and charge them alot, they will eventually burn up and will not take a charge. 2. Don’t use them for a long period of time and they will not take a charge. I left mine on the mainland in storage for a year, the battery would not take a charge. I am going to attempt to talk to the manufacturer about batteries and whether or not uncharged extra batteries have any kind of shelf life. I have always heard that you should store batteries in the fridge. I do know that you should never leave it on the charger longer than is actually needed to bring the battery to full charge. As for the scissors themselves I love them almost as much as my Skil. But, I really prefer using them without the cord. Compared to hand shears, man I can do prettiest laps, with no strands, freelapped, a shaka thumb, bitchin! McDing
I have a pair (?) of these electric scissors and I like them. All NiCad batteries need to be treated correctly or they will fail (like any tool). NiCads will get a “memory”; if you use them halfway and then recharge them, eventually they will only take half a charge. I’ve never heard of keeping NiCads cold when not in use but I suppose it couldn’t hurt…
Nicads have ( mostly, there’s some exceptions) ‘memory’. That is, when you use them and recharge them, they’ll only be good to where they were when you started charging 'em again. Best to run 'em dead flat before you put 'em on the charger. Even then, eventually they won’t charge up at all. There are some outfits that claim they can bring back the expensive nicads laptop computers use, but I haven’t tried them.
New Nicads, never charged, apparently have quite a long shelf life. I have bought ‘new old stock’ laptop batteries and they were fine.
Lead-acid and lithium ion batteries ( as found in cars, trucks, boats, submarines and newer laptops) don’t behave this way. Dry cells ( like alkaline batteries, air-zinc and such, the AA and D and other batteries you buy over the counter for flashlights and transistor radios ) are powered by a one-time chemical reaction, and they do indeed last longer in the refrigerator.
