I’m about 17 boards into a pair of shears and they are already worn substantially on the blades. I’ve been cutting mostly 4 and 6 oz. S glass, with a few boards in E glass. Is this normal? It’s getting difficult to cut the glass now, so I think I’m due for some new ones. I’m just wondering if this is normal, or if I should find a really high end pair of shears that will last longer. I can’t remember the brand I have, but they were over $40 US.
yes. sharpen them or get some new ones.
Several glassers I know have two pair of Wiss shears. No down time while one is being sharpened. Get some Tri Angle ceramic sharpening stones, and tune your own blades. They are quick and easy to use.
A good pair of shears should last a lifetime for most of the people here. “Wiss” no.20’s are the right size for me, because the 22’s are so heavy they fatigue my wrist at where is attaches to my thumb. I sharpen them with a grinder whenever they dull. The steel is so hard stones don’t really do anything. O knowaloha pointed out to me that Jerry O’keefe is calling himself "the ghetto rat’, I am not him; I would never take a picture for a website holding a planer with my mask off to the side, so people can see my face- that’s posing. If your going to take an action shot- make it real.
…I have one to cut 4oz and 2oz, other to cut heavier fibers.
Other to cut fin patches
Other to cut lam prints
Other to cut sandpaper
They last forever.
Mine last until the battery dies,I put it on the charger to keep this from happening though ha.For 30$ I picked up a zipsnip cutter and can run around the board while cutting through 2 layers of 6oz warp at the same time.I’ve cut through the 20oz fiberglass matt for boats with ease,and have cut through 6 layers of 6oz warp with no problem.It feels like I am cheating but I don’t care,theyr’e faster,easier,and lay down a cleaner cut with no strings hanging when glassing,maybe 1 or 2 at most.
You can get by forever with two pair of Wiss (long blade), by sending one pair to the sharpener(if you don't already do them yourself) while using the other pair to cut glass. I would never use my Wiss to cut sandpaper or lams. A cheap pair of Fiskairs or Harbor Freight will cut paper and lams just fine. I've heard that cutting paper (ie sandpaper) dulls a pair of shears faster than anything else. I don't do much glass work latly; but when I was doing a lot of laminating I used electric scissors and only used my Wiss for relief cuts at the nose and tail. Also; If you have to occasionally cut cloth or strands that are wet, use the cheapos not you Wiss.
…hello,
I do not know exactly why you refered the comment to me…
I do not understand what you say about to send one to the sharpener and use the other…rotation is what you try to say?
anyway, I do not use Wiss, I have Mundial 490-12" heavy duty and a 490-9 heavy duty for glass; a Japanese 10" very old one, may be 50 years, to cut sandpaper
a stainless steel one to cut the lam prints and another handy one.
Howzit reverb, I don't think you can have to many pairs of scissors,I had 1 pair of weiss for rough cutting my glass,2 pairs of fiskars for fine tuning the glass being cut. For sandpaper I used an old pair of just scissors and another pair of cheap but sharp ones for cutting Lams and the Weiss were the only ones that had to be left in clean acetone to keep from rusting and even then they had some rust but that's life on Kauai where rust is every where's. Get a small shapening stone to keep the Weiss sharp and you will never need to take them to a person who shapens for a business. Aloha,Kokua
That F’n D—e D----n went into my shaping room and used my Fiskars to cut f’n sand paper when I only use them to cut laminates off the sheet, the paper slipped between the blades, then I saw the deep scathces on the face of the blades,FU.
I’ve had my Wiss for over 30 years
Would that be the Rhodes Scholar whose board floats better at high tide, than at low tide?
“The Loon” of Crowdiff
I use the long 3$ shears from HF, toss em when they get dull. On my 3rd pair.
Somebody told me Weiss is out of business… is that true?
I buy those titanium coated fiskars from HD for about 10 bucks. You can get about two dozen boards out of a pair before they start to really piss you off. Then they drop down in the rotation to cut lams and paper templates. Ultimately they’ll get bumped down to cutting sandpaper.
No wravels or strings with electric.
i use several types of cutters.
99cent store stuff for sandpaper ,and general use.
>a set of w.german 6" miltex w/ internal micro teeth.........this pair are my, "fine cut" pair.they'll cut extra fine silk cloth w/o fraying,binding or tearing the material..plus they will never go dull.
>>next,my wiss or should i say 3 pairs of 4" wiss sissors...............nice,easy to sharpen,big enough to tackle bigger jobs ,but small enough to work smaller patterns...made in the u.s.a..
>>> last but never least,my clauss professional fabric shears...........when you want the best... clauss wins handsdown !!!!!!...........the 10"(or12") clauss shears will cut as fine as it is tough...as far as a pair of hand shears go.........if you could only have one..............this is it.........made in the u.s.a..
being in the medical field for 30+ years,i got to know edged tools from a slightly different prospective............this combined w/ my other experiences have produced this cast of cutters.
if you like this...........you should see my scalpel collection.
herb
Howzit jim,I hope he got some head slaps since that is sacreligous and for the person asking about cutting paper you are right and whenever I used to see somebody cut paper with their cooks knives it would make me cringe. Aloha,Kokua
Howzit grat, Are those Weiss 20's made out of that steel that never needs to be sharpened since mine were made from regular steel and that kind of steel is made to be sharpened with a stone and even Stainless can be sharpened with a stone. I was a chef for a while and even owned my own restaurant I had many knives and a big 3 sided stone and I could sharpen just about any steel except those Ginza type knives since they were the never need to be sharpened kind. Aloha,Kokua
Hey kokua, the wiss are made from really hard steel, and a stone just seems to do nothing. I just grab whatever grinder is close by and quickly hit it with 50 or 60 or whatever is on the wheel. I go quickly as not to take out the temper, and debur. I can use a file on the old Corona grass shears, but not on the wiss because the steel is so hard. I can’t understand why anyone would use cheap scissors given the choice, surely it will make it easier to serve their chinese masters.I think you can tell a real craftsman from their tools. And yes I was tripping out when I saw the scissors sharpened with a grinder the first time by Balti, before that always sent them out to be professionally sharpened which was hardly ever.
Here is a tip for the barns get a pair that are dull, and sharpen them.
some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten was from my old giant pal Wayne Coombs, owner / artist of Mai Tiki gallery in Cocoa Beach, " a poor man can’t afford cheap tools "