Show us your Shears, Scissors, and Secateurs!

[JMP]

A vintage pair of shears I just found in a box of old tools. No brand or stamping marks it seems. They still cut nicely.

 

[four.cycle]

@JMP - maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, but those look like they've been resharpened a number of times!

I bought this pair from the Mac tool man in the late 70’s.
Not sure who made them for Mac but they have served me well.

Midwest was the contract supplier on tin snips for just about everybody, although that forging mark appears to be a wee bit different than what I usually see.

Midwest / Midwest Tool & Cutlery, 1210 Progress St., Sturgis, MI 49091 / https://midwestsnips.com/ / est. 1945 / "The Claw" patent 4967613 Nov 6 1990 Richard E. Cone /

 

[JMP]

@JMP - maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, but those look like they've been resharpened a number of times!



Midwest was the contract supplier on tin snips for just about everybody, although that forging mark appears to be a wee bit different than what I usually see.

Midwest / Midwest Tool & Cutlery, 1210 Progress St., Sturgis, MI 49091 / https://midwestsnips.com/ / est. 1945 / "The Claw" patent 4967613 Nov 6 1990 Richard E. Cone /

They do not deceive you. A few of the wrenches in the toolbox where I found these shears were stamped "Crompton & Knowles" which was a textile factory. I wouldn't be surprised if these shears seen some use in a factory environment.

 

[hotwax007]

Here's a WISS for you...

 

[RTM]

A vintage pair of shears I just found in a box of old tools. No brand or stamping marks it seems. They still cut nicely.

@JMP - maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, but those look like they've been resharpened a number of times!

Well loved. I don't think I've seen that big of a step at the hinge before. Textile factory could explain that.

 

[jabberwoki]

Found these today, no clue what they`re for?

 

[Mintgrun]

Apparently, they're seafood scissors, for cleaning crab and lobster.

Queenstar Crab Seafood Scissors Fork Set Legs Shears Crack Lobster Seashell for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Queenstar Crab Seafood Scissors Fork Set Legs Shears Crack Lobster Seashell at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[jabberwoki]

Wow never would have come up with that.

 

[Beerhippie]

Apparently, they're seafood scissors, for cleaning crab and lobster.

Queenstar Crab Seafood Scissors Fork Set Legs Shears Crack Lobster Seashell for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Queenstar Crab Seafood Scissors Fork Set Legs Shears Crack Lobster Seashell at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

This just makes me feel so... primitive. Cracking crab shell with my teeth and pulling the meat out with my fingers--or sucking it out--how uncouth!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Snagged these 12" curved tin snips at the flea this morning. My first R. Heinisch (est. 1825). They were located in Newark, NJ, and rivals of J. Wiss & Sons (est. 1848), who acquired them in 1914. There are some beautiful Civil War era Heinisch tailor's shears out there in collectorland, with the big outlandish cutlass-like fingers guards, but I was happy to find these, which are probably very late production.

 

[don long]

I have a large pair of brass sheers on display

 

[Beerhippie]

I picked these today at a rather pathetic estate sale:







Interesting that the brand logo is upside-down compared to the model no.

Clyde Cutlery No. 5406 tree loppers.

I found some stuff on a cursory cruise of the interwebby:

CONTENTdm

ohiomemory.org

Clyde Museum & General McPherson House

The Clyde Cutlery Company was located (approx.) behind what is now the Clyde Municipal building and parking lot by the former railroad tracks. Clyde Cutlery Company products were so well-made that...

www.facebook.com

Looks like they were in operation as Clyde Cutlery from 1892 (1904? Conflicting data) to 1970.

Apparently they made some pretty nice cutlery, too.

I plan to clean off the dirt and loose rust--I like the patina--and hit 'em with some BLO. I'll sharpen them a bit--too bad they're riveted and not bolted--and get to loppin' me some trees!

 

[Beerhippie]

I gave ol' Clyde a sharp edge, cleaned 'em up, sanded the splinters and burrs off the handles, peened the pivot rivet to tighten 'em up some and slapped on a couple of thin coats of BLO:



OAL is 29".

I'll give 'em a try tomorrow after the BLO has had time to set some.

 

[Beerhippie]

The edge:



The cut:



That's the largest branch that will fit into the jaws. It's dead, dry willow, so nothing terribly easy.

Finished product, better light:



I need to figure out how to peen the pivot better, as the fit is still too loose.

 

[Beerhippie]

Something to love about antique tools: The grain in the (ash?) wood handles is not only straight and tight, but oriented parallel to the axis of the handle and the main strength axis of the wood is perpendicular to the working force:



Compare that with most modern wooden tool handles.

 

[four.cycle]

^ Drill it out and put a bolt and lock nut on it?

 

[Beerhippie]

^ Drill it out and put a bolt and lock nut on it?

Hesitant to do that to a 100-odd-year-old tool. I have other loppers.

 

[Beerhippie]

BTW: Just a note that the Clyde Cutlery factory, founded by the Clyde bros, was in the town of Clyde, Ohio.

 

[Beerhippie]

^ Drill it out and put a bolt and lock nut on it?

I went with the "bigger hammer" alternative. I used a two-pound BP to drive an eight-ounce BP using the peen of the smaller hammer as a punch. I started in the center of the rivet and worked out in a sort of spiral. I them used the flat face of the 2 lb to smooth the surface of the rivet to match what it looked like originally. Very little play in the jaws now, so I took it back outside for some more test-cutting.

Turns out, NOT cutting the most difficult thing I could find was much better! I ended up doing some impromptu yard work as it just glides through green branches up to around 1". Anything smaller might at well not even be there. These cut as well as any set of loppers I own.

 

[fishwatcher]

Here are a few of the more interesting scissors I own including several acquired from elder generations in my family.

From top to bottom:

Clauss 4877 - interesting shape. Made in USA. What’s the purpose of such a short cutting length, but full length handle?
Wiss Trimline 437 - USA. these cleaned up well with a wire wheel and 220 grit abrasive radial bristle brush (3M style) on a grinder
Henckels? Friodur - kitchen shears
La Cross 526 - made in Italy
No name - Japanese


And here are the ones that hang on my work bench peg board along with a few other cutting implements including Wiss and Craftsman snips and Dr Slick scissor clamps.

 

[RTM]

Clauss 4877 - interesting shape. Made in USA. What’s the purpose of such a short cutting length, but full length handle?

Leverage?
Not cutting someone's tongue out?

Dental Plate shears

The Clauss Shear Company : Catalog No. 50 : Clauss Shear Co. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

50 p., illus., 28.5 cm, trade catalog

archive.org

 

[fishwatcher]

Leverage?
Not cutting someone's tongue out?

Dental Plate shears

The Clauss Shear Company : Catalog No. 50 : Clauss Shear Co. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

50 p., illus., 28.5 cm, trade catalog

archive.org

Thx @RTM. I would never have thought any of these were “dental” related. The Wiss is shaped like the Clauss Dental Snip 426 in that same catalog.

The interesting thing is the elder person I got the Clauss and Wiss scissors from was a dentist.

 

[Outlawmws]

It's not just the short jaws, it's also the long handles more reminiscent of Tin ships. so, any heavy materials that requires more leverage. Think outside the fact it's on a "dental" page. leather, rubber, plastics, some metals like copper or brass sheet.

 

[Beerhippie]

Open wide....

 

[Beerhippie]

Another "found at home" score:



I'm slowly emptying my old office from my contracting days. It's kind of become a very expensive storage unit.

The inscription below Wiss is Trimline. 8" OAL.

The screw is backed out as I have them apart for sharpening. They're been rode hard and put up wet.

 

[Beerhippie]

The Wiss Trimline shears were pretty rough when I re-found them. I could feel burrs and rough spots closing them. I took them apart, gave 'em a good wipe down with CLP, then on to the diamond flat stones. I haven't sharpened a pair of shears like this in years, and had forgotten something: It's kinda pleasing. Very steep angle--I used the Sharpie trick to determine it--but once I got that set to muscle memory, it took about fifteen minutes start to finish. I used my DiaSharp 8" stones from Extra Coarse to Extra Fine and now they feel smooth as silk and glide through paper!

Now I have to hide them before my coworkers grab them to cut a sheet of sandpaper or a maroon ScotchBrite pad....

 

[Beerhippie]

Found under the grime on the backside:



4128
USA



I couldn't really get a good shot of the bevel, but it's nice and flat. Old boy's still got it in him.

Here they are:



in this catalog:



From the scabs of what looks like polyester and epoxy resin on them, I'm betting these were my fathers that he used for laying-up fiberglass. I didn't clean those off.

 

[Beerhippie]

Here are the shears the Wiss Trimlines above are replacing:





Kingshead Betakut, Italy.

Amazing POS! Check out the sharp mold flashings inside the finger loops! I'd intended to sharpen these up for use, but have decided they will do better adding weight to our scrap metal bin.

CLEAR CUT OVER 40 YEARS - Betakut

Traditional quality Dressmakers scissors standing the test of time for over 40 years. Replaced with the Betakut Tailors shears. A signature product since 1955 – forged and hardened steel, and of really great, substantial quality you can feel.

www.betakut.co.uk

Trust me, regardless what that company blog says, these are certifiable, steaming pile of doggy-doo level of ****--especially after handling the Wiss shears of the same size.

 

[d42jeep]

I did a little cleanup on the Wiss snips I found at a yard sale yesterday.
-Don

 

[Outlawmws]

V. Mueller SS Suture Scissors I got yesterday - made in Germany.

 

[Beerhippie]

V. Mueller SS Suture Scissors I got yesterday - mad in Germany.

What did you do to make Germany mad this time?

 

[Outlawmws]

Fixed - Oh, the spelling is likely to get worse the rest of this week. today was day one in "you can't eat that" in prep for a procedure. Tomorrow it gets worse; Tuesday is "clear liquids only"; and Tuesday night I start drinking that "purge poison" as I call it (15 years back i vomited the stuff used up as fast as I drank it. Not to plan...) Wed AM I finish the second half gallon, and then stop drinking everything till after the procedure; sometime around 3-4 PM.

Keep the sadist "doctor" than came up with this "process" far away from me...

 

[Beerhippie]

Fixed - Oh, the spelling is likely to get worse the rest of this week. today was day one in "you can't eat that" in prep for a procedure. Tomorrow it gets worse; Tuesday is "clear liquids only"; and Tuesday night I start drinking that "purge poison" as I call it (15 years back i vomited the stuff used up as fast as I drank it. Not to plan...) Wed AM I finish the second half gallon, and then stop drinking everything till after the procedure; sometime around 3-4 PM.

Keep the sadist "doctor" than came up with this "process" far away from me...

Great. Now my reply means nothing.

 

[Outlawmws]

Great. Now my reply means nothing.

Sure it does! you still have my effed up quote intact!

 

[LesserSon]

Picked up interesting shears at the flea yesterday for a buck. Scraped rust and asphalt(?) from spring steel blades, gently rounded out the bent thumb hole, brass brushed the brass handles - still cut clean with no sharpening!
Then I did some research.

I.P.Hyde (still in Southbridge since 1870s) is most familiar to me for drywall & putty knives. After finding a half-dozen examples listed on eBay etc as taylor’s scissors , I found this model **-12” paperhanger shears in 1935-1960 catalogs on ITCL.
In some cats, there were three other models, and I was curious about relative value, but the only price list I found is blank every other page, and of course is blank on the page that would list these. It seems this model was included in the full wallpaper kit, but then apparently discontinued in the 1970s, leaving just the all-steel 51-12” available.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Oh, the spelling is likely to get worse...

I don't think of these kinds of accidental malaprops as spelling errors so much as hurry errors, but where else would we get our jokes?

...a procedure.

The only good thing about that one, in particular, is that deep, dark, best-sleep-of-your-life feeling when you wake up and realize it's over and 45 minutes has passed!

Scraped..., rounded..., brass brushed..., then I did some research.

Dang. You were as busy as a one-armed paperhanger.

 

[Mintgrun]

Those brass handled scissors were a score. I've got a few old Hyde knives I'ves been thinking of sharing in the Vintage Knife thread, but no scissors.

I pulled these Italian made KINGSHEAD scissors out of a scrap bin last week. They looked rusty, but it was mostly just glue and a razor blade took it right off.


They're even heftier than my Wiss tailors' shears, with slightly clunkier handle forgings. The Wiss handles are more comfortable. I reach for the Wiss shears a lot, but now they've got competition.



Googling shows examples on ePay in which they reference Betacut, a company that's been in business since 1955. Several minutes of clicking around didn't discuss a connection to Betacut, but they did/do offer very similar scissors. (I was tempted to share them in the Williams thread, due to the previous owner's signature).

Tom

 

[INSP380]

All handed down to me from my Grandfather. He got them from his father. My Grandfather use to cut my hair as a boy and I vividly remember these.The shears on the left, made by Brown and Sharpe, get a load of the 1879, 1884 & 1892 dates on the handle. Still sharp as hell….B&S stopped making these right after WW2.

Steve

 

[Mintgrun]

I bought these WISS flower cutters the other day. They have a single thin blade that acts like a guillotine and the jaws behind catch and smash the flower stem. My mother once told me that smashing the stem helps the flower take up water from the vase. (Okay, she told me more than once),



They also work well for cutting small bamboo skewers, which get used a lot around here.


RTM posted a link to a WISS pruning guide that shows them.

Here is what Wiss sold as flower trimming scissors in 1963.

Wiss Pruning Guide : Form PG-25M-4-63 : J. Wiss & Sons Co. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

52 p., illus., 22.5 cm, trade catalog and instructional booklet

archive.org

Tom

 

[RTM]

Here is a pair of scissors I was given as a Secret Santa gift in 2022 (from a different group). They were languishing on the desk, and last night while looking for something else, the light was just right, and I swore I saw some lettering on the top blade. Bringing it over to the bright light was not much hep, the letters needed to be tilted at just the right angle. I initially saw PAT, so I had high hopes. I was able to make out what seemed to be .. BAR…, and I suspected they were Rug Trimming Scissors

So I googled Barnard Rug Trimming Scissors. I was close, a wick trimming scissor from ebay



Changing my search to hunt the patent number

barnard patent 1864 12 27

I found this on worthpoint, suggesting a number of 45574 (only 5 digits!), saving me going to USPTO, as DATAMP had nothing

Antique Pair of W.B. Barnard 1864 Candle Wick Scissors Trimmer Cutter Shears | #347069170

You are bidding on a pair of antique Civil War era candle wick scissors/trimmers. The scissors are marked: “W. B. Barnard Patd. Dec 27th 1864.”. William B. Barnard of Waterbury, Connecticut was grante

www.worthpoint.com

Hitting google patents got me here,

Improved lamp-trimmer shears​

William B Barnard

US45574A - Improved lamp-trimmer shears - Google Patents

patents.google.com

Oh, and my shears


You can see in the second shot that the lettering barely appears, I had to angle it in the first picture to light them up a bit.