Fuck Kelly.

[adarza@lemmy.ca]

fabric scissors need to be sharp to do their job effectively.

cutting other things, even paper, can (and will) dull the blades enough so they’re no longer suitable for their original intended task.

then when gramma, or whoever, wants to use ‘their scissors’ to cut some fabric, and they aren’t functioning properly… let’s just say it may not go well for the guilty party.

tl;dr: they’re no longer pure and must be replaced with new virgin scissors.

[carbonicedragon@pawb.social]

Does cutting fabric not dull the blades? It seems like a lot of fabrics should be tougher to cut through than paper?

[lost_my_mind@lemmy.world]

That’s when they become “stabbing scissors”!

[pieisawesome@lemmy.world]

Can’t you just sharpen them? Won’t fabric dull them? You can’t tell me that paper dulls scissors faster than fabrics.

I highly doubt using fabric scissors one time for cutting paper will do anything to them

[the_artic_one@programming.dev]

Paper is made out of wood, the fibers are much harder than most sewing fabrics like cotton. It’s only easier to cut because it’s so stiff compared to fabric so even dull scissors can split it.

[peopleproblems@lemmy.world]

Well don’t leave them where they are accessible in cutting things that aren’t fabric.

Or maybe keep them with your fabric things.

Or maybe get a whetstone like your grandma did, grandma

[peopleproblems@lemmy.world]

Yes, and you can sharpen them, it just takes time.

[spamellama@lemmy.world]

You are hereby banned from the sewing room.

You think cutting through a tree won’t dull scissors? Fabric is made from plant fluff or hair.

More seriously - Yes you can sharpen them but many fabric stores no longer offer the service regularly. Some knife sharpeners will do it but others won’t. My scissors can be sent back to the maker to be sharpened but then I would be without my fabric scissors for weeks. If you do it yourself you will fail.

[ghost_towels@sh.itjust.works]

So I am definitely the odd person in the sewing world who cuts everything with my scissors. I’ve been a sailmaker for 30 years and we cut paper, Mylar, Kevlar, carbon fiber, fabric (of course), rope, tape, adhesives, you name it. I’ve been using the same pair for 20 of those 30 years as well. We do get them sharpened but not all the time.

Dyneema is the one thing that will mess up your scissors though. My buddy at work had a dull spot on his that wouldn’t sharpen from dyneema webbing. We ended up getting a special pair for that and Kevlar, with micro serrated teeth.

I will say though that a person’s scissors are sacred, you don’t touch another sailmakers pouch and tools. What they do with them is their business, use your own tools.

[triflingtoad@sh.itjust.works]

had no idea about the level of complexity in sharpening scissors. TIL

[triflingtoad@sh.itjust.works]

Interesting, is sail fabric thicker or easier to cut than like clothing fabric?

Also it’s interesting to see so many people who do different jobs online, I met someone the other month who lived in a boat during the FL hurricanes.

[chiliedogg@lemmy.world]

They are more difficult than knives because they have to be sharpened so that they work as a set. If you screw it up, they no longer cut clean along the correct plane.

[porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml]

It’s not that bad, they’re single bevel so you’d have to try to sharpen the wrong side of the blade to fuck it up too badly

[pilferjinx@lemmy.world]

Fabric scissors just happen to be very good at cutting most things. I use mine to cut open packages, leather, plastics, and cloth! Just avoid cutting anything harder than the steel your scissors are made out of like metal, wires, and such. A quick hone will refresh the edges when you need it.

[aeronmelon@lemmy.world]

A cardinal sin.

[ghost_towels@sh.itjust.works]

It can vary from thicker and heavier to lighter, and there are lots of different finishes as well so it can be quite stiff or supple. The cloth is made from polyester, or Dacron as it’s also known. We also use ripstop nylon for spinnakers. And then you have the laminate sails which can be made with Mylar and different fibers like carbon, Kevlar or dyneema.

[kboy101222@sh.itjust.works]

Mind if I bug you with questions about sail making? That sounds like a super interesting job!

[warl0k3@lemmy.world]

Consumer grade whetstones are completely unsuitable for maintaining fabric shears. Maintaining a consistent bevel on stones that coarse is damn near impossible, and you’re most likely going to ruin the mate between the cutting faces beyond repair.

(“well I sharpened mine with an unoiled chunk of arkansas asphalt and they cut even better now”: no you didnt, you’re cutting with the burr, it won’t last, I hate you.)

[warl0k3@lemmy.world]

Any disruption of the interference fit between the contact or cutting faces can ruin scissors - it’s a lot like grinding a straight razor, but where you have incredibly strict angle requirements across a compound surface. You’re absolutely right though that the #1 mistake people make is to mess up the hollows by flat sharpening them like knives.

[warl0k3@lemmy.world]

You’re highly wrong, then. Go get a straight razor and drag it through some paper, then see how nice it is to shave with. Fabric shears have surfaces honed to the same degree.