If you will stroke your scissors several times across the face of a permanent magnet, or simply let them
sit for a few days with a magnet attached they will themselves become magnetic.
This is helpful for many situations around the bench.
If you drop a hook into the scrap basket or the trimmings on the bench top, you can quickly find it
by passing your magnetized scissors through the mess. Stir your scrap with them and your hook
will be at the end of your scissors.
Getting some of those itsy bitsy hooks out of the box can be a real thrill, and prompt some very
interesting epitaphs as well. But, with your magnetic scissors, you can pick up the tiniest of hooks
quickly and easily.
Getting small flies out of the vice is another area where magnetized scissors can help. Simply place
them at the bend in the hook, loosen the jaws of the vice and with the aid of your scissors place the
tiny fly into the fly box, all without impaling yourself or losing the fly into your carpet.
This technique has its limitations. The major one being that the larger hooks are simply too big to
pick up with magnetized scissors, but then, they are also easy enough to see and handle anyway.
There is some scuttlebutt floating around in fly fishing and other fishing literature that magnetized
hooks also help in attracting fish! But please, do not write me if using magnetized scissors does
not improve your catch.
Oh yeah, don't bother magnetizing cheap or dull scissors, just toss them out and get a sharp pair!
If you have any tips or techniques, send them along, most of this
material has been stolen from somebody, might as well steal your ideas
too! ~ George E. Emanuel
(Chat Room Host Muddler)
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