I’m always dropping them onto the concrete floor of my workshop/tying room, which is hard on the tips.
They are always laying within easy reach on the bench, and I’ll often grab them when I need to cut something not fly tying related, like cardstock, paper, electrical wire, etc…
I cut ribbing wire with mine all the time, as well as thick quill stems, and other ‘thick heavy hard’ stuff. I try to use the back of the blades, but… I also cut LOTS of foam with mine…foam is hard on blades, not as hard as paper, but not a ‘good thing’ for the scissors…
I buy the Fiskars brand cushioned grip ‘microtip’ scissors. Long, straight handles that I can get a good hold on (none of those annoying loops even my small fingers bind up in). The blades are longer than most tying scissors, which I like, and the tips are small but NOT thin…harder to bend when I invariably drop them. I can get a new pair from WalMart for around $10.
At a local craft/fabric shop, I bought Fiskars brand scissor sharpening tool. Proper sharpening angle and everything for the scissors I use. When my scissors get dull, I just sharpen them. I do this often, I like them to be sharp.
Scissors are just a tool. I refuse to ‘baby’ mine. When a pair gets too worn/dull/damaged to suit my needs, I just buy a new pair. $10 a year isn’t much for good scissors…
Everyone likes different stuff. Luckily we still have some choices.
hahaha! that’s a good one. Stringing barbed wire is one heck of a job. Never again!
Naw, maybe I bought three bad ones. They sure did not hold a sharp edge for long. I saved one to cut wire ribbing. The Anvil doesn’t look like much but it works fine. The Tiemco is fairly expensive I believe, but I feels good in the had and it also holds a good edge.
Scissors, probably our most important tool, have until the last couple of years been a source of never ending frustration to me. My fly shop stocks Dr. Slick, so I bought pair after pair, rarely having a pair go a year for me. They had serrated edges for the most part, and couldn’t be sharpened, or not easily, by me anyway. Then, as if they designed them for me, they came out with the razor scissors. After two or three years now they’re still going, and have yet to disappoint. I’ve even sharpened them a couple of times, which you can do because they’re stainless steel. Anyway, like these a lot, though I have stabbed myself on occasion, as the tips are very sharp. But I think that’s the idea.
Eric
I started out with some Wiss-style scissors with an attached bodkin designed and marketed by AK Best that I still use on occasion, but my favorites, for the last several years, have been Miltex Iris Scissors with curved blades. They were pricey, but given how much tying I have done with them, they’ve been worth the cost. I bought my first pair from Hunters Angling Supplies (now Stone River Outfitters), but have found identical replacements on eBay for a fraction of the price.
Back when the Transportation Security Administration started confiscating sharp objects from airline passengers, there were some really good deals on eBay for small lots of knives, scissors, hemostats, etc. I found some Miltex scissors in one of those lots and got them, along with several other items, for less than $20.
I go to my local habadashery (sp) and buy there small sharp pointed scissors at 6.00 dollars. They are great and do the job. I buy a few at a time because my wife borrows them for her quilting and looses them on me
I use Slicks and a couple of other Pakistani no-names.
I have LOTS of different pairs and I use them according to the size fly I’m tying or the materials I plan to cut. The extra fine tips are used on small midges; fine tips on most other flies and fine materials and the big pairs are used for foam and other heavy materials. I like my fine tip scissors to have both pointy tips AND thin blades at the tip. I find that the Fine Tip Slicks have thinner blades at the tip than any other brands I’ve checked out.
I have always used more than one pair of scissors for fly tying and as a result mine seem to last forever. Since I pre-cut all materials like foam before I start tying; it makes it easy to use two different pair of scissors during the complete construction process. I get most or all of the heavy cutting out of the way before I pick up the finer scissors.
Oh yea; I NEVER cut wire or hard materials with any of my scissors. I went and bought a really cool tool especially for the job; the pair I have are about 3" long and work fantastic. They’re called diagonal WIRE CUTTERS.
I have only 3 pairs of scissors and a small pair of wire clippers. I’ve got a small cheap no-name brand that I got with my original fly tying kit I use for really small work, I’ve got a pair of Dr. Slick 4" Tungsten I use for a majority of work, I’ve got a large pair of Kershaw scissors I use for cutting through hides and quills, and then I have the wire cutters for umm… well cutting wire Personally I’ve found using the right tool for the job increases the life span of your tools.
For those of you that think Slicks are overpriced or a total foreign product; take a look at the Winter 2008 issue of Fly Tyer. There is a great article titled “Razor Sharp” by David Klausmeyer about how Dr. Slick in essence gets a partially manufactured product from overseas and then disassembles it to sharpen and shape it to their standards. All the finishing work is done by hand in the US.
Pretty enlightening stuff!!
Dr. Slick also recommends having the right scissors for the job so your scissors last longer.
Never again!
Personally I’ve found using the right tool for the job increases the life span of your tools.