Ive got a couple of pairs of old shears - you know rusty, but still
working - what is the best way to sharpen them? Angle grinder LOL? I
haven't got a bench grinder

--
If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will
eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such
time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic
and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally
important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for
the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the
truth is the greatest enemy of the State.

Joseph Goebbels

On Sun, 4 Jun 2023 13:06:03 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
<tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

>Ive got a couple of pairs of old shears - you know rusty, but still
>working - what is the best way to sharpen them? Angle grinder LOL? I
>haven't got a bench grinder

I sharpen the blade on my mower using an angle grinder clamped in a
B&D Workmate, but I wouldn't use it for shears, whose blades have to
meet all along their length as they close IYSWIM.

On shears, slashers or my scythe, I use an oval-section carborundum
sharpening stone, although I suppose for the latter two, the angle
grinder method would be ok. A bit cumbersome to carry about 'in the
field' as it were. A short carborundum stone slips easily into the
pocket and isn't bulky.

--
Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall, very mild, sheltered
from the West, but open to the North and East.

On 04/06/2023 18:07, Chris Hogg wrote:
> On Sun, 4 Jun 2023 13:06:03 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
> <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
>> Ive got a couple of pairs of old shears - you know rusty, but still
>> working - what is the best way to sharpen them? Angle grinder LOL? I
>> haven't got a bench grinder
>
> I sharpen the blade on my mower using an angle grinder clamped in a
> B&D Workmate, but I wouldn't use it for shears, whose blades have to
> meet all along their length as they close IYSWIM.
>
> On shears, slashers or my scythe, I use an oval-section carborundum
> sharpening stone, although I suppose for the latter two, the angle
> grinder method would be ok. A bit cumbersome to carry about 'in the
> field' as it were. A short carborundum stone slips easily into the
> pocket and isn't bulky.
>
Never, ever use a round stone on shears or similar - the stone should be
flat. Yes, I know the type of stone *you* mean, but many won't. Even so,
it is not good practice to use a stone - stones wear unevenly.

The best way is to grip one blade firmly in say, a vice, with the blade
horizontal and the edge uppermost. You then need a first-cut file.
First-cut means the file has only one direction of cutting edges across
its face(s) thus: c==<|////////////|

Most files you'll come across are second-cut and their faces have cuts
which are arranged c==<|XXXXXXXXXXXXX|

Gripping the file at each end, draw it smoothly towards you along the
flat of the ground cut up to the edge, so the file is at exactly the
same angle as the edge is ground: when the edge is sharp, repeat on the
other one.

--
Rusty Hinge
http://www.girolle.co.uk/

--
Rusty Hinge
To err is human. To really foul things up requires a computer and the BOFH.

On 04/06/2023 18:07, Chris Hogg wrote:
> On Sun, 4 Jun 2023 13:06:03 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
> <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
>> Ive got a couple of pairs of old shears - you know rusty, but still
>> working - what is the best way to sharpen them? Angle grinder LOL? I
>> haven't got a bench grinder
>
> I sharpen the blade on my mower using an angle grinder clamped in a
> B&D Workmate, but I wouldn't use it for shears, whose blades have to
> meet all along their length as they close IYSWIM.
>
They do that so long as you dont grind the flat surfaces, anyway.

> On shears, slashers or my scythe, I use an oval-section carborundum
> sharpening stone, although I suppose for the latter two, the angle
> grinder method would be ok. A bit cumbersome to carry about 'in the
> field' as it were. A short carborundum stone slips easily into the
> pocket and isn't bulky.
>
I think I have one of those somewhere. thanks
--
"Strange as it seems, no amount of learning can cure stupidity, and
higher education positively fortifies it."

- Stephen Vizinczey