In article ,
jw 1111 wrote:
Hi, i seem to be collecting masses of garden shears. they seem to only last
a couple of years before becoming very blunt. i found one shop a few years
ago that would sharpen them here in north london (u.k.) but they wanted five
pounds or so, and you can buy new ones for that money.

is it a overly difficult process to sharpen them yourselves? and if not how
best to do it please?

Dead easy, if a bit tedious. You should use a small (hand held)
oilstone, and use a circular motion, preserving the original grinding
angle on the blades. More worn-out shears can be restored by using
a grindstone (an el cheapo one on a domestic power drill will do).

would i be better in paying a lot more for shears and would they really last
much longer. if so what would be a good make to buy please. thanks for
any advice

If you use them a lot, yes. I am not sure what currently good makes
are, but most of the known names used to be good - I haven't bought
any in 25 years!

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.