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?

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

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.

jw 1111 wrote:

would i be better in paying a lot more for shears and would they
really last much longer.

YES!

Can't advise on the best makes currently my Wolf shears are 10 years old
and have never needed sharpening

pk

If you watch the blades of a pair of shears whilst they are slowly closed
you will see that the point at which the blades only touch moves along the
cutting edges of the blades. It follows, that if the blades are dead
straight and touch all along their length, the shears will not cut.

A decent pair of shears will have a very strong spring washer at their apex
thus allowing the ever so slightly slightly bent blades to part as the
cutting point moves down towards the tips of the blades. Such shears will
go for years and never need sharpening.

G