Apex & scissors

CKTG has a large amount of Edge Pro products so we've dedicated a forum to questions on Edge Pro sharpening systems, accessories and techniques.
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Jason H
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Apex & scissors

Post by Jason H »

Hello All,

I became well versed in the Edge Pro then moved on to freehand for the most part. That being said, I keep getting requests to sharpen scissors like hair shears and pinking shears. This comes my way so often that I am thinking about the Apex scissor attachment. Does anyone here have any feedback or advice? I've heard the story too many times from barbers, " no one can sharpen our expensive shears and there is an opportunity waiting". I don't plan on doing this to make a living but I am interested in learning. Apparently, expensive convex shears are are abundant with a lack of people willing and/or capable of working on them. I'd love to hear some experience here and what is going on.

Much appreciated!
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Otaku19
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Re: Apex & scissors

Post by Otaku19 »

Rob did a really great review on the Apex Scissor attachment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuFKDeepgyg
Radar53
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Re: Apex & scissors

Post by Radar53 »

Hi Jason. I have the scissor attachment and have to agree that it is a great piece of kit. As well as the many ordinary scissors that I've sharpened, both my wife and also a neighbour are top end women's fashion creators, so I keep their big professional shears in good shape too.

Hair dressing scissors are something else again, especially the top end Japanese scissors. If you thought that JK's were expensive and very trick, the top end scissors are eye-wateringly expensive in comparison and at least equal with technology and craftsmanship. These scissor blades have convex edges, as well as the blade being curved along it's length and also curved perpendicular to the blade.

You are definitely correct in that there are very few people who can get close to sharpening these properly. Here in NZ the standard fare is for some guy to turn up in a van, grab the above mentioned Japanese scissors, retreat to the back of his van and proceed to sharpen them with a bench grinder. Two minutes later, there goes some good scissors plus their hundreds or thousands of dollars price tag.

Often these young hairdressers have lusted after a top quality pair of shears and saved for sometimes a couple of years and all that's gone in 2 minutes. I've seen some heartbreaking results :cry: :cry:

Also just as an observation from the video that Otaku referenced, I use waaaaaaaay less water and pressure. Just different strokes for different folks I guess.
Cheers Grant

Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not going to get you!!
Jason H
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Re: Apex & scissors

Post by Jason H »

Radar53 wrote: Tue Feb 05, 2019 4:35 pm Hi Jason. I have the scissor attachment and have to agree that it is a great piece of kit. As well as the many ordinary scissors that I've sharpened, both my wife and also a neighbour are top end women's fashion creators, so I keep their big professional shears in good shape too.

Hair dressing scissors are something else again, especially the top end Japanese scissors. If you thought that JK's were expensive and very trick, the top end scissors are eye-wateringly expensive in comparison and at least equal with technology and craftsmanship. These scissor blades have convex edges, as well as the blade being curved along it's length and also curved perpendicular to the blade.

You are definitely correct in that there are very few people who can get close to sharpening these properly. Here in NZ the standard fare is for some guy to turn up in a van, grab the above mentioned Japanese scissors, retreat to the back of his van and proceed to sharpen them with a bench grinder. Two minutes later, there goes some good scissors plus their hundreds or thousands of dollars price tag.

Often these young hairdressers have lusted after a top quality pair of shears and saved for sometimes a couple of years and all that's gone in 2 minutes. I've seen some heartbreaking results :cry: :cry:

Also just as an observation from the video that Otaku referenced, I use waaaaaaaay less water and pressure. Just different strokes for different folks I guess.
Well this certainly is interesting...scissors are made so precision that almost no one can sharpen them.

I've watched numerous videos and read material and learned that just like knives, there isn't one right way.

What is your experience with the EP and convex shears? My understanding is the the EP will flatten it a bit but I am fascinated by the idea of needing convex for something like hair. There has to be way to do this by hand, folks have been cutting hair long before electric grinders have been around. LOL.
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Re: Apex & scissors

Post by Jason H »

Otaku19 wrote: Tue Feb 05, 2019 6:07 am Rob did a really great review on the Apex Scissor attachment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuFKDeepgyg
Is he here on CKTG? I've watched many of his videos over time and quite like him.
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Re: Apex & scissors

Post by Radar53 »

"Well this certainly is interesting...scissors are made so precision that almost no one can sharpen them. "

The intent is that these high spec shears are returned to the factory every 3 or 4 months for true professional sharpening & maintenance. Probably doable if you live in Japan, but probably not if you live elsewhere. Two freight trips, waiting time, repair time & inevitable cost of all that means the downtime & $ make it not viable.

I have zero experience with sharpening Japanese convex shears. An older friend of ours is a hairdresser and she has a pair of JShears (not high end but still worth USD350+) and they have been attacked by van-man. Totally destroyed, now concave edges, burned through the differential heat treatment, probably finished on 800 grit stone (vs the polished finish originally) yada yada. She knows I have a passion for sharpening & has asked me a couple of times to repair them. I've thought hard about it, but I don't think that they are recoverable - especially considering I don't think that I could replicate the differential heat treatment.

Intuitively I believe that the EP would be able to do this pretty well. Quite some time ago I have seen some video of a guy grinding a convex edge. My thinking would be along the lines of rotating the scissor holding plate through 5 or 6 degrees in sync with each stone stroke, (both forwards & backwards), as you worked progressively along the blade from tip to pivot. At this stage though just some random thinking. When I get a lot more spare time I hope to have a "proof of concept" play.
Cheers Grant

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Otaku19
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Re: Apex & scissors

Post by Otaku19 »

Jason H wrote: Tue Feb 05, 2019 9:07 pm
Otaku19 wrote: Tue Feb 05, 2019 6:07 am Rob did a really great review on the Apex Scissor attachment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuFKDeepgyg
Is he here on CKTG? I've watched many of his videos over time and quite like him.
Greetings Jason! Rob isn't active on this forum but I'm sure he would have no problem answering questions by email: rob.bixby65@gmail.com

If you had the ball joint upgrade for the Edge Pro, Gritomatic now sells a convex rod arm: https://www.gritomatic.com/collections/ ... r-hapstone

I believe the angle arms are the same diameter on both the Edge Pro and Hapstone. I've used the same 5/16" stop collar for both the EP and Hapstone. You might want to ask Konstantin if you could purchase a ball joint seperately and use it on the EP.
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Re: Apex & scissors

Post by Celt16 »

I recently purchased the scissor attachment for my Apex 1, sharpened all my own scissors, then asked a neighbor (hair dresser) for her least expensive pair. I followed along with the video, and got them sharp without a hitch.When the scissors are mounted, it only sharpens the top edge, and leaves a burr on the inside edge (convex) which it tells you to just remove gently with a 1K grit stone. I'd say its worth the investment ... just work your way up from crap household scissors to the good ones.

I will note that the hair dresser scissors I sharpened are very short bladed - maybe 3" total length, so I had to play with the knife supports to get it to work properly, and when fully open, sometimes the finger loops in the scissors hit the scissor attachment. Finally, I find that hair dressers are very particular about how loose they need the scissor action to be - basically, as loose as it can be with zero slop.
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