The bottle opener on the bandage scissors is to open certain medicine vials that have a metal top. This was was much more common prior to plastics being used like most modern vials do today, but there are still a few. Some lidocaine vials for 1 that comes to mind. When you need something from a vial in the field you need it immediately so those scissors were extremely handy, and still are in certain cases!
@@ipodhty to second this, this is the exact reason i keep the galil in the man cave rather than the gun safe, mostly to win the "my bottle opener is cooler than yours" that tends to happen, so i whip out the balisong bottle opener (bbarfly made in canada, basically a bar blade in a balisong handle. works great for popping a beer so it sounds like opening champagne) then if that doesnt work just go over to the back bar and use the galil instead
That's enthusiasm for ya. Back in school there was a strong correlation between the subjects I excelled at and the subjects with the most enthusiastic teacher.
@@aikumaDK yep. Nothing worse than a professor who may or may not be alive, and who couldn't give a rip if he/she was teaching ancient Roman architecture or how to cut lemon wedges.
The one thing you should have added is that for scissors to work correctly the blades need to be slightly curved so they only touch each other at one point & as the scissors are closed that point moves from the heel to the tip. If a pair of scissors is not cutting well the first thing to check is the alignment of the blades, well made scissors are essentially self sharpening as long as the blades stay aligned.
Two other major points IMO: i) ensure that the pivot point allows for easy dismantling of the blades. ii) A compression spring or (even a spring washer) there is always good to have too, to ensure the faces always meet exactly at the point of maximum shear force (hence that area of clean cut is effectively guaranteed). The first point above ensures you can easily clean/sharpen the individual blades /at that point/ (the most difficult to get to & often the required cleanest cutting area); the second again reinforces the 'clean cut' area of max shear force by counteracting any bowing of the blades out of true 'flatness' relative to each other (which may well happen over time, esp with longer blades) The emergent point from this is how to establish whether the tool is high-quality or a cheap knock-off: if the pivot post is hard & tough enough it should be OK to restore; if not, it's a 'throwaway' version. Wear at/on the pivot should be restorable, but angle of deviation (WRT the pivot's true perpendicularity to the blade's facing plane) considerably less so :(
The folks on the video "How to sharpen scissors - three ways, plus hacks" by Work Shop Tools say that scissors are self-honing - which is not self-sharpening. Unrelated but 15:58 - reminds me of an M1 Garand ping.
My though was that having a bottle opener on them might be a reasonable way of making sure that the soldier carrying them kept them someplace convenient and easily at hand at all times. And, well, knew where they were at all times.
Adam, those metal cutting snips are more accurately called aviation snips. Aviation snips have a compound action which gives them a mechanical advantage over standard tin snips. This is due to the double pivot and extra linkage in their design
I was checking the comments to see if anyone else wanted to clarify the aviation snips thing. Also I wanted to note that they generally come either with red, yellow or green handles. Red cuts to the left, green to the right, and yellow straight.
For cutting sticky-backed Velcro, labels or tape I have several pairs of Teflon coated scissors at work so the adhesive doesn't stick to them. Not only does it prevent the problem you mention of having adhesive left behind on the scissors, it also keeps tape from wrapping around the scissors and getting stuck on them. If I have to do precision cutting of adhesive backed material, I will use a rolling cutter, self-healing mat and straightedge then peel the material off the mat with an Xacto knife.
Hi Adam! You expressed curiosity in the yellow handled 90° angle scissors’ true purpose. It’s inventor apparently won some game-show way back in the day (I learned this after I bought them). “The right sheers” is the name. It’s true purpose is all purpose. No joke. The demo I saw had him cutting chicken wire without getting poked. At the time, that greatly appealed to me when I spent my summers on a farm.
The Kai brand Adam suggests have Left handed versions marked by a L after the model number, for example the 7250 (right hand) and the 7250L (left hand). I use them at work all the time
Gingher is where it’s at for fabric scissors. My mom has had her pair for as long as I can remember; I got a pair on sale a couple of years ago and they’re my favourite. So smooth and sharp.
Absolutely. Beautiful chromed high carbon steel (just like automotive tools), very thick and sturdy, very easy to sharpen, and even come with a[n actually svelte, nice looking, well-functioning] plastic cover for the pointy end (to protect you and them in your drawer/etc.). Definitely been on my, "I don't need this, BUT..." list for years, and they're not even terribly expensive; they're priced like tools that have been made the same way for decades, not luxury items.
For folks who don't know snips: With tin snips, one of the quirky things to know, is that the handles are color-coded: Yellow handles are known in the Sheet Metal trade as "straights", and they cut without right or left bias. Red handles are usually labeled "left cut" because they tend to cut curves to the left, more easily than curves to the right. But in the Trade, they're called "Rights", because they work well with the right hand. Green-handled snips, labeled "right cut" are known as "lefts", because they work well with the LEFT hand. In fact, they're one of the few cutting tools that can easily be found, that is SPECIFICALLY a left-handed cutter! Like left-handed scissors, they're and exact mirror-image of the Rights. So if you're left-handed, you'll probably find that green-handled snips work best, for you. And yes, people who install ductwork DO use both: sometimes simultaneously, to cut a section out of flue pipe, or that sort of thing. When I was installing duct, I had eight pairs of snips: A big pair of bench snips, called "Andys", a pair of short-nosed rights, called "Bulldogs", for cutting through seams, etc., and regular, offset, and 90° snips in both right and left. The one thing I DIDN'T have, was yellow-handled straights, because I could do everything I needed to, with all the others. If I could only have ONE pair, it would be a basic set of Rights.
The dual-purpose militairy scissors are probably for a Plaster cast master. The material you use to make a casting, linnen on a roll covered in dry plaster, is kept dry in metal storage-containers with a 'can of paint'-style lid. The back-end of the scissors would be very useful for opening those cans, the soft-tip for cutting close to the skin.
Adam Savage admitting that he has a set of 24 fancy-edge-cutting scissors “somewhere in the cave but can’t find them” is incredibly reassuring to me. Me too, Adam. #ImNotHoardingIHaveSpecificUsesForEverything
"I may not know exactly where it is other than 'in here somewhere' but it's in a safe place. If I can't find it no one else can either!" - my frequent explanation of items being in a state of lost/found. Pretty sure that's also a Schroedinger state as well - tools are exactly where you left them until you start looking for them.
Somehow I managed to lose a whole router bit set. It's a fairly good sized box. I've never seen them. I've actually went out and bought a new set to replace them. I still wonder where that one set went. I've looked and looked for them. Where they got off to remains a mystery.
@@1pcfred You took them with you when you were distracted from your work by a phone call or by the urge to get to the bathroom. Then you left them on the cupboard in the hallway. 😃
One of my favorite (and most used) tools, I've had 2 pairs of Fiskars (medium and large, original orange handled) for over 20 years now. What a great investment that was! I cut anything with them (within reason) certainly not afraid to cut paper with them. Yes, they will dull, but with the Fiskars sharpener you can sharpen them in a matter of seconds. That's probably what I like best about them. Highly recommended.
Those little Fiskars sharpeners are great. As a florist I constantly cut through stems and leaves which dull edges quick, and those put a super edge back on the scissors in seconds.
I make a point to keep a pair of scissors, a straight blade, and a Phillips screw driver in the top drawer of every cabinet in every room of my home, and it has drastically improved my life.
Omg I buy scissors anytime I find old ones at the recycling center and thrift store. Scissors are like knifes, there's a pair for different jobs. Thank you thank you for this video. It hits me right in the passion part of my heart.
I'm a sucker for a good pair of used scissors myself. I have a drawer loaded up with them. Nothing fantastic though. And I'll never pay what a really great pair would cost.
@@1pcfred same. I get mine from recycling center. A have a couple good pears I don't let the family touch. Not expensive or rare just better than the stuff at the store and they will cut paper with them.
@@jasrenfro9856 I cut paper with scissors. I sharpen scissors when they're dull. If they're not too bad then sharpening them is not too bad either. I have seen scissors that are too far gone to sharpen easily though. Wear on the inside flats is not easy to correct. That wear will cause scissors to not work right.
Great tip for the medical scissors i learnt form countless first aid courses is keep a pair in your car say in the drivers door pocket because they are the best for cutting seat belts for if you ever need them
I have a pair of scissors that Adam doesn't seem to have. They have Teflon coated blades and are made by Fiskars. Great for cutting tape and other sticky things.
I remember when I learned that lesson about paper being so abrasive. I was a dairy farm kid and we began using shredded newsprint for bedding material in the dairy barn. We had "bedding chopper" which is basically a cart which has a motorized system to chop bedding material and blow it into the stall with the machine on the adjacent walkway. Ours was from the days before newsprint was in common use so was made for hay. It was able to shred the paper but it severely dulled the knives on the cutting head which were basically standard serrated sickle sections used in sickle bar type hay mowers.
I'm so glad you became active on youtube man. Your tool collection is full of interesting stuff and has led me to buy some things I either forgot existed or never knew existed.
The Kai Scissors is what I use for my upholstery Business and they are GREAT! Well made, stays super sharp, and super light for those long hours and hours of cutting fabric. They have them in different lengths but I mainly use the 12” Kai. If you can get them for $75, that’s a Deal! It usually costs me about $90+ for a 12” pair.
Right?! I did that once and I'll never do it again. She saw me using them on paper and ran up to me, pushed me over and started giving me a gummy. Obviously I was disgusted and scared. Tried to get away but I couldn't. Blasted in her mouth and she stood up and said "now don't let me see you doing that again!" Lesson learned!
I have ADD only when I was a kid it was called BAD. I suffered too many beatings from a very young age. And I learned not to get caught. So, at every opportunity, I took my mothers very expensive left handed sewing shears and cut cardboard. Carefully wiped them off and put them back exactly the way I had found them. Too bad I didn't think of 80 grit sandpaper. Being an only child had its advantages. >> Tom's wife Pam
One thing this reminded me of is a thing called a Beverly Shear, which is like a huge industrial strength desktop scissor kind of thing, that cuts thick sheet metal and such. I want one!
Hey all, we are the North American distributor for the KAI 7280 shears that Adam shows in this video! Cool fact, we customized a version of this shear for a company called Orbital ATK to use on the International Space Station! So it totally makes sense that Adam would own space scissors for his shop! 😂
I remember getting into trouble with my mom for using her sewing scissors for paper when I was a kid. I now do what Adam does, I have my sewing scissors separate from my everyday ones. :)
I'm glad you had the same reaction to the sound of the steel pinging. It was a wondeful satisfying sound. I have a few metal spatulas that I keep around, not just for cooking, but because of the sound they make when rubbed against other metal. It's a most satisfying ring.
*high five* I used to have a 'burger turner' spatula that made very satisfying "plaPP!" + "pWEENG!" sounds when set down & picked up off of flat surfaces
14:37 We call them "Aviation Snips" in Pittsburgh (due to their use for cutting aircraft sheet aluminum.) Tin snips are the ones that just look like giant scissors.
That was my first thought when he said that. Tin snips are like really thick/heavy scissors with short blades and really long handles, aviation snips/shears are the ones with that compound action (NW US here)
i had STEAM as a subject in school and was really about letting kids know it's not really difficult to start making stuff yourself, and really worked for me glad to know it's really spreading out
One of the things in the coumpund we call paper today is clay, or finely ground silica, used to give a texture ballpoint pens can grab onto to turn the ball to feed ink properly. Finely ground silica, also known as glass, is harder than most of the metals used for scissors, so yes, it will dull scissors over time, (and not a lot of that time.)
I work in telecom, and we use electrician’s scissors for everything. I love my Klein electrician scissors. They cut through paper, heavy plastic, cardboard, wires, 14 AWG cable, and easily through the 9-12 ply wax covered lace cord without fail every day. They also have a wire stripper on them to quickly strip wires, and since they’re Klein, once they’re too dull they’re lifetime guaranteed.
I was told that those brass pieces that stick out from the sides act as kind of like kickstands to hold them up. Habu on YT made a pair and that's what he used them for.
I totally agree about the sticky Velcro. We have a pair of scissors that are just for cutting that loath full stuff . They are newly labeled “ Velcro or Die”
My favorite scissors is the thread cutter, the ones buy your sewing machine. They can be worn, you flip them from your palm to the backside of your hand so you can manipulate the piece them flip back to make the cut.
Literally learned something new in the first five minutes. The paper thing blew my mind and explains so much about why all my scissors are dull. You rock, Adam.
Just goes to show how much there is to the topic, when the short overview is 17 minutes! Someone who doesn't know much about scissors might think that was long.
When I worked at a pharmacy warehouse, we dispensed cloth gauze by the foot and had a dedicated pair of nice Fiskars scissors for it (the kind you see in a locked case at the fabric store). Every time a new person came on board, I hammered into them to NEVER use those scissors for anything other than cutting the gauze.
I've seen nitroglycerin infusion bottles with metal caps. There is a pull tab on them that just breaks off about 1/3 of the time so a bottle opener would be useful.
I’m surprised there’s no Fiskars in there… some of the best cutting tools out there, and a no questions asked free replacement warranty is hard to beat!
The substances I cut from time to time that dulls scissors and knives the fastest for me is cushion and pipe insulation foam. Open-cell, closed-cell, either way, two or three long cuts and it's back for a quick sharpening retouch.
I have a dedicated drawer for utility knives, and the overflow are laying around my house. None of them are special or unusual, except the one with an automatic reload feature.
We've been a happy Kiwico family for a year now and love their boxes. Not every one is absolute gold, but they're all worth it. My kids love building them all, and some keep their attention for months! The recent Map making kit is getting a lot of mileage right now, and probably will into the summer!
Traditional scissors like the tailors scissors, are not flat on the bypass faces, they should be slightly hollow ground to give clearance, it's the same with wallpaper shears and garden shears too.
Mr Savage, the scissors you have with the 90° blades & yellow handles at 8:38 are actually designed for people such as my late Gran. Her wrists were wrecked with arthritis, so she couldn't twist them. She had the scissors shown and would use them with the blades on the underside and cut by using the handles in a 'gun trigger' motion. She had a breadknife in the same configuration. A good tip is to look at mobility aid/independent living device suppliers for tools you didn't know you need. 💚🐇🐴💚
I only just recently found out there are left or right curve cutting tin snips. Usually red or green. If you've ever used those straight "Aviation" ones and found it hard to cut, you'll know what I mean. The excess that curls off, needs to go a specific way. Ron Covell has a great video on them.
Yeah and realistically you only need one pair of the directional snips. Which pair depends on what hand you cut with. Straight yellow handled snips are practically useless. They're your abuse pair. To cut things with that you're not supposed to use shears to cut. Like wire or banding iron. Feel free to use the yellow handled ones for that.
FWIW the red/green standard for directional snips follows naval/aviation navigation lights' standards: red for port (left) & green for starboard (right) :)
@@Gerald5000 It doesn't help if you're a southpaw, but you should still be able to figure things out pretty easily ;) FWIW: 'red' uses less letters than 'green'; 'port' & 'starboard' the same, so the shortest word (at least in English) is always directionally left of your facing (or heading) [long text about aircraft & naval navigation stuff removed due to reader boredom potential here]
Being a model builder for my 69 years I Amazon 20 or 30 pairs of scissors myself as I was watching this my wife said he’s like you isn’t here he has more tools and he knows what to do it just like you, She made it in the nicest way...In the first two years didn’t count I didn’t build my first model until I was two years old a Popsicle stick airplane, My mom kept it for me, I still have it.
I have always used cheap scissors my whole life and recently I was walking around a hardware store and saw some decent looking Milwaukee scissors and figured I'd try them. It's night and day to those cheap dollar store scissors. Now I get a little smile on my face every time I cut something. The simple things sometimes make you the happiest
Ah scissors, my nemesis. I have a love hate relationship with these. While their usefulness is not denied, I wish manufacturers would make ambidextrous grips the norm!!! I can deal with the blade alignment but the strictly right handed handles on most make them so uncomfortable long term use is painful.
The Kai brand scissors have left hand models. for example the 7250 (right hand) and the 7250L (left hand). Never understood the issue until I (right handed) picked up a co-workers pair of 7250L instead of my pair. Man it sucks top hold the wrong pair.
i love adams knowledge of tools. the only thing i have to say differently is as a Sheet metal technician by trade WISS shears are the go to. no other sheet metal snips compare.
The "EMT Scissors" are excellent for cutting aluminum cans. The serration on the blades actually makes the edges of the cans less sharp and they cut really nicely. Plus they're stubbier and offset which is good when you're cutting into a cylinder. I used to make a fair amount (a dozen over a couple years) roses from cans and the EMT scissors were the perfect tool. Can't say I've used them since....
Make sure to buy the red, the green, and the yellow! (For cutting right, left, and straight...I assume Malco uses the standard colors...I've been in a sheet metal union and I used Midwest snips with good success.)
@@fredygump5578 in general depending on which hand you're using one of the set will be your preferred choice. I know being left handed I like the right hand ones. Straight snips are useless as far as cutting sheet metal goes too. Save those for banding iron and wire. Both the red and the green snips can cut straight.
@@1pcfred I always grab the reds. I have the greens just in case, but they don't get much use. (I don't have yellows/ straight cut to be honest...but I do have larger bench shears that don't get used hardly at all.)
Hi Adam I am big fan of the Kai love them so much I got 5 pairs for different tasks. The 7240 AS my go too. Top cleaning tip is old Jam Jar filled with Acetone and rag strips just cut a few times in the jar job done. Replace the lid with no wasted acetone or smelly workshop Keep the great Videos coming n love them all
I have owned a pair of those exact same Kai scissors for about 10 years now, and they are an absolute beast! For a good 7 years I made a living doing custom stuffed animals for people and after about a full year I was in great need on a new pair as minkey and fur is a challenge to cut two+ layers at a time. So my mother-in-law got me my Kai for Christmas and let it be said: you pick those boys up and you just FEEL power flowing through. You think me being silly, but I kid you not you, nothing strikes more fear and respect into you for a tool than when you cut right through 8 layer of denim with just a hand squeeze, and certainly have cut myself a time or two. I've used those scissors almost daily for years and even now I can just run through bolts of materials like you would a roll of gift wrap. A tool I recommend to every fabric cutter I meet at the stores to invest in, worth every penny.
I had heard Adam say that he wrote "cloth or die" on some of his scissors back on an Adam Savage Project podcast I think and I always thought it was funny and there was no way he actually did that. I guess I was wrong.
The Milwaukee ones are the best all-around ones that I've tried. They'll cut a penny in half as well, I've done it several times. LOVE them! Also- an easy, and quick, way to sharpen scissors is to cut some high grit sandpaper with them. That easy and works great!
Average people do not have the means to resharpen scissors how they're supposed to be sharpened. It's done with a special machine. There's videos of people doing it in the usual place. 👀
@@1pcfred the average person brings their scissors to the small business owner who professionally sharpens blades. I pay $4 about once a year to sharpen my Wyss household shears this is how you support tradesmen.
@@joycegodsey the average person uses dull scissors. The only tradesman I am interested in supporting is me. I need no one to sharpen anything for me either. As I've been sharpening things for over a half of a century now. So I am somewhat adept at it today.
This episode does so much for my soul. My sister is a seamstress and I think she has a set of those Kai scissors among many others. We also had a set of those Kraft Scissors, and yes the generic ones that would disappear but end up in her room. It makes me happy 😊
@@1pcfred Interesting! I figured they were just super-spring-assisted tin snips, which clearly they could be used for. I think mine are simpler. Still, the world of scissors; who knew.
@@3rdeye7thdimension this is what tin snips look like www.ourshopee.com/ourshopee-img/ourshopee_products/564580979cccc.jpg The compound springy ones are aviation snips. I like tin snips for heavy cutting that I don't want to subject scissors or aviation snips to. Which ends up being a fairly regular thing. Tin snips are easy to sharpen.
Man, I'm feeling this so hard. My farmer dad and seamstress mom had *views* about which scissors were for what. My mom even got the Foley-Belsaw mail order course with all the equipment just for scissor sharpening.
I can attest to this. When I was 10 my biological mom grounded me from the tv for two weeks after catching me using her vintage (from before Cooper acquired them in '76) Wiss scissors to cut paper.
Afaik the right angle scissors are just so you can cut parallel to the material/cutting surface easier. So something like wrapping paper or cloth to prevent that kind of janky edge you can get from cutting with regular scissors
Those right angled scissors are called Right Shears. They are Designed by ReExcite LLC in Fremont, CA, USA and the design enables a more natural grip to allow you to keep your hand out of the way of what you are cutting. You can cut wrapping paper, cardboard, plastic, wire mesh, posterboard, pizza, veggies, poultry, fabric, etc.. with them.
There is a shop on Pier 39 in San Francisco that sells items specially made for left handed people called Lefty's The Left Handed Store. There's a link for it down below. www.leftyslefthanded.com/
@@itwasagoodideaatthetime7980 that's so cool! Unfortunately I live in the UK, but I do have San Fran on my future holiday list so maybe one day I'll be able to check it out
Former dressmaker and leftie; my ginghers are my favorite scissors. They fit so nicely in my hand. My three sons learned at a very young age: do not touch mama’s scissors! Also, being the only leftie in the family they couldn’t figure them out anyway.
There is one science that has actually regressed over the last 150 years. Ergonomics, specifically in how hand tools are supposed to fit the human hand. Those giant tailor scissors were built by people who use hand tools on a daily basis. Any modern scissors are going to be made by some guy sitting at a computer who couldn't use a screwdriver to save his life. I'm a gun nut with a huge fondness for the 1873 Colt single action and the way it fits your hand compared to something like a Glock, phrases like night and day just don't cover it. But you see this in all kinds of hand tools, not just guns. Those scissors are a classic example.
Being a lefty myself I'd love to stick those scissors in the eye of whoever made them. Their pain would still be less than mine if I tried to use them.
Adam Savage you are after my tool nerd heart ❤️. The nuances of tool design and functionality is something that grabs my interest such much. I'm glad to know that someone like you exists. Great work as always 👍
A lot of liquid based medications in the military, especially IV meds, often have a secured cap on them. The bottle opener is for those as opposed to alcohol (though we can be damn sure it is used for that as well)
Great flick, as usual. I'm no longer as clueless about scissors. At 07:30 in the video, you have a red can containing acetone. I'm assuming it fits the bill for dispensing small amounts. I'd be really interested in the brand etc.
The bottle opener on the bandage scissors is to open certain medicine vials that have a metal top. This was was much more common prior to plastics being used like most modern vials do today, but there are still a few. Some lidocaine vials for 1 that comes to mind. When you need something from a vial in the field you need it immediately so those scissors were extremely handy, and still are in certain cases!
The military know how to get their soldiers to keep emergency scissors on them & easily accessible & that was to put a bottle opener on it.
Reminds of the galil rifle, had a built in bottle opener since they had issues with troups using uzi mags as them and damaging the feed lips
@@ipodhty Ozi? Uzi?
@@ipodhty to second this, this is the exact reason i keep the galil in the man cave rather than the gun safe, mostly to win the "my bottle opener is cooler than yours" that tends to happen, so i whip out the balisong bottle opener (bbarfly made in canada, basically a bar blade in a balisong handle. works great for popping a beer so it sounds like opening champagne) then if that doesnt work just go over to the back bar and use the galil instead
@@ste887 That would definitely win the COOL competition in my neighborhood!
I’m not positive but I think some medicine bottles would have a bottle cap top which would require an opener. Like bottles of plasma from ww2.
I just watched an 18 minute scissor video...Adam can make literally anything enthralling!
That's enthusiasm for ya.
Back in school there was a strong correlation between the subjects I excelled at and the subjects with the most enthusiastic teacher.
@@aikumaDK yep. Nothing worse than a professor who may or may not be alive, and who couldn't give a rip if he/she was teaching ancient Roman architecture or how to cut lemon wedges.
I watched about 30 seconds of it when he called shears scissors and was instantly annoyed.
Check out project farms literal hours and hours of tool testing haha I wait on pins and needles for his videos to come out
"Scissors is a rabbit hole."
No, Adam. EVERYTHING you own, is a rabbit hole!
adam is an engima wrapped up in a rabbit hole...
Including his collection of rabbit holes.
#Truth
@@tested cloth Scissors should be ground hollow .
watch this vid of a Master put it together (master scissor maker)
@@cornnatron3030 *waits patiently for the video*
That does make sense, but edge thickness is much more important than grind.
The one thing you should have added is that for scissors to work correctly the blades need to be slightly curved so they only touch each other at one point & as the scissors are closed that point moves from the heel to the tip. If a pair of scissors is not cutting well the first thing to check is the alignment of the blades, well made scissors are essentially self sharpening as long as the blades stay aligned.
Two other major points IMO: i) ensure that the pivot point allows for easy dismantling of the blades. ii) A compression spring or (even a spring washer) there is always good to have too, to ensure the faces always meet exactly at the point of maximum shear force (hence that area of clean cut is effectively guaranteed). The first point above ensures you can easily clean/sharpen the individual blades /at that point/ (the most difficult to get to & often the required cleanest cutting area); the second again reinforces the 'clean cut' area of max shear force by counteracting any bowing of the blades out of true 'flatness' relative to each other (which may well happen over time, esp with longer blades)
The emergent point from this is how to establish whether the tool is high-quality or a cheap knock-off: if the pivot post is hard & tough enough it should be OK to restore; if not, it's a 'throwaway' version. Wear at/on the pivot should be restorable, but angle of deviation (WRT the pivot's true perpendicularity to the blade's facing plane) considerably less so :(
The folks on the video "How to sharpen scissors - three ways, plus hacks" by Work Shop Tools say that scissors are self-honing - which is not self-sharpening.
Unrelated but 15:58 - reminds me of an M1 Garand ping.
"Once you've successfully saved a life, it's Miller Time" -Adam Savage
Looking at the age, could they date back to when blood/plasma came in glass bottles? I could see some producer of the bottles having a crimp on cap.
@@robertpeacock1635 I was thinking this exact thing.
My though was that having a bottle opener on them might be a reasonable way of making sure that the soldier carrying them kept them someplace convenient and easily at hand at all times. And, well, knew where they were at all times.
@@RNMSC It also kept soldiers from breaking other equipment by trying to open bottles.
My first thought was - those go in a fishing tackle box!
Adam, those metal cutting snips are more accurately called aviation snips. Aviation snips have a compound action which gives them a mechanical advantage over standard tin snips. This is due to the double pivot and extra linkage in their design
I was checking the comments to see if anyone else wanted to clarify the aviation snips thing. Also I wanted to note that they generally come either with red, yellow or green handles. Red cuts to the left, green to the right, and yellow straight.
For cutting sticky-backed Velcro, labels or tape I have several pairs of Teflon coated scissors at work so the adhesive doesn't stick to them. Not only does it prevent the problem you mention of having adhesive left behind on the scissors, it also keeps tape from wrapping around the scissors and getting stuck on them.
If I have to do precision cutting of adhesive backed material, I will use a rolling cutter, self-healing mat and straightedge then peel the material off the mat with an Xacto knife.
Hi Adam! You expressed curiosity in the yellow handled 90° angle scissors’ true purpose. It’s inventor apparently won some game-show way back in the day (I learned this after I bought them). “The right sheers” is the name. It’s true purpose is all purpose. No joke. The demo I saw had him cutting chicken wire without getting poked. At the time, that greatly appealed to me when I spent my summers on a farm.
Is there a left sheers, though?
Fascinating
As a left-hander, the feature I appreciate in the Milwaukee scissors is the handles are not angled specifically for right-handed people
However, holding them left-handed you are pushing the blades apart instead of together when you cut unless you twist your hand into a claw.
@@RobWVideo it's usually a deal of minimizing problems being left handed. I accept the blades issue because I find the angled handles more annoysome
The Kai brand Adam suggests have Left handed versions marked by a L after the model number, for example the 7250 (right hand) and the 7250L (left hand).
I use them at work all the time
@@MrUnicornassassin Decent left handed scissors are a good find!
As a lefty, somethings you just teach yourself to do right handed and move on.
Gingher is where it’s at for fabric scissors. My mom has had her pair for as long as I can remember; I got a pair on sale a couple of years ago and they’re my favourite. So smooth and sharp.
Absolutely. Beautiful chromed high carbon steel (just like automotive tools), very thick and sturdy, very easy to sharpen, and even come with a[n actually svelte, nice looking, well-functioning] plastic cover for the pointy end (to protect you and them in your drawer/etc.). Definitely been on my, "I don't need this, BUT..." list for years, and they're not even terribly expensive; they're priced like tools that have been made the same way for decades, not luxury items.
For folks who don't know snips: With tin snips, one of the quirky things to know, is that the handles are color-coded: Yellow handles are known in the Sheet Metal trade as "straights", and they cut without right or left bias. Red handles are usually labeled "left cut" because they tend to cut curves to the left, more easily than curves to the right. But in the Trade, they're called "Rights", because they work well with the right hand.
Green-handled snips, labeled "right cut" are known as "lefts", because they work well with the LEFT hand. In fact, they're one of the few cutting tools that can easily be found, that is SPECIFICALLY a left-handed cutter! Like left-handed scissors, they're and exact mirror-image of the Rights. So if you're left-handed, you'll probably find that green-handled snips work best, for you.
And yes, people who install ductwork DO use both: sometimes simultaneously, to cut a section out of flue pipe, or that sort of thing. When I was installing duct, I had eight pairs of snips: A big pair of bench snips, called "Andys", a pair of short-nosed rights, called "Bulldogs", for cutting through seams, etc., and regular, offset, and 90° snips in both right and left. The one thing I DIDN'T have, was yellow-handled straights, because I could do everything I needed to, with all the others. If I could only have ONE pair, it would be a basic set of Rights.
The dual-purpose militairy scissors are probably for a Plaster cast master. The material you use to make a casting, linnen on a roll covered in dry plaster, is kept dry in metal storage-containers with a 'can of paint'-style lid. The back-end of the scissors would be very useful for opening those cans, the soft-tip for cutting close to the skin.
I came to the comments looking for this explanation thank you
Adam Savage admitting that he has a set of 24 fancy-edge-cutting scissors “somewhere in the cave but can’t find them” is incredibly reassuring to me. Me too, Adam. #ImNotHoardingIHaveSpecificUsesForEverything
"I may not know exactly where it is other than 'in here somewhere' but it's in a safe place. If I can't find it no one else can either!" - my frequent explanation of items being in a state of lost/found. Pretty sure that's also a Schroedinger state as well - tools are exactly where you left them until you start looking for them.
@@MrGrimsmith Currently I have quantum scissors. They are right there unless observed then they may fall anywhere according to chaos theory
If I could just figure out where I stashed that bucket of diamonds ....
Somehow I managed to lose a whole router bit set. It's a fairly good sized box. I've never seen them. I've actually went out and bought a new set to replace them. I still wonder where that one set went. I've looked and looked for them. Where they got off to remains a mystery.
@@1pcfred
You took them with you when you were distracted from your work by a phone call or by the urge to get to the bathroom. Then you left them on the cupboard in the hallway. 😃
"Warning!
These scissors are for cutting fabric only.
If you use them to cut anything else, I will cut you.
But not with these scissors."
also those scissors are shears.
@@kingjames4886 Nope!
@@Stettafire yes, that first pair of shear are definitely tailors shears.
Let's be honest Adam probably has a specific pair of scissors for cutting people who use his cloth scissors for cutting paper.
@@kingjames4886 I'm fairly certain they're referring to the ones labeled "cloth or die" because that would make the most sense
The Kai scissors are the best. I work in aerospace and that’s what we use to cut our carbon fiber and fiberglass.
I have a pair of medical bandage scissors and they're the best thing around for eva floor tile craft work imo. Used to cut out my spartan armor.
One of my favorite (and most used) tools, I've had 2 pairs of Fiskars (medium and large, original orange handled) for over 20 years now. What a great investment that was! I cut anything with them (within reason) certainly not afraid to cut paper with them. Yes, they will dull, but with the Fiskars sharpener you can sharpen them in a matter of seconds. That's probably what I like best about them. Highly recommended.
There's videos here of how scissors are professionally sharpened. It is an entertaining rabbit hole to go down.
Those little Fiskars sharpeners are great. As a florist I constantly cut through stems and leaves which dull edges quick, and those put a super edge back on the scissors in seconds.
I only use Fiskars scissors, nothing I have ever tried comes even close.
Discovering that my husband used my Fiskar's to cut sandpaper was the most tenuous moment of our marriage.
I mean at least he used a cheap pair of scissors.. Fiskars makes some decent stuff but it's definitely at the low end of acceptable quality tools.
I cut a square of sandpaper on my wife's table, and well, I should not have done that.
At least it wasn't sticky back sand paper.
Noooooooo
Sandpapered was used in the past to sharpen scissors
I make a point to keep a pair of scissors, a straight blade, and a Phillips screw driver in the top drawer of every cabinet in every room of my home, and it has drastically improved my life.
I worked in aluminum the difference is those are yellows mostly straight cuts then u have reds for right hand cuts and greens are left hand cuts
Omg I buy scissors anytime I find old ones at the recycling center and thrift store. Scissors are like knifes, there's a pair for different jobs. Thank you thank you for this video. It hits me right in the passion part of my heart.
I'm a sucker for a good pair of used scissors myself. I have a drawer loaded up with them. Nothing fantastic though. And I'll never pay what a really great pair would cost.
@@1pcfred same. I get mine from recycling center. A have a couple good pears I don't let the family touch. Not expensive or rare just better than the stuff at the store and they will cut paper with them.
@@jasrenfro9856 I cut paper with scissors. I sharpen scissors when they're dull. If they're not too bad then sharpening them is not too bad either. I have seen scissors that are too far gone to sharpen easily though. Wear on the inside flats is not easy to correct. That wear will cause scissors to not work right.
I would absolutely love to see Adam do a ship in a bottle. I love scrimshaw and nautical ephemera. Seeing his method worked be amazing.
Great tip for the medical scissors i learnt form countless first aid courses is keep a pair in your car say in the drivers door pocket because they are the best for cutting seat belts for if you ever need them
Those tailor's shears are magnificent!
I love scissors that are teflon coated. They are amazing when you are cutting massive amounts of tape. I always keep some around
I have a pair of scissors that Adam doesn't seem to have. They have Teflon coated blades and are made by Fiskars. Great for cutting tape and other sticky things.
In case anyone is wondering ...
www.fiskars.com/en-us/crafting-and-sewing/products/scissors-and-shears/non-stick-scissors-8-99977097j
I remember when I learned that lesson about paper being so abrasive. I was a dairy farm kid and we began using shredded newsprint for bedding material in the dairy barn. We had "bedding chopper" which is basically a cart which has a motorized system to chop bedding material and blow it into the stall with the machine on the adjacent walkway. Ours was from the days before newsprint was in common use so was made for hay. It was able to shred the paper but it severely dulled the knives on the cutting head which were basically standard serrated sickle sections used in sickle bar type hay mowers.
I'm so glad you became active on youtube man. Your tool collection is full of interesting stuff and has led me to buy some things I either forgot existed or never knew existed.
The Kai Scissors is what I use for my upholstery Business and they are GREAT! Well made, stays super sharp, and super light for those long hours and hours of cutting fabric. They have them in different lengths but I mainly use the 12” Kai. If you can get them for $75, that’s a Deal! It usually costs me about $90+ for a 12” pair.
Adam Savage, I want to thank you for getting me through the pandemic. It's always a treat to spend time with you in your cave…
I have those Wiss utility shears and they are the best for opening blister packs. A must for Christmas when I’m opening all kinds of things.
Agreed. Shears are a must and the Wiss shears are decent with no complaints.
I learned very early, Nothing will get you a beating faster than using Grandma's sewing scissors on paper.
Yes, that was one of my first lessons about scissors. Besides the part about don’t run with them.
Don't ever touch Mum's sewing scissors is one of my earliest memories.
guess not the smartest you leave them afterwards on grandpas workbench , works every time lol guess who gets the blame
Right?! I did that once and I'll never do it again. She saw me using them on paper and ran up to me, pushed me over and started giving me a gummy. Obviously I was disgusted and scared. Tried to get away but I couldn't. Blasted in her mouth and she stood up and said "now don't let me see you doing that again!" Lesson learned!
I have ADD only when I was a kid it was called BAD. I suffered too many beatings from a very young age. And I learned not to get caught. So, at every opportunity, I took my mothers very expensive left handed sewing shears and cut cardboard. Carefully wiped them off and put them back exactly the way I had found them.
Too bad I didn't think of 80 grit sandpaper. Being an only child had its advantages.
>> Tom's wife Pam
One thing this reminded me of is a thing called a Beverly Shear, which is like a huge industrial strength desktop scissor kind of thing, that cuts thick sheet metal and such. I want one!
Hey all, we are the North American distributor for the KAI 7280 shears that Adam shows in this video! Cool fact, we customized a version of this shear for a company called Orbital ATK to use on the International Space Station! So it totally makes sense that Adam would own space scissors for his shop! 😂
Me: *looking at scissors I don't need
Also me: I need that
I remember getting into trouble with my mom for using her sewing scissors for paper when I was a kid. I now do what Adam does, I have my sewing scissors separate from my everyday ones. :)
I'm glad you had the same reaction to the sound of the steel pinging. It was a wondeful satisfying sound.
I have a few metal spatulas that I keep around, not just for cooking, but because of the sound they make when rubbed against other metal. It's a most satisfying ring.
*high five* I used to have a 'burger turner' spatula that made very satisfying "plaPP!" + "pWEENG!" sounds when set down & picked up off of flat surfaces
14:37 We call them "Aviation Snips" in Pittsburgh (due to their use for cutting aircraft sheet aluminum.) Tin snips are the ones that just look like giant scissors.
That was my first thought when he said that. Tin snips are like really thick/heavy scissors with short blades and really long handles, aviation snips/shears are the ones with that compound action (NW US here)
i had STEAM as a subject in school and was really about letting kids know it's not really difficult to start making stuff yourself, and really worked for me
glad to know it's really spreading out
One of the things in the coumpund we call paper today is clay, or finely ground silica, used to give a texture ballpoint pens can grab onto to turn the ball to feed ink properly. Finely ground silica, also known as glass, is harder than most of the metals used for scissors, so yes, it will dull scissors over time, (and not a lot of that time.)
I work in telecom, and we use electrician’s scissors for everything. I love my Klein electrician scissors. They cut through paper, heavy plastic, cardboard, wires, 14 AWG cable, and easily through the 9-12 ply wax covered lace cord without fail every day. They also have a wire stripper on them to quickly strip wires, and since they’re Klein, once they’re too dull they’re lifetime guaranteed.
I was told that those brass pieces that stick out from the sides act as kind of like kickstands to hold them up. Habu on YT made a pair and that's what he used them for.
What a time to live in. I can actually sit back and chill to a 18 minute video all about the humble scissors. My cuppa tea. I raise a mug to you Sir 🙂
"High functioning hoarder" - well said.
I totally agree about the sticky Velcro. We have a pair of scissors that are just for cutting that loath full stuff . They are newly labeled “ Velcro or Die”
My favorite scissors is the thread cutter, the ones buy your sewing machine. They can be worn, you flip them from your palm to the backside of your hand so you can manipulate the piece them flip back to make the cut.
Literally learned something new in the first five minutes. The paper thing blew my mind and explains so much about why all my scissors are dull. You rock, Adam.
"that was a bit fast and furious..."
Adam, you've been talking about scissors for 17 minutes.
Just goes to show how much there is to the topic, when the short overview is 17 minutes! Someone who doesn't know much about scissors might think that was long.
When I worked at a pharmacy warehouse, we dispensed cloth gauze by the foot and had a dedicated pair of nice Fiskars scissors for it (the kind you see in a locked case at the fabric store). Every time a new person came on board, I hammered into them to NEVER use those scissors for anything other than cutting the gauze.
Maybe the bottle opener was for medical solutions in bottles carried on the battlefield?
Yeah I was about to say I can imagine some medical solutions being in a bottle with a similar cap of a soda/beer bottle.
I've seen nitroglycerin infusion bottles with metal caps. There is a pull tab on them that just breaks off about 1/3 of the time so a bottle opener would be useful.
@@tonkatsu72 thanks, I knew it had to be something other than beer
A quick image search seems to imply that older IV bottles had pop tops.
There are still medications that react with plastics so there are still glass bottles used for certain applications in the modern day.
I love how much Adam loves scissors
I’m surprised there’s no Fiskars in there… some of the best cutting tools out there, and a no questions asked free replacement warranty is hard to beat!
Was surprised as well. I've understood Fiskars does have quite a presence over the pond too.
The substances I cut from time to time that dulls scissors and knives the fastest for me is cushion and pipe insulation foam.
Open-cell, closed-cell, either way, two or three long cuts and it's back for a quick sharpening retouch.
How about a tool tip about all the utility knives you have and your go to knife.
Great suggestion!
@@tested I second the suggestion, knives are such an indispensable and multifarious tool across several kinds of creative / makerly pursuits.
oh gawd... there are going to be like 50 knives and they're going to have things written on them and one will be a bat'leth.
I have a dedicated drawer for utility knives, and the overflow are laying around my house. None of them are special or unusual, except the one with an automatic reload feature.
I’d also like a video on that
We've been a happy Kiwico family for a year now and love their boxes. Not every one is absolute gold, but they're all worth it. My kids love building them all, and some keep their attention for months! The recent Map making kit is getting a lot of mileage right now, and probably will into the summer!
I love your choice of sponsor. Cloth or die is now being engraved on my scissors, but as a warning. Muahahaha!
I tie a ribbon 🎀 around my fabric scissors
I’ve owned 4 (2 large and 2 small) pairs of those Japanese’s scissors for over 10years. They really are amazing to use and yet to dull on me. 😍
I just love the sound Scissors make :)
You know you enjoy a creator when you can sit down and listen to them explain the use of each scissor in their scissor collection.
Traditional scissors like the tailors scissors, are not flat on the bypass faces, they should be slightly hollow ground to give clearance, it's the same with wallpaper shears and garden shears too.
Mr Savage, the scissors you have with the 90° blades & yellow handles at 8:38 are actually designed for people such as my late Gran. Her wrists were wrecked with arthritis, so she couldn't twist them. She had the scissors shown and would use them with the blades on the underside and cut by using the handles in a 'gun trigger' motion. She had a breadknife in the same configuration.
A good tip is to look at mobility aid/independent living device suppliers for tools you didn't know you need.
💚🐇🐴💚
I only just recently found out there are left or right curve cutting tin snips. Usually red or green. If you've ever used those straight "Aviation" ones and found it hard to cut, you'll know what I mean. The excess that curls off, needs to go a specific way. Ron Covell has a great video on them.
Yeah and realistically you only need one pair of the directional snips. Which pair depends on what hand you cut with. Straight yellow handled snips are practically useless. They're your abuse pair. To cut things with that you're not supposed to use shears to cut. Like wire or banding iron. Feel free to use the yellow handled ones for that.
FWIW the red/green standard for directional snips follows naval/aviation navigation lights' standards: red for port (left) & green for starboard (right) :)
@@snafu2350 Oh wow, ok, that, I would have never known. If I can remember that, it might make it easier to know which one to use.
@@Gerald5000 It doesn't help if you're a southpaw, but you should still be able to figure things out pretty easily ;)
FWIW: 'red' uses less letters than 'green'; 'port' & 'starboard' the same, so the shortest word (at least in English) is always directionally left of your facing (or heading)
[long text about aircraft & naval navigation stuff removed due to reader boredom potential here]
I have the same big tailors shears the brass bolt is so they sit up on the table for ease of pickup.
I love them.
The tailors 'scissors' would more correctly be known as shears.
Yessss
Being a model builder for my 69 years I Amazon 20 or 30 pairs of scissors myself as I was watching this my wife said he’s like you isn’t here he has more tools and he knows what to do it just like you, She made it in the nicest way...In the first two years didn’t count I didn’t build my first model until I was two years old a Popsicle stick airplane, My mom kept it for me, I still have it.
And then you left out those nice Japanese sewing snips you use to cut the thread away from your sewing machine needles. Lil snips now very sad :(
I have always used cheap scissors my whole life and recently I was walking around a hardware store and saw some decent looking Milwaukee scissors and figured I'd try them. It's night and day to those cheap dollar store scissors. Now I get a little smile on my face every time I cut something. The simple things sometimes make you the happiest
Ah scissors, my nemesis. I have a love hate relationship with these. While their usefulness is not denied, I wish manufacturers would make ambidextrous grips the norm!!! I can deal with the blade alignment but the strictly right handed handles on most make them so uncomfortable long term use is painful.
Those Wiss shears might be of interest for you.
I'm ambidexterous. So I can use either, but I have found that left handed scissors are nowhere to be found
@@mf-- I do find that spring assisted ones do offer a more universal grip
Check out Wolff Industries. They’re a scissor manufacturer and distributor with several left handled and true left handed scissors.
The Kai brand scissors have left hand models. for example the 7250 (right hand) and the 7250L (left hand). Never understood the issue until I (right handed) picked up a co-workers pair of 7250L instead of my pair. Man it sucks top hold the wrong pair.
i love adams knowledge of tools. the only thing i have to say differently is as a Sheet metal technician by trade WISS shears are the go to. no other sheet metal snips compare.
When is Adam going to play a plucky chief engineer on a Star Trek series??? I wanna see him fix a warp core with elbow grease.
..but never duct tape! ;)
The "EMT Scissors" are excellent for cutting aluminum cans. The serration on the blades actually makes the edges of the cans less sharp and they cut really nicely. Plus they're stubbier and offset which is good when you're cutting into a cylinder.
I used to make a fair amount (a dozen over a couple years) roses from cans and the EMT scissors were the perfect tool. Can't say I've used them since....
Malco metal shears, I tend to reach for before my "aviation" tin snips. Try them!
Make sure to buy the red, the green, and the yellow! (For cutting right, left, and straight...I assume Malco uses the standard colors...I've been in a sheet metal union and I used Midwest snips with good success.)
@@fredygump5578 in general depending on which hand you're using one of the set will be your preferred choice. I know being left handed I like the right hand ones. Straight snips are useless as far as cutting sheet metal goes too. Save those for banding iron and wire. Both the red and the green snips can cut straight.
@@1pcfred I always grab the reds. I have the greens just in case, but they don't get much use. (I don't have yellows/ straight cut to be honest...but I do have larger bench shears that don't get used hardly at all.)
@@fredygump5578 what hand do you cut with? Yellow snips are not useful. Well, they're good for making people feel like they can't cut sheet metal.
Hi Adam I am big fan of the Kai love them so much I got 5 pairs for different tasks. The 7240 AS my go too. Top cleaning tip is old Jam Jar filled with Acetone and rag strips just cut a few times in the jar job done. Replace the lid with no wasted acetone or smelly workshop
Keep the great Videos coming n love them all
I still hear my mother screaming from downstairs at us kids while we played in our rooms, "Who took the scissors?!!!!!!"
I have owned a pair of those exact same Kai scissors for about 10 years now, and they are an absolute beast! For a good 7 years I made a living doing custom stuffed animals for people and after about a full year I was in great need on a new pair as minkey and fur is a challenge to cut two+ layers at a time. So my mother-in-law got me my Kai for Christmas and let it be said: you pick those boys up and you just FEEL power flowing through. You think me being silly, but I kid you not you, nothing strikes more fear and respect into you for a tool than when you cut right through 8 layer of denim with just a hand squeeze, and certainly have cut myself a time or two. I've used those scissors almost daily for years and even now I can just run through bolts of materials like you would a roll of gift wrap. A tool I recommend to every fabric cutter I meet at the stores to invest in, worth every penny.
Scrolling through subscriptions without glasses on, thought the thumbnail was an Edward Scissorhands cosplay lol
The sound of scissors opening and clising, it's so beautiful!
I had heard Adam say that he wrote "cloth or die" on some of his scissors back on an Adam Savage Project podcast I think and I always thought it was funny and there was no way he actually did that. I guess I was wrong.
The Milwaukee ones are the best all-around ones that I've tried. They'll cut a penny in half as well, I've done it several times. LOVE them! Also- an easy, and quick, way to sharpen scissors is to cut some high grit sandpaper with them. That easy and works great!
grandma approved
I, too am a maker/tool junkie. I love watching you talk about your tools because I learn things about my own tools I didn't know before. Very fun! 😍😎😘
resharpen the Mundial, if they are the Brazil made ones they are awesome cloth scissors
Average people do not have the means to resharpen scissors how they're supposed to be sharpened. It's done with a special machine. There's videos of people doing it in the usual place. 👀
@@1pcfred the average person brings their scissors to the small business owner who professionally sharpens blades. I pay $4 about once a year to sharpen my Wyss household shears this is how you support tradesmen.
@@joycegodsey the average person uses dull scissors. The only tradesman I am interested in supporting is me. I need no one to sharpen anything for me either. As I've been sharpening things for over a half of a century now. So I am somewhat adept at it today.
This episode does so much for my soul. My sister is a seamstress and I think she has a set of those Kai scissors among many others. We also had a set of those Kraft Scissors, and yes the generic ones that would disappear but end up in her room. It makes me happy 😊
My reaction to most of the scissors: ...
"And these are tin snips."
Me: *YEEAA-uuhh!*
What Adam showed are aviation snips. Tin snips are different. I'm surprised Adam doesn't have any. Tin snips are like big heavy duty scissors, kinda.
@@1pcfred Interesting! I figured they were just super-spring-assisted tin snips, which clearly they could be used for. I think mine are simpler. Still, the world of scissors; who knew.
@@3rdeye7thdimension this is what tin snips look like www.ourshopee.com/ourshopee-img/ourshopee_products/564580979cccc.jpg The compound springy ones are aviation snips. I like tin snips for heavy cutting that I don't want to subject scissors or aviation snips to. Which ends up being a fairly regular thing. Tin snips are easy to sharpen.
Man, I'm feeling this so hard. My farmer dad and seamstress mom had *views* about which scissors were for what. My mom even got the Foley-Belsaw mail order course with all the equipment just for scissor sharpening.
The quickest way to piss off someone who sews is to use their cloth cutting scissors on paper.
This is true.
I can attest to this. When I was 10 my biological mom grounded me from the tv for two weeks after catching me using her vintage (from before Cooper acquired them in '76) Wiss scissors to cut paper.
The spring loaded wiss scissors are one of my favorites. Especially for cutting thin plastics and zip ties
Nail clippers, or diagonal cutters are the king for zip ties. Unless you have the crazy big zip ties. Then go to the medic shears
When I was a kid, I cut up a penny with my Mom's fabric scissors. I'm lucky to still be alive.
Afaik the right angle scissors are just so you can cut parallel to the material/cutting surface easier. So something like wrapping paper or cloth to prevent that kind of janky edge you can get from cutting with regular scissors
He need a set of Titanium Non-stick scissors, makes cutting sticky things so much better!
Those right angled scissors are called Right Shears. They are Designed
by ReExcite LLC in Fremont, CA, USA and the design enables a more
natural grip to allow you to keep your hand out of the way of what you
are cutting. You can cut wrapping paper, cardboard, plastic, wire mesh,
posterboard, pizza, veggies, poultry, fabric, etc.. with them.
Being left handed makes buying scissors a bit harder!
There is a shop on Pier 39 in San Francisco that sells items specially made for left handed people called Lefty's The Left Handed Store. There's a link for it down below.
www.leftyslefthanded.com/
Fiskars left handed scissors for the win! www.leftyslefthanded.com/Left_Handed_Fiskars_8_all_purpose_scissor_p/573283.htm
@@itwasagoodideaatthetime7980 that's so cool! Unfortunately I live in the UK, but I do have San Fran on my future holiday list so maybe one day I'll be able to check it out
@@Ruojis these look nice, and I can get them in the UK :) thanks!
@@Ruojis I just bought a pair of righty Fiskars used for cheap and butchered the handles up with a Dremel. FIFM
Former dressmaker and leftie; my ginghers are my favorite scissors. They fit so nicely in my hand. My three sons learned at a very young age: do not touch mama’s scissors! Also, being the only leftie in the family they couldn’t figure them out anyway.
There is one science that has actually regressed over the last 150 years. Ergonomics, specifically in how hand tools are supposed to fit the human hand.
Those giant tailor scissors were built by people who use hand tools on a daily basis. Any modern scissors are going to be made by some guy sitting at a computer who couldn't use a screwdriver to save his life.
I'm a gun nut with a huge fondness for the 1873 Colt single action and the way it fits your hand compared to something like a Glock, phrases like night and day just don't cover it. But you see this in all kinds of hand tools, not just guns. Those scissors are a classic example.
Being a lefty myself I'd love to stick those scissors in the eye of whoever made them. Their pain would still be less than mine if I tried to use them.
Adam Savage you are after my tool nerd heart ❤️. The nuances of tool design and functionality is something that grabs my interest such much. I'm glad to know that someone like you exists. Great work as always 👍
Adam, no German made scissors? I can tell you there are amazing manufactures around here that you should try out.
As a Solinger I'm a bit shocked that he doesn't use our world-famous scissors.
A lot of liquid based medications in the military, especially IV meds, often have a secured cap on them. The bottle opener is for those as opposed to alcohol (though we can be damn sure it is used for that as well)
It must be asked: On which channel do you deface currency? 👀
The Bitcoin channel of course.
Great flick, as usual. I'm no longer as clueless about scissors. At 07:30 in the video, you have a red can containing acetone. I'm assuming it fits the bill for dispensing small amounts. I'd be really interested in the brand etc.
I think it’s a Justrite 8 Ounce Plastic Dispensing Can, Brass Dispenser Valves, Red - 14004. I’ve been looking for the same thing