Can pinking shears be sharpened?
 

Can pinking shears be sharpened?

Or is it easier to toss them and replace them?

They can, but you need to find someone with experience with them.
Sue

I'm pretty sure you can, the trick is finding someone to do it! We used to drop off shears at the sewing store (could possibly have been a singer store years ago) and a guy picked them up there, sharpened them, and dropped them back off. I still have my mom's old ones (Weiss?) and a pair of Fiskars. Never needed to sharpen either, although I'm sure mom's have been sharpened before (>30 years ago!). Good luck.

Just be carefull who you use, as they can as easily ruin them and sharpen them....especially pinking with all those angles.....prefer my pinkling roller blade, can by a replacement at more than half the cost of sharpening a pair of scissors......

Yes, they can be sharpened. My pinking shears are 45 years old! I've taken really good care of them and have had them sharpened only a couple of times, but it can be done.

You can also try cutting thru a few layers of alumium foil. It helps sometimes until you can find someone to sharpen them professionaly.

Thank you for asking this question bearisgray. I just received my MILs pinking shears as she has moved into assisted living facility and I was wondering the same thing.

Some of the fabric shops have one day a month, when someone comes in and sharpens scissors, knives, etc. Our Hancocks store does that here in Wisconsin.

pinking shears can be sharpened as others have said but the hunt will be to find a 'professional' to do the task. during my clothes sewing days i kept a piece of fine grit sandpaper to cut through. i have the heavy pair of pinkers so they sit in a container and i use the pinking rotary blades now. much easier and lighter to use. good luck in your quest.

gagasmith i was just in the secret pal swap with a partner from finger lakes ny. what a coincidence to see this location name again. maybe finger lakes is a large city i don't know. peaceandjoy sent me two postcards for your respective city.

Check your local yellow pages for guys that sharpen knives. Or Google tool sharpening to get local results. The guy here does all kinds of scissors (fabric, hair, paper, metal, pet, etc) with all kinds of blades. His rate for pinking shears is $6.50...way cheaper than a new pair.

I inherited my Weiss pinking shears from my aunt while was born in 1904. We can still drop off shears for sharpening here, but they have only been sharpened once by me--when I got them in 1975.

pinking shears are EXPENSIVE and will last generations (i still have my grandmother's and she has been gone for almost 20 years) they are made to last. they can be sharpened by a professional scissor sharpener- and will hold a good edge for a long time- well worth what it takes. i could not imagine even considering just (tossing them). since a good pair cost's $50+ if you can find them on sale. i will probably pass mine on to one of my granddaughter's some day

Thank you all for your responses.

Bear,
If your pinkers are from Gingher, they can be mailed to the place in NC to be sharpened by Gingher themselves for a nominal fee. I've done this for years with my Gingher shears. http://www.gingher.com/pages/repair-and-maintenance/4/

Jan in VA

There is a guy here in the Denver area that sharpens scissors and pinking shears
$5-$8 per pair.

I NEED to gather up all of mine to take to him sharpen. Plus he has over 24 yrs
experience in machine repairs also need to get an old machine in for repair.

Last time I took scissors in to get sharpened - they were mucked up.

Also - can nail scissors be sharpened? Dovo and Solingen ones are expensive to buy new?

I have a set of Weiss that were too dull to cut fabric. Some women were making things for a party and wanted pinking shears so I let them use mine to cut the paper. When I got them back they worked real fine for cutting fabric. Go figure, but I still use them to cut fabric occasionally.

They do sharpen nail scissors here, yes. And even those hair thinning scissors, too.

Pinking shears can be sharpened. The backs of the blades should be ground at 0°-5° (Or even slightly minus). Standard scissors and knife sharpener devices shouldn't be used. The pivot can be adjusted with a screw driver, some light sewing machine or clipper oil, possible extra-fine sandpaper and some LocTite. Rust in the valleys of the blade needs to be dissolved or gently removed.

Jan, thanks for this valuable info