I went to just pick up a pair of Wiss Professional Buttonhole cutters....
 

and it turn out that the guy is a local "picker" and has a small antique shop... I mentioned that I collect Victorian era tools and tailoring stuff as well as old blacksmith stuff, he said "why don't we go on around to the back and check in my old storage shed".. Well all right then....

We dug through a lot of stuff, found a early meat grinder for Heather and he has these two old pair of big scissors...

So, I asked how much for the scissors, he said Since I drove all this way, they were rusted "solid", and i was gonna use them, I could have them for free. $10 for the meat grinder...

LOL Deal.

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so, with some attention to detail the first (newer pair) turn out to be in pretty good shape.

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And they turned out to be a pair of WISS tailoring shears
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the second set are older and rougher, but clean up ok..
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They are made by a company I am not familiar with (yet)
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and the Wiss Buttonhole cutter is awesome. You can see how almost identical it is to the older R. Heinisch pair. (Wiss was trained in the Heinisch factory)

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But it cleans up REALLY nice...
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and the makers mark
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Amazing that you got them cleaned up so well.. and I'd never heard of buttonhole cutters! Tanks for posting this!

You did a fine job of restoring them...I too have never heard of a buttonhole cutter before. Thank you for the potted history lesson, very interesting.

Oh those are pretty! I love Wiss Scissors, I have a 40's pair that i love.

What did you do to restore the scissors??? I have some of those big scissors and I would love to see them in better shape. Mine were pretty rusted - so far I soaked them in oil and wiped them off. They hang in my shop window.

Steve, you are amazing! You give new life to things that look like they should be trashed. Awesome!

Do we have any printers here? Someone needs to make Steve some business cards:

Brass wire brush, brasso, and goggles...

OK, HERE is a History lesson.
Here is a shot I took before showing the 4 major types of buttonhole cutters.

(L-R Chisel, Scissor, Adjustable Punch, Professional Adjustable punch)

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Nice on the Wiss! And you are the go to guy for cleaning up old stuff for sure!

Great pieces! :)

I collect buttonhole cutters and the chisels. Where do you find yours?

Those cleaned up nice!

combination of Craigslist and local fleamarket

Do any of you know how to sharpen scissors or know where one could take their scissors to be sharpened? I have a few pair that belonged to my mom and she always kept them sharp, but I don't know where people go today to have them done right.

My local sewing shop has someone who'll sharpen them, and all other sewing shops I've been to have a guy come by every week or two. There are scissor sharpening services listed in the yellow pages. I Googled a couple of months ago and got some guy local in Melbourne who works from home. As yet another possibility, you could ask any shop that sells kitchen knives. They always have a sharpening service for their knives. I would only use the sewing shop guys to sharpen pinking shears though.

As always, you've turned a sow's ear into a silk purse.... great job, Steve.

Wow...those cleaned up really nice! Good job! Someone was asking what those really big, long scissors are called: "Tailor's Shears." They were used to cut long pant legs and such, before there were overhead electric cutters.

~ Cindy

Not "were used" but "are used" lol

I have a shop locally that I go to called Sharpening Mechanics (in San Jose) I have taken various edged items there for about 30 years never had a problem and they sharpen onsite with their own staff...

I’m not being argumentative, but actually, I think that most of us call any big ol’ honkin’ shears, “Tailor Shears”, but there were only a few styles that were actually labeled as such by Wiss. All types of industries used large shears, and according to a 1975 Wiss catalog that I have, Steve’s scissors were probably called something else, and appear to be of the 20 or 22 series of “Bent Trimmers”, either regular or knife edge.

I had a pair given to me (that I also thought were Tailor Shears), that are actually #4-I.S. “Upholstery, Carpet, Canvas and Sailmaker’s Shears”, 12 inches in length, with a 6 1/8 inch cut, and weigh 1 3/8 pounds. If Steve can read the number on his (on the back side that I can’t see), I’ll see if I can find their official name in my catalog and give him the specs. Here’s a photo of Tailor’s Shears, and a photo of my shears.

CD in Oklahoma

I'll play the small pair are not all that small:
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Can you find any numbers on them Miriam?

CD in Oklahoma

Here’s what I use to put a new edge on mine.....


CD in Oklahoma

The Wiss Shears are stamped "15"

I don't see a Model 15 in my catalog. Is that the length?

CD in Okahoma

number stamped on the Wiss 1226
no markings on the medium side pair but maye I need to get more rust off. Those big scissors were totally rusted up. I soaked them in oil and wiped it off.

Mine were found in the hidden door of a Touch & Sew cabinet...

According to my 1975 Wiss catalog, the 1226 shears are “Knife Edge” “Bent Trimmers” that are called “Carpet, Upholstery and Fabric Shears”. They’re “Hot Drop-Forged. Polished Blades. Patented Set-Easy Pivot. Royal Blue Handles. One blade is ground to a knife-edge for faster, cleaner, easier cutting of today’s synthetic fabrics.” They are 12 inches long, with a 6 1/8 inch length of cut, and weigh about 1 1/4 pounds.


See any Royal Blue Paint left on them?


CD in Oklahoma

Well, hush my mouth. Since I come from a family of tailors, we wouldn't have dreamed of calling them anything else.

"Hon, have you seen my carpet shears?" Nope, not in our vocabulary...hee, hee. :) Thanks for the info though.

~ Cindy

barely have black paint - they do cut even thought they were rusted