How to Sharpen Curved Scissors

For curved scissors, when you clamp the scissors, one blade will curve down and around the wheel and the other blade curves up and away from the wheel.

This makes curved shears a little intimidating to sharpen but with a couple tips, you’ll realize they aren’t much harder than straight blades.

Start off by taking a sharpie and making a mark on the outside edge of the sharpening wheel.

On the blade that curves up and away from the wheel, we want to make sure that it touches the wheel at the same point in the throat as the tip.

Without loosening the clamp make an adjustment laterally to the shear to get the tip to line up with the mark. Keep making adjustments until the throat and tip both touch the mark. This ensures that your angle is consistent all the way down the blade. Once you have the shear lined up correctly, take your sharpie and draw a box around the edge of the upper jaw on the clamp so that you can re-clamp in the exact same position.

As you sharpen, make sure to pull the scissor out away from the machine so that you follow the arc of the blade. You also want to make sure you sharpen on the outside edge to center of the wheel. If you rotate into the inside edge of the wheel, it can cut into the blade.

Now flip to the other blade and line up to your mark again. Once set, draw your box around the clamp. Since the blade is curved down and around the machine, sharpen on the outside edge of the wheel because it will be really easy for the inside edge to cut into the blade. Finish by deburring with the spread to close, pinch to open method.

For honing, clamp the blade back in where you drew your box.

Do a quick scratch test on the honing wheel at the throat and the tip to make sure that the polish covers the entire bevel. If so, continue with the honing process and remember to be careful with the curve of the blade and to stay away from the inside edge of the honing wheel. Once you have the honing burr, remove the scissor and cut the burr off. When clamping the other blade, don’t forget to scratch test at the throat and tip to make sure the polish covers the bevel. Continue honing while staying on the outside edge of the wheel and don’t forget to cut the burr off when finished.

If the polish is not covering the grind lines on your bevel, all you have to do is move your handle up or down in the clamp and continue the scratch test until you see the polish covering the bevel from back to cutting edge. After honing, don’t forget to clean the sharpie off with alcohol.

We also have a video on our YouTube channel where Glen shows how to sharpen a curved pair of scissors. Watch it here!