A really weird tip for sharpening scissors that worked for me

[spandit]

My fabric scissors are good quality vintage ones but they wouldn't cut properly anymore. I'd tried whetstones, adjusting the screw and honing with my Spyderco Sharpmaker but despite slicing through paper or multiple layers of fabric with ease, cutting a single layer of fine cotton just wasn't happening - it just ended up sandwiched between the blades.

In desperation, I read a tip that said to try cutting though a screwdriver. I was already browsing for new ones so thought I had little to lose. I was astonished to find that they now cut beautifully. It realigns the edges so they slice against each other better, similar to how a steel can straighten a carving knife

 

[Fadcode]

Also works if you try to cut the top off a glass bottle

 

[spandit]

Also works if you try to cut the top off a glass bottle

I'd end up with blunt scissors and a load of broken glass

 

[Robson Valley]

That puts a rolled-over burr on the edge of the blade to compensate for the crappy bevel sharpening. The burrs cut against each other to make you believe you have a sharp edge. Not.
Measure the bevel angle. Paint the bevel with black marker so you can follow what you are doing. Work in a very bright (LED) light so that it is easy to see what you are doing.
Pull strokes, maybe 1200 grit or 1500 grit if you're good at freehand. I am and it took a lot of practice to become proficient. Last, hone with CrOx/AlOx on some sort of a very hard strop to keep the bevel angle from rounding off.

Best if luck, it's only a twiddle of steel. Buggered up, you might as well fool with it to get a true edge.

Right now, I'm learning to dismantle the heads on electric razors and freehand sharpen the cutters. My poor old face will be the test of success.

 

[birchwood]

Or get a Wilkinson scissor tuner.

 

[Toddy]

Fiskars sell a wee gadget that I've been using to sharpen my sewing scissors (from emboidery to hairdressing to cutting out) for over thirty years.

I'm told that folding up tinfoil and cutting that works too though.

I don't know about the tinfoil, but I do know about the Fiskars gadget. It has a round 'stone' bar in it and one simply cuts through the slots over it.

 

[oldtimer]

Is there a similar technique or gadget that works on garden shears?

 

[Toddy]

Yes, both Fiskars and Wilkinson Sword make them for garden tools.

 

[Stew]

I'd end up with blunt scissors and a load of broken glass

Cut down into the rim, as if you’re trying to slice it in half vertically. Works with drinks glasses too.

 

[John Fenna]

A scissor tuner as Toddy describes came with my Dressmaking shears - it works!

 

[Buckshot]

I just cut some emery paper up which brings the edge up well

 

[Silverclaws2]

I second Robson Valley's assertion and method of sharpening as it is much the same as what I do, though I use a fine grit stone, no idea what grit, but it's fine and it does the job. Doesn't take much, but might take a lot more after burring an edge onto the blades.

 

[spandit]

Well I bought some scissor tuners but they're too small for my larger fabric shears. Spent ages trying to get them to cut all the way along the blade but despite taking them apart and flattening them on a whetstone, plus using marker pen and a diamond file, only the first half would cut. Tried the screwdriver trick again, cut many ribbons of sandpaper but to no avail. Eventually gave them a tiny twist in a vice and they now cut all the way to the tip.

 

[Buckshot]

Result then. good news