The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1889-10-18
SCISSORS AND SHEARS.
Where Most of Them Come r-ov, -,


Where Most of Them Come From and
How They Are Made.
Scissors and shears are not unintar.
estlng articles of commerce. They are
complex and diverse In shape, and in
methods of being manufactured. The
point OF distinction between them is in
the handles. The scissor handle has a
ring each for thumb and fore or middle
niger. Shears have also thumb ring,
out the other opening is so much elon-
gated as to admit two fingers. Here
docs the manipulation get his purchase
for the heavy work of the shears
Shear blades are likewise longer, heay-
Ter and more carefully riveted to-
gether.
oald man of this town, dealing ex-
tenslvely in them: Eat the present
3 time the bulk of the scissors need in
tnls country comes from Germanv. In
former days it was England that sup
plled this market, but now, with the
exception OF those of the very finest
quality and finish. it is Germany
NOW, good scissors ought to be hand
forged and tempered as well as crocus-
polished. What is thatp Well, crocus
polish is very fine powder of a deep
yellow, principally good for giving
that gloss you will see on new scissors.
l have said that Germany sends us
scissors except of the very highest
Quality. Now, a great mum Der of these
come from France. Frances surgical
scissors. for example. are among the
very best made in the world, and in
very line manicure scissors the French
excel. Perhaps, however, this is be-
cause they conceived the idea, or more
properly speaking, introduced that art
or custom to us. AS to manufacturing.
In fine scissors about eighty per cent.
OF the cost is in the labor while with
the lower grades it is just the reverse.
In the cheaper scissors, therefore, very
little labor is used"
But even if the foreigners do send to
this country such quantities of scissors
and shears, variety is manufactured
here which. perhaps, they can not. but
they do not produce-tha is, ''laid"
scissors and shears. Those of abroad,
and many made here, for that matter.
are of steel throughout. The ..laid'
scissors are combination of malleable
iron and steel. Scissors of steel, the
best. as has been said, being of hard
forging, are made from bar of flat
steel, the END for the bow Hattened
and punched with small round hole.
which is gradually opened upon the
anvil. The iron for the ''laid" scissors
is cast in the regular form of handle
and blade. Bar steel is hammered into
sheets, and the iron blade OVERLAND or
faced" with it. The process is un-
known, but it is said TO be by means of
heat and extreme pressure. Not very
much more than the cutting surface of
the blade, or the blade proper, is
faced" The joining of the two metals
is so nice that where the steel leaves
off and the iron begins is hardly dis
cernible. 1t can only be seen by hold
ing the blade to the light. There the
difference in the tinges of the metals
will show the seam or point of junct-
ure.
But the composite blades, made in
this country for over half a century,
have distinct advantage over the for
eign blade of steel. They can be
tempered to the greatest possible de-
gree, for the malleable iron of the
blade forms back to the steel facing.
Should blades of steel throughout be
tempered to the point of the composite
blade, in the fitting together for the
rfFeting at least one-third of them
would snap And this high degree of
temper means nothing more or less
than superior exec ence and fneness
of edge. Nothing that is made in
Europe will compare with them" said
the aforementioned dealer, patriotic,
but also selling imported goods. The
''laid'' scissors, to speak paradoxical-
ly, are principally shears. For the
most part they are those used by
tailors, paper-hangers. bankers and
BARRIERS, in size from six inches up.
Surgical scissors form an important
branch of the trade, but they are made
independently, rather bysurgical ,instru-
ment makers than the ordinary scissor
manufacturer. Their cardinal and s.
sential point is in the great length of
the shank. Thereby the operator gets
a greater leverage. Their especially
careful workmanship considerably
brings up their cost, and it is no un-
usual thing to find pair of small
size, but oddly-shaped, worth any
where from S. to $40. They are, fur
thermore, always of steel. 1t is inter-
esting to note that nothing in the way
of invention or improvement in this
line is of any direct benefit to the de-
wiser. He can not get patent for it,
and it must 60 for the good of the en-
tire surgical profession. Yet new
devices continually come forth, and
the inventor at least has the satisfac-
ton of hearing the invention called by
his name.-N Y Mail and Express.
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