13" Wiss Shears, Long Brass Bolt

[Reuling]

Recently purchased a pair of Wiss shears. They are 13", bent trimmer handles, straight edges, and fitted with an 'Extra Long Brass Bolt'. They seem to fall somewhere between 1911 and 1922. The shears and bolt are all stamped with the number "26". The only thing I have done to them from their purchased condition is polish the bolt, soak the shears in Evapo-Rust for 24 hours, and lightly remove the remaining japanning on the handles.

At first glance, I thought they were "Tailors' Shears, Long Brass Bolt", number 3 (13 inch), found on page 14 of the Wiss 1911 and 1912 catalogs. After noticing the shears have straight edges, it seems they more closely resemble the "Glove Shears", number 3W (13 inch), found in the 1917, 1919, and 1922 catalogs— except without the raised blade.

Any clarification as to the function of these particular shears is helpful— the designated fabrics, cuts, techniques, etc that they are intended for.

[Schneiderfrei]

They're in beautiful condition. Great find.

[hutch--]

They are a nice clean looking pair, probably the only negative is the concave lower blade profile that says they have been sharpened many times. As usual the final test is if they cut well and a slim lower blade often helps to cut slippery fabrics. The hinge is nicely done and the result looks very professional.

[Reuling]

Thanks for the replies.

Hutch, is there a process to plane the straight edge, and then re-angle? Would it be beneficial before the light sharpening process? The lower blade is .8mm depth in concavity, and the upper is less than .5mm

[hutch--]

I think its too late for that, you cannot put back what has been taken off after many resharpenings. Just keep them sharp and make sure they cut OK, if they work OK its the difference between 50 years of work with this set as against 100 years with a set that has not been sharpened too many time. It would not hurt to keep your eye out for another set that have better blades in them.

I had a quick look on eBay and there are a couple of nice pairs of Heinisch shears but you would need to know how to restore them.