An old pair of Wiss (#3?) shears...

[Dunc]

One for Hutch I guess...

A friend has just gifted me an old pair of Wiss shears which belonged to his grandmother... They're approximately 12" in total length, with the brass simplex shear bolt, and I presume they're #3 because that's what's stamped on the inside of the top blade next to the handle. They're moderately pitted and a bit rusty, and from the wear on the handles they have obviously been well-used, but they still cut surprisingly well. So now it's clearly my duty to attempt to return them to good working order! Is there anything I need to be aware of, beyond the points mentioned in the pinned posts in this forum?

I guess the first step is simply (!) to get the bolt undone and give them a decent clean up to remove any gunk and surface rust, so that I can then assess whether then need reground...

(I was going to add a couple of photos, but the option seems to have disappeared... It was there on the first draft of this post!)

[Dunc]

OK, now I can add images apparently...

[hutch--]

Dunc,

They look in reasonable nick, they have been sharpened many times but would still be useful for fine work. A good clean of the hinge would do them some good, if you can access some grease, apply that to the two faces and when you put the shear bold back in be careful not to over tighten it.

Just don't let anyone butcher them by grinding too much off the blades.

[Dunc]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I thought. I'll just resharpen them by hand, less chance of anything going too badly wrong that way.