My scissors gave out mid-cut on a full head of highlights

Tuesday morning I was sectioning for a foil service and my trusted shears just started pulling instead of cutting, right at the nape. I froze for a second, then told my client I needed to grab my backup pair from the back. It was a reminder that I hadn't gotten them sharpened in like 8 months, even though I use them 5 days a week. The backup did fine but now I'm wondering if I should just buy a new pair or send mine off for maintenance. Has anyone else had a favorite tool fail on them at the worst possible moment? How do you decide between sharpening or replacing?

2 comments

2 Comments

jenny_hall1mo ago

8 months is a long time when you're using them daily, that's for sure. But here's what I'm curious about: was it a sudden dull thing or did you notice a tiny change in how they felt over the last few weeks? Because if you didn't feel it coming, that might say more about the steel than the sharpening schedule. If they were great until the very end, I'd send them off for a professional sharpening before dropping money on new ones. But if they felt off even a little before that day, maybe they've lost their temper and no edge will fix that.

craig.mila1mo ago

Totally get what you mean about the temper thing. Read somewhere that some steels just hit a wall and no amount of sharpening brings that feel back, it's like the edge goes rubbery instead of sharp. If they were flawless up until that last cut, I'd bet on a quick pro sharpening first too.