How2Day: Types of Concave-Scissor Sharpeners

Concave scissors, used in hairdressing, are designed to help create varied and detailed hair styles and, because of their unusual shape, they require a distinct approach to sharpening. There are a variety of specific, specially designed sharpening tools available to keep concave scissors at their best. Finding the right concave-scissor sharpener can save a great deal of time and money in the long term.

A global, portable sharpener with a ten-year guarantee, useful for all types of small blade including concave hairdressing scissors. The Pro operates safely and efficiently, according to Anysharp. The sharpener has a patented PowerGrip mechanism on the base, allowing the user to stick it firmly to any work surface for safe sharpening. The PowerGrip design also means it can be used with one hand, since the body of the device is securely fastened to the table or desk. For hairdressing, it could even be attached to a vertical surface, such as a nearby wall, to further enhance the ease of operation. Anysharp also explains that it has dimensions of 60 millimeters diameter and is 60 millimeters in height.

These are highly portable, multi-purpose tools that sharpen large, household scissors and smaller, precise scissors used in hairdressing, according to DMT, who manufacture them. There are a few sub-options. The double-sided Diafold (a courser, interrupted design) has a safety cover that pulls back to reveal the sharpening surfaces. It is a hand-held sharpener that operates manually rather than electrically and has a fine and course dual-purpose exterior, depending on the scissors you wish to sharpen and the amount of sharpening required for a particular blade (very blunt blades will work best if sharpened with the course surface).

Made from micronized, mono-crystalline diamond embedded in nickel, this is a smaller, manual sharpener manufactured to accurately and precisely sharpen smaller blades, so it is ideal for use with hairdressing scissors, as reported by DMT, who are also the creator of this unique tool. Fine (uninterrupted) and course surfaces are bought separately and are distinguished by a blue and a red handle.

Designed to be used as a finishing tool, ceramic sharpeners are much finer and more precise than most courser blade sharpeners, as explained by DMT. They are also said to be unbreakable because of their structure and composition, which uses ceramic alone, or a ceramic/diamond blend. Patented CeraFuse technology transforms the aluminum surface into an extremely hard, dense aluminum oxide that works like a true ceramic, making the products they are used in unbreakable, wear resistant, light and non-porous--all excellent properties to have in the hairdressing field.

Inexperienced sharpening can ruin a concave scissor blade because of the precise angles required to perform the sharpening action correctly, so there is the option of getting a professional sharpening company to either rectify mistakes already made or complete a full sharpening program using their own tools. Elite Edges, for example, offer a two-day turnaround. They remove blade imperfections with honing stones or Japanese wet stones, round off the edges carefully and sharpen the blades using factory-set equipment to create mirror-quality surfaces. Polishing and ultra-sonic cleaning finish the scissors to an extremely high standard.

Xzacta Shears report that they use a specially designed machine sharpener to sharpen concave or bevelled scissor blades of any angle or blade radius. They also warn against using a grinder or grinding wheel on small, concave hairdressing scissors. The flat or water hone sharpener is more accurate and will properly restore the blade rather than create a purely surface-deep shine. It works a little like a miniature pottery wheel.

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