4 ms·

If you want a really good one, Forged steel scissors, the kind that tailors use for their whole life; look no further than: ~ $20 (I bought them back in 2000's

If you want a really good one, Forged steel scissors, the kind that tailors use for their whole life; look no further than: ~ $20 (I bought them back in 2000's when they were $50) Gingher http://gingher.com/ http://gingher.com/ ~$150 William Whiteley http://www.whiteley.co.uk/ http://www.whiteley.co.uk/

wahern 8y ago
I bought Gingher 5" craft scissors in 2013 to keep at the office and liked them so much I bought another pair in 2015 for the house. The quality seems top-notch. I use them to cut everything--sometimes just because I can--and they're still as sharp and perfectly aligned as the first day.[1] Like any geek I had spent an absurd amount of time researching scissors. Even by 2013 Fiskars had already seemed to be moving manufacturing off-shore to China. Not that there aren't top-notch products coming out of China, but as a consumer it's a gamble. Fiskars has a quite large product line so maybe they still make some stuff in Europe or the U.S., but that didn't seem to be the case for the stuff I had found on Amazon. [1] That's an exaggeration, of course. (The "everything" part; they really are still as sharp and aligned.) I try to use our crappy kitchen sheers for anything that might require extensive cleaning (e.g. cutting meat packaging) because I suspect the Gingher are high carbon steel and the edges would likely rust if I kept washing them. (I use alcohol wipes when necessary, like to remove packaging adhesive.) And I use a pair of aviation snips for really tough jobs, partly because of the better lever action and partly to postpone the day I need to actually sharpen the Ginghers. The Ginghers could probably take much more abuse then I give them, but I can't say for sure.
- wahern 8y ago
  Huh. It seems Gingher has been a subsidiary of Fiskars since 2005. So Fiskars does indeed still make great scissors! Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapid=20609487 https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.a...
- rurban 8y ago
  I don't really like all this China bashing. Lots of companies are moving their production to China not because it is cheaper to produce there, but because the quality is much better. Eg. just 2 weeks ago a favorite kanoe designer of mine announced to move his production from the US to China. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10157428991509128&id=510619127 https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1015742899150912...
  - oldcynic 8y ago
    China produces some excellent quality, and a vast amount of awful quality as for the last couple of decades that has been their selling point. It's not so long ago that it was Japan that produced mostly crap and made lots of inferior copies of western goods. They moved past it, and now are often superior, as will China. I see it not as China bashing more brand bashing. There's an expectation of quality from some of the old names that built reputation making a particular product. In the main, quality manufacturers that have moved production elsewhere have lost a lot of that quality - wherever they moved it to. Just the same happens when brands become just a word in someone's brand portfolio after they've been bought up a time or two. e.g. Fiskars are huge and spent the 2000's buying up dozens of famous international luxury brands, closing their factories, and selling much inferior, made elsewhere, products on those brand names.
    - fermienrico 8y ago
      I don’t agree with the comparisons with Japan in the 80’s. It seems like every time someone bring ups China’s manufacturing, they have to somehow relate to Japan’s past. For one, Japan isn’t an authoritarian rule and second, we are about 4 decades into the future. There was no e-commerce, no internet, na completely different world. Commerce wasn’t the same as it is today. Furthermore, Chinese and Japanese values are on opposite side of the spectrum.
      - oldcynic 8y ago
        ...and? Before Japan it was Hong Kong and South Korea making the crap, before that someone else. South Korea was authoritarian and autocratic, whilst its economy grew at breakneck pace starting in the 60s, and remained so until the late 90s. Japan had democracy thrust upon it rather earlier for well known reasons. They all seem to take a markedly similar approach to development catch-up, namely a heavy emphasis on education and steadily moving from cheap and inferior copies to local innovation and quality. China is well along that route. Authoritarianism doesn't rule out development, neither does democracy.

wahern 8y ago

I bought Gingher 5" craft scissors in 2013 to keep at the office and liked them so much I bought another pair in 2015 for the house. The quality seems top-notch. I use them to cut everything--sometimes just because I can--and they're still as sharp and perfectly aligned as the first day.[1] Like any geek I had spent an absurd amount of time researching scissors. Even by 2013 Fiskars had already seemed to be moving manufacturing off-shore to China. Not that there aren't top-notch products coming out of China, but as a consumer it's a gamble. Fiskars has a quite large product line so maybe they still make some stuff in Europe or the U.S., but that didn't seem to be the case for the stuff I had found on Amazon. [1] That's an exaggeration, of course. (The "everything" part; they really are still as sharp and aligned.) I try to use our crappy kitchen sheers for anything that might require extensive cleaning (e.g. cutting meat packaging) because I suspect the Gingher are high carbon steel and the edges would likely rust if I kept washing them. (I use alcohol wipes when necessary, like to remove packaging adhesive.) And I use a pair of aviation snips for really tough jobs, partly because of the better lever action and partly to postpone the day I need to actually sharpen the Ginghers. The Ginghers could probably take much more abuse then I give them, but I can't say for sure.

wahern 8y ago
Huh. It seems Gingher has been a subsidiary of Fiskars since 2005. So Fiskars does indeed still make great scissors! Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapid=20609487 https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.a...
rurban 8y ago
I don't really like all this China bashing. Lots of companies are moving their production to China not because it is cheaper to produce there, but because the quality is much better. Eg. just 2 weeks ago a favorite kanoe designer of mine announced to move his production from the US to China. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10157428991509128&id=510619127 https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1015742899150912...
- oldcynic 8y ago
  China produces some excellent quality, and a vast amount of awful quality as for the last couple of decades that has been their selling point. It's not so long ago that it was Japan that produced mostly crap and made lots of inferior copies of western goods. They moved past it, and now are often superior, as will China. I see it not as China bashing more brand bashing. There's an expectation of quality from some of the old names that built reputation making a particular product. In the main, quality manufacturers that have moved production elsewhere have lost a lot of that quality - wherever they moved it to. Just the same happens when brands become just a word in someone's brand portfolio after they've been bought up a time or two. e.g. Fiskars are huge and spent the 2000's buying up dozens of famous international luxury brands, closing their factories, and selling much inferior, made elsewhere, products on those brand names.
  - fermienrico 8y ago
    I don’t agree with the comparisons with Japan in the 80’s. It seems like every time someone bring ups China’s manufacturing, they have to somehow relate to Japan’s past. For one, Japan isn’t an authoritarian rule and second, we are about 4 decades into the future. There was no e-commerce, no internet, na completely different world. Commerce wasn’t the same as it is today. Furthermore, Chinese and Japanese values are on opposite side of the spectrum.
    - oldcynic 8y ago
      ...and? Before Japan it was Hong Kong and South Korea making the crap, before that someone else. South Korea was authoritarian and autocratic, whilst its economy grew at breakneck pace starting in the 60s, and remained so until the late 90s. Japan had democracy thrust upon it rather earlier for well known reasons. They all seem to take a markedly similar approach to development catch-up, namely a heavy emphasis on education and steadily moving from cheap and inferior copies to local innovation and quality. China is well along that route. Authoritarianism doesn't rule out development, neither does democracy.