The following angles are used on most scissors today and produce the greatest customer satisfaction. Sharpening old scissors with the new angles produces the desired cutting ability. Scissors that have been previously resharpened were often done at the wrong angle.
0° Children’s safety scissors
0° Pinking shears (Some pinking shears will been ground negative)
5° Cast iron paper shears and many surgical shears (On surgical it is best to measure angle and match).
20° Bandage shears (Low priced imports are often soft steel and must be sharpened at flat angles to hold an edge).
25° Embroidery, cuticle, nail, grass, and hedge trimmers, most blades with cutting lengths of 1 ½” or less.
30° For sharper edges on short scissors such as embroidery.
35° Most fabric shears 7” or longer, tailor, and industrial shears.
40° Sharper edge for heavier cutting.
50° Knife edge, normally one blade 50° and the other blade 20°
45° Canvas & heavy leather, usually 10” to 14”; 50° & 20° for knife edge shears.
15°-25° Fiberglass, quartz, any type shear (Note: glass is harder than steel and quickly breaks edges)
35° Kevlar™ (aramid), any type, polish 1 blade (Note: shears require heavier set and often corrugation on blade to stop slide. This is difficult material to cut. Kevlar ™ is a registered trademark of Dupont. Contact factory for more details.)
10°-15° Tin snips, long length, heavy metal.
15°-20° Tin snips, short length, thin metal. 35° Poultry, regular cutting, evisceration, polish both blades.
35° Poultry, regular cutting, evisceration, polish both blades.