Shears for cutting sail cloth. Recommendations, please!

Poignard

Poignard

Well-Known Member
Joined
23 Jul 2005
Messages
55,666
Location
South London
Visit site
I want to buy a pair of 10" upholstery shears for cutting sailcloth.

The prices vary considerably, from the best costing a small fortune down to cheapos from eBay.

Can anyone recommend some of decent quality for less than, say, £20?
 
Having bought my rag trade daughter a pair a while ago, all the scissors I buy are 'vintage' (prob Victorian-ish) from eBay. Decent steel - they take a good edge and enormously satisfying to use. I have 12 1& 14" ones for carbon and glass cloth!
 
A sharp pair of Ikea stainless scissors seems to work on most sailcloth and (synthetic) canvas.
Stanley knife, steel rule and a cutting board is also good option.
I think some furnishing fabrics are actually much harder to cut cleanly without pulling threads around etc.

But anything that's been used for cutting glass cloth, carbon or kevlar is likely to need sharpening first!
 
Sail guy I used to know in UK and the guy here use a sharp edged block ... bit like a razor blade set into a handle ... same as Suit / Clothes makers ...

They lay out the cloth on the cutting floor and then run the cutter along the line etc. Bit like cutting Pizza !

I have a couple of roller cutters for vinyl and other coverings ... far better than shears or scissors. Place a straight edge and run it along ... perfect straight cut ... no frayed or pulled strands.
 
Almost any scissors will do. Larger the better for straighter cuts. However OP needs to become familiar with sharpening the scissors. Look very carefully at the sharpened surface and the angle it makes to the blade. New scissors will show the sharpening surface more clearly. Keep em sharp with a stone . ol'will
 
Prob with sharpening shears is if they wear on the sides that face each other, then not a lot to do. One can only sharpen the angled edge. Personally, I use a sharpened soldering iron, that seals the edge too.
 
I invested in a pair of Merchant and Mills ( Red Extra Sharp 10") for some canvas works - what a difference these made especally whan you have a cut of 25metres to make - never going back to cheep ones. Well woth the investment. ( plus they are two big for the misses to use so I might be able to keep these :-)
 
Rosylyinter said:
Hi all. This is a very interesting topic.
Click to expand...
A million curses on you for resurrecting an old thread but FWIW, my upholstery scissors are Mundial Serra Sharp .
I reckon they are about £40 or £50 to buy now

No one else is allowed to touch them. or even know where I keep them.

Welcome to the forum
 
Jeckells, and no doubt other sailmakers use a computer driven laser cutter. Very precise and it seals the edge. Obviously not appropriate for DIY use, but if the professionals think sealing the edge is a Good Thing, I'd go with the hot knife on a cutting board.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top