Facts about Scissors

Spring scissors continued to be used in Europe until the sixteenth century, and the idea is still used in almost all modern scissors.

Scissors cut material by applying a local shear stress at the cutting location which exceeds the material's shear strength.

Fithian and Boucher's identification of the banjo with racial and class stereotypes has persisted subtly or overtly throughout the banjo's history.

Kitchen scissors, also known as kitchen shears, are similar to common scissors.

Conversely, if right-handed scissors are held in the left hand, the natural tendency of the left hand would be to force the cutting blades laterally apart.

Pivoted scissors were not manufactured in large numbers until 1761, when Robert Hinchliffe produced the first pair of modern-day scissors made of hardened and polished cast steel.

During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, spring scissors were made by heating a bar of iron or steel, then flattening and shaping its ends into blades on an anvil.

Most scissors are best suited to use with the right hand, but left-handed scissors are designed for use by the left.

An alternative adaption is to use the scissors upside down, with the blade tips pointing toward the body, allowing the dominant hand to better manipulate the cutting action.

Patents have been awarded for true ambidextrous scissors.

A pair of scissors consists of two pivoted blades.

Sewing scissors often have one sharp point and one blunt point for intricate cutting of fabric, and nail scissors have curved blades for cutting fingernails and toenails.

Children's scissors, used only on paper, have dull blades and rounded points (blunt tip) to ensure safety.

Scissors and shears are available in a wide variety of forms depending on their intended applications.

The earliest known scissors appeared in the Middle East about 3000 or 4000 years ago.

Children's scissors are even less sharp, and the blades are often protected with plastic.

Pivoted scissors of bronze or iron, in which the blades were connected at a point between the tips and handles, were used in ancient Rome, China, Japan, and Korea.

Scissors dating back to the fourteenth century B.C.E.

Left-handed scissors have handles which are comfortable to hold in the left hand.

In 1830, a new owner started the first cutlery works in Finland, making, among other items, scissors with the trade mark Fiskars.

Using scissors designed for the wrong hand is difficult for most people, even for left-handers who have become accustomed to using the more readily available right-handed scissors.

High quality kitchen scissors can easily cut through the breastbone of a chicken.

Like scissors, shears combine slightly offset jaws to cut material through physical shear, and combine this with levers to apply a considerable shear force.

Most types of scissors are not particularly sharp; it is primarily the shearing between the two blades which cuts.

Mechanically, scissors are a first-class, double-lever with the pivot acting as the fulcrum.

Shears are usually intended for cutting much heavier material, such as leather, than scissors do.

Cross-bladed scissors were invented by the Romans around C.E.

Scissors used to cut hair or fabric must be much sharper.

Specialized scissors, like bolt cutters, exploit leverage by having long handles requiring operation by two strong arms, but placing the material to be cut close to the fulcrum.

During the nineteenth century, scissors were hand-forged with elaborately decorated handles.

Kitchen scissors have the fulcrum located farther from the handles to provide more leverage and thus more cutting power.