Have you ever noticed the "new windshield wipers" feel? It's one of the strangest things. You slowly watch your wipers deteriorate year after year. you didn't notice how bad they suck till they get to the breaking point where they are performing their job so poorly that you say to yourself, " I really, gotta do something about these wipers." But then the rain goes away. Eight months and ten more times of saying the same thing pass. You now get around to doing it, and you say to yourself again, " I can't believe I waited this long to do this, and I can't believe the difference." Am I the only one? not likely.

This is kind of how I feel about tying scissors. My big clean up the other day was an attempt to boot myself in the arse to get at the vise. I went back into my past posts and re-read a post from last year. Tidying my gear and materials has always been an effective avenue for me to raise my tying interest. During this sweep, I found numerous pairs of old scissors. Ones I'll never be happy with or use regularly, but not so bad that I'll throw them out. For someone who ties as much as I do, I should probably put more stock in my scissors, their quality and how I care for them.

The first time I realized I wasn't overly fussy about my scissor quality was about a decade ago. Bob Clouser was in Calgary for the fly tying exposition. His luggage was lost by the airline, yet the show had to go on. He was doing a tying demo and required tools and materials for his presentation. I gave him what I had, and Bob proceeded to tie a demo fly, Partly to knock the rust off and partly so he had an example that he could show his students what they were about to tie. He stopped at one point during the fly and said, "these scissors are awful." Although these were the best ones I had, I didn't take offence as he was correct. Anyone who used to a fresh pair would likely say the same. I grabbed him a new pair from shop stock, and he continued about his work. Sidenote, but another thing that stuck out in my mind about that exchange was how proud I was to lend him the finest chartreuse bucktail I've ever possessed and to this day, one of the best I'd ever seen. Bob commented on its quality and I suppose it wasn't his fault that his students butchered it during his demos hahaha.

Anyway, back to the scissors, I opened a fresh pair yesterday. Sooooo nice. Every bit as amazing as new windshield wipers.

Currently, I am using the last of 6 pairs of Tungsten Carbide scissors I purchased from HMH. They've been great tying scissors. Pretty basic, good edge, and good endurance, but they can't perform miracles. If you abuse them, they don't last. These scissors won't withstand a tips down plummet to the tile floor. This is the death of many scissors. You should always try to tie on a carpet or a rug if possible. Some surface that doesn't destroy the tips of inevitably dropped scissors. Other common Causes of death for tying scissors may include:

Cutting wire - use an old worn-out pair, although this requires discipline. It's worth it, don't be lazy.

Fine points for fine work - If you have to trim the fine stem of a #16 dry fly hackle to tidy up the head of your fly, Go ahead and use the delicate tips of your new sharp scissors. Suppose you are chopping the thick, tough rachis (stem) of a marabou feather that you've palmered onto a streamer. Use the heels of the scissor for heavier work. Go further down into your blade before squeezing and making the cut.

Use the right scissors for the job - Similar to the last tip, but if you know you are doing heavy work, use a heavy scissor or an older scissor.

Don't get adhesives on your blades - This means Glue but is not limited to head cement or cutting any tape or sticky items. I can remember coming home once and scolding an old roommate I caught chopping up some buds in a shot glass with one of my best deer hair scissors.

A couple of other great scissors that I have used in the past include:

Dr. Slick "All-purpose" cost-effective and reasonable quality. Good bang for the buck for tiers of any level.

Tiemco Deer dressers. These are a popular choice amongst people who trim a lot of deer hair. They have been around forever, Have nice sharp blades and last reasonably well. A scissor sharpener, expert guy once told me they were the better of the scissors that I had quality-wise, and that they were much easier to sharpen and adjust.

Tying Scissors