Adam Savage's Guide to Workshop Scissors

One of the most important tools in any workshop are a good pair of scissors, but it's also a category of tool where you'll find many different types, styles, and variations to suit different making needs. Adam gives an overview of his favorite scissors he has in his workshop collection, from essential all-purpose scissors to specialty cutters for specific materials and cut patterns. And keep in mind Adam's most important rule for scissors when it comes to maintenance and proper use!

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Shot and edited by Norman Chan

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#AdamSavage #FavoriteTools #BestScissors

[RetroMonkey]

The bottle opener on the bandage scissors is to open certain medicine vials that have a metal top. This was was much more common prior to plastics being used like most modern vials do today, but there are still a few. Some lidocaine vials for 1 that comes to mind. When you need something from a vial in the field you need it immediately so those scissors were extremely handy, and still are in certain cases!

[Joe___R]

The military know how to get their soldiers to keep emergency scissors on them & easily accessible & that was to put a bottle opener on it.

[woodworkerroyer]

"Scissors is a rabbit hole."

No, Adam. EVERYTHING you own, is a rabbit hole!

[mainematt]

I just watched an 18 minute scissor video...Adam can make literally anything enthralling!

[warrantyvoid]

"Warning!
These scissors are for cutting fabric only.
If you use them to cut anything else, I will cut you.
But not with these scissors."

[Joe___R]

The one thing you should have added is that for scissors to work correctly the blades need to be slightly curved so they only touch each other at one point & as the scissors are closed that point moves from the heel to the tip. If a pair of scissors is not cutting well the first thing to check is the alignment of the blades, well made scissors are essentially self sharpening as long as the blades stay aligned.

[Sparky]

"Once you've successfully saved a life, it's Miller Time" -Adam Savage

[Bralvis]

Hi Adam! You expressed curiosity in the yellow handled 90° angle scissors’ true purpose. It’s inventor apparently won some game-show way back in the day (I learned this after I bought them). “The right sheers” is the name. It’s true purpose is all purpose. No joke. The demo I saw had him cutting chicken wire without getting poked. At the time, that greatly appealed to me when I spent my summers on a farm.

[brucehorn]

For cutting sticky-backed Velcro, labels or tape I have several pairs of Teflon coated scissors at work so the adhesive doesn't stick to them. Not only does it prevent the problem you mention of having adhesive left behind on the scissors, it also keeps tape from wrapping around the scissors and getting stuck on them.

If I have to do precision cutting of adhesive backed material, I will use a rolling cutter, self-healing mat and straightedge then peel the material off the mat with an Xacto knife.

[spence]

As a left-hander, the feature I appreciate in the Milwaukee scissors is the handles are not angled specifically for right-handed people

[jellevandermaden]

One of my favorite (and most used) tools, I've had 2 pairs of Fiskars (medium and large, original orange handled) for over 20 years now. What a great investment that was! I cut anything with them (within reason) certainly not afraid to cut paper with them. Yes, they will dull, but with the Fiskars sharpener you can sharpen them in a matter of seconds. That's probably what I like best about them. Highly recommended.

[johnm]

Adam, those metal cutting snips are more accurately called aviation snips. Aviation snips have a compound action which gives them a mechanical advantage over standard tin snips. This is due to the double pivot and extra linkage in their design

[zachsbanks]

Gingher is where it’s at for fabric scissors. My mom has had her pair for as long as I can remember; I got a pair on sale a couple of years ago and they’re my favourite. So smooth and sharp.

[buzzmooney]

For folks who don't know snips: With tin snips, one of the quirky things to know, is that the handles are color-coded: Yellow handles are known in the Sheet Metal trade as "straights", and they cut without right or left bias. Red handles are usually labeled "left cut" because they tend to cut curves to the left, more easily than curves to the right. But in the Trade, they're called "Rights", because they work well with the right hand.
Green-handled snips, labeled "right cut" are known as "lefts", because they work well with the LEFT hand. In fact, they're one of the few cutting tools that can easily be found, that is SPECIFICALLY a left-handed cutter! Like left-handed scissors, they're and exact mirror-image of the Rights. So if you're left-handed, you'll probably find that green-handled snips work best, for you.
And yes, people who install ductwork DO use both: sometimes simultaneously, to cut a section out of flue pipe, or that sort of thing. When I was installing duct, I had eight pairs of snips: A big pair of bench snips, called "Andys", a pair of short-nosed rights, called "Bulldogs", for cutting through seams, etc., and regular, offset, and 90° snips in both right and left. The one thing I DIDN'T have, was yellow-handled straights, because I could do everything I needed to, with all the others. If I could only have ONE pair, it would be a basic set of Rights.

[BA-wtgl]

I'm so glad you became active on youtube man. Your tool collection is full of interesting stuff and has led me to buy some things I either forgot existed or never knew existed.

[alexgoldman]

I work in telecom, and we use electrician’s scissors for everything. I love my Klein electrician scissors. They cut through paper, heavy plastic, cardboard, wires, 14 AWG cable, and easily through the 9-12 ply wax covered lace cord without fail every day. They also have a wire stripper on them to quickly strip wires, and since they’re Klein, once they’re too dull they’re lifetime guaranteed.

[michielvandenboogaard]

The dual-purpose militairy scissors are probably for a Plaster cast master. The material you use to make a casting, linnen on a roll covered in dry plaster, is kept dry in metal storage-containers with a 'can of paint'-style lid. The back-end of the scissors would be very useful for opening those cans, the soft-tip for cutting close to the skin.

[ziaride]

I learned very early, Nothing will get you a beating faster than using Grandma's sewing scissors on paper.

[Krankitopia]

I would absolutely love to see Adam do a ship in a bottle. I love scrimshaw and nautical ephemera. Seeing his method worked be amazing.

[johnclerefilms]

Literally learned something new in the first five minutes. The paper thing blew my mind and explains so much about why all my scissors are dull. You rock, Adam.