How to sharpen secateurs

[Printemps]

Can this be a DIY job or do I need to find a specialist? When I used to live in UK I sent my secateurs to Wilkinson Sword (now Fiskars) in Bridgend for sharpening, but I guess the postage would pay for a new pair now.

How do the grapes sharpen them?

[PAULW]

I have a pair of Felco which you can take apart so the first question is do your Wilkinson's come apart, if so I sharpen the blade on an oilstone an reassemble.

[blossom]

I have a flat sharpener (there are some better than others). You put the blade nearly flat onto it, and rub, on just the inside side, keeping the same angle. It is hard to describe really. You can feel when it is sharper.

[Printemps]

Sharpening Secateurs for Dummies aka ME!

Okay, I think I know what you mean - my dad used to use an oil stone to sharpen his chisels - so today I went and purchased one. I haven't spent a lot of money on it, just in case I don't have the knack and end up wasting the �18.00 they wanted. So for �3.00 I bought what was referred to as a 'honing stone'. Hope this isn't too fine to actually sharpen the blade.

Next, I'd like someone to tell me if that is a locking nut holding them together. If so, will I need a special tool to undo it and secondly, can it be re-used or do I have to get a replacement.

On the basis that at some stage I do get these secateurs dismantled, am I right in thinking that I'll only have to sharpen that very small fine area (that the light has caught) on the edge of the blade? Do I not have to turn it over and do the flat side, so to speak?

Answers on a postcard to PO Box No ....... !

[PAULW]

PRINTEMPS
Yes that looks like a locking nut, all you need is a spanner or access to a socket set to undo it and yes it is the shiney bit that you sharpen then an odd rub on the other side keeping that flat.

[TonyF]

Printemps, they must have seen you coming to try to charge you €18 for a stone. If you eventually bought a small Bahco honing stone, that should do you fine, but if you have a knife shop local to you, they'll do it for you for next to nothing.

We use Felco and have done for years, tho we can get the spare parts for them, we send them off to be done by the company, cost �9.99 a set (we have 3, various types) but for that price you get new blades, even new handles if the blades are integral.

[Marthaclematis]

They are selling secateurs in the Llidl sale for 79p or something suitably silly... I presume they are rubbish ???

[FionaH]

They are selling secateurs in the Llidl sale for 79p or something suitably silly... I presume they are rubbish ???

A friend got some and said they were ok, she may have got the slightly more expensive 1.99 one though

[Printemps]

Tony - they don't call Weldoms a rip-off merchant for nothing! It was actually on sale for €20 - I just converted it to �18 as a rough and ready amount. If I lived near to Nontron that would have been ideal for finding knife shops! We do have a guy who comes to the market on Tuesdays, but his sharpening stone is far too rough for anything other than scythes and axes! I miss the service I used to get from Wilkinson Sword, these secateurs are long overdue an overhaul! Shrubs will breathe a sigh of relief too!

Can someone tell me if the locknut is re-useable, or do you have to get a new one?

[srodders]

If it was something your life depended on then you would need a new one, the recomendations are always that you get a new one.

I never bother though - the nylon bush does wear out eventually and not hold as tight. I've took my secateurs apart about 5 times and have no problem with the locknut not locking

[Printemps]

Success!! Thank you everyone for your help - I now have a pair of sharp secateurs, suitably cleaned and oiled to boot!

I searched in vain for a socket/ring spanner of the correct size but I didn't have one, so headed off to the local DIY store. Despite an array of tools hanging up in front of me I was finding it difficult to find the correct size of socket. It wasn't 10mm, 9mm nor 8mm. In the end I decided it was not a metric size, but I was hardly likely to find anything approaching Imperial or AF here in France. I did however find a small adjustable spanner which soon loosened the nut enough for me to undo it by hand. My dad would turn in his grave if he knew I'd done that! No - not the fact that I used a tool without actually buying it, but the fact that I didn't use the right one!

[alex-adam]

It does strike me that everyone is making sharpening secateurs far too complicated. I use both anvil and by-pass types, my sharpening method involves no dismantling. Just use a medium-fine emery paper to clean and sharpen the cutting edge. - I have even heard of someone using and emery board you use for manucure to good effect
On the anvil type (Loewe or Rolcut) sharpen both sides of the blade and clean the face of the anvil, on the by-pass type (Felco etc.,) sharpen the outside edge of the upper blade only.

[FoxHillGardener]

Felco instructions here Keep Your Felco Tools Forever
That's how I do mine

[Two_Sheds]

good link, thank you


mind you, Felcoes will only last forever if you don't let Mr TS use them for cutting up big branches (when I already told him to use a saw)

[VirginVegGrower]

I've got a chap like that - let our old neighbour borrow my shears and I found him using the point as a ramming implement for hard stony ground. Needless to say Mr VVG got a flea in his ear and a bill for some new ones. I find it's the best way to ensure lessons learned.
I bought a sharpening steel for my Felcos and it's great. We have a good ironmonger called Masseys.