The Anatomy of a Scissor – Inside a Solingen Manufactory

The days when the whole of Solingen shook to the rhythm of heavy forging hammers are long gone. The Kotten – the small workshops along the Wupper river and its streams – mostly serve other purposes today.

They were once the workplaces of the grinders. In one of the rainiest regions of Germany, water drove the grinding wheels. No Wupper, no Solingen edge.

In one of these Kotten, grinding still happens today. On a water mill.

A workshop where time stands still

The Dreiturm manufactory was founded in 1829, on the grounds of an old farmstead that already belonged to the great-great-great-grandfather of today's owner family. Scissors have been made here ever since.

The sixth generation runs the business now. A few years ago the daughter of the house decided to carry it on – so J. A. Schmidt & Söhne became, in daily life, J. A. Schmidt & Tochter, even if the company register still says otherwise.

The workshop sticks to the old techniques, keeps the historic machines running, and puts in an effort almost nobody would consider today. You can browse the full Dreiturm range in our shop.

A trade nobody trains for anymore

Quality is watched over by a Scherenkontrolleur – a scissor inspector. The trade is no longer taught anywhere. The few who still master it are the last of their kind.

Even in a manufactory, not everything happens under one roof. Specialised trades supply the parts: the smith delivers the forged blanks, the hardener the hardened halves, the Augenpließter the ground finish on the handles. Solingen was always a network of specialists – and that is still what makes the city.

The anatomy of a scissor

If you want to understand why a good scissor is good, it helps to know the parts. The workshop vocabulary is old and very precise:

• Becke – the two scissor halves. Oberbeck (upper) and Unterbeck (lower).
• Auge – literally "eye": what most of us call the handle.
• Augenbord – the rim around the handle.
• Halm – the slim transition between handle and blade.
• Gewerbe – the area around the pivot where the halves are joined.
• Wate – the upper cutting edge. The only place the halves may touch.
• Nagel – the connecting screw. In Solingen it is still called a nail.
• Gangstelle – the point where the two halves run together. It decides how the scissor moves.
• Rücken – the outer back of the blade.

Why the handles are punched before hardening

It all starts with good stainless steel. The smith splits six-metre bars, cuts them into pieces matching each scissor format, and gives them their first shape in the Gesenk, a forging die. The steel is heated and effectively punched out under the heavy forging hammer.

The handles are formed in this step too – before hardening. Afterwards it would be too late: only raw steel can still be cut and bent.

The hardener: the right twist and "flügeln"

Before hardening, the hardener gives the scissor its shape. The two halves must later meet only at the Wate.

To achieve this, he bends the scissor so the tips of Oberbeck and Unterbeck flügeln – they stand slightly above the point and keep some play, so they can still be ground later.

He then drills very precise holes in both halves and cuts the thread for the Nagel.

Only then comes hardening, in an oil bath. This multi-stage process is a balancing act: if the scissor turns out too hard, it shatters under the inspector's hammer at the first check. So it goes into the tempering oven afterwards – a heat treatment that draws the tension back out of the steel.

What a machine can do – and what only the hand can

The inner and outer faces of the blades can be ground by machine. Everything else is handwork: handles and rims, Halm, Gewerbe and the back of the blade.

The highest skill is the fine grinding of the Gangstelle. If you have ever held a really good scissor, you may have noticed a small half-moon there. The Pließter – the fine grinder – sets it by hand. It decides how the scissor runs.

Stone bath, nickel plating, maker's mark

The still rough, sharp-edged halves are now ground fine, long and very smooth – in a bath of stones.

After that the parts leave the house for nickel plating. Back in the manufactory, the maker's mark is stamped on. By hand, again.

The moment of truth

On the crank, Oberbeck and Unterbeck are carefully turned in and the nails are set. Now it shows whether everything fits:

• Is the scissor too straight or too curved?
• Do the halves flügeln correctly?
• Does the tip sit right?

Only then do the scissors get their cutting edges. The Wate is ground on the stone, the steel shavings are drawn off. Then comes the test: a piece of gauze, one cut. If it goes through cleanly, the work is right.

Last of all: straightening

The most important step comes right at the end. In Richten, every single scissor is made to run smoothly. The copper hammer taps, each twist is corrected, until the action is right.

Nail scissor, cuticle scissor or household scissor – it always ends with this piece of precision handwork.

What this means for you

Around 80 work steps, several specialised trades, every scissor straightened individually: that is why a real Solingen scissor costs more than a mass-produced one.

It is also why it can be resharpened and last for decades, instead of seizing up in a drawer after two years.

In our shop you will find:

• Nail scissors from Solingen
• Cuticle scissors for fine work
• Beard scissors for beard care
• The complete Dreiturm range