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How a Solingen Scissor Is Made – And How to Spot a Good One

A small Nagelschere looks simple. Two blades, one screw. That is what most people think.

But a real Solinger scissor takes more than 80 work steps. Many of them are done by hand. And the difference between a cheap pair and a good pair is something you can feel in the first second.

Here is how these scissors are made – and how you can test one yourself before you buy.

Why Solingen?

Solingen is called "Klingenstadt" – the city of blades. The yellow town sign says it, and the city has earned it.

The first guilds for hardeners and grinders started here more than 600 years ago. Small workshops and family businesses used the water power of the Wupper river and its side streams to drive their grinding wheels. Over the centuries, all the crafts around blades settled in one place: forging, hardening, grinding, assembly.

That is why the name still means something today. Solingen is a protected origin mark. Not every scissor with a shiny finish may carry it. That is why we only stock verified nail scissors from Solingen.

From steel bar to blade

1. The smith chooses the steel.
This is the first quality decision. The rule of thumb: the higher the carbon content, the harder the steel can get – and the sharper the cut can be.

2. Forging.
The steel bars are cut to the size of the scissor and pressed into a die, a kind of forging mould. This gives the two halves their first rough shape.

3. The right twist.
Before hardening, the two halves – called Oberbeck and Unterbeck in the workshop – are set so that they only touch at the upper cutting edge (Wate). This tiny twist is what makes a scissor cut instead of squeeze. At this stage the countersunk hole and the thread for the screw are made too.

4. Hardening.
The blades are heated to around 850 °C for several minutes and then quenched in water or oil. After this, the steel is very hard – but also so brittle that a scissor could shatter if you dropped it.

5. Tempering.
So the blades go back into an oven at about 250 °C. This takes the tension out of the steel and makes it flexible again. Hard, but not brittle. That is the balance a good scissor needs.

6. Grinding and "Pliesten".
Now comes the shape and the shine. The rough grind is refined on a large wooden wheel covered with emery – in Solingen this step is called Pliesten. Every surface of the blade is smoothed.

7. The brand mark.
The maker's mark is stamped in with a hand press. On a real manufactory piece, this is still a manual step.

The moment that decides everything: "Nageln"

The two matching halves go into a mounting machine, and a screw is turned into the thread. In the trade, this is called "Nageln" – nailing – even though it is a screw.

Then comes a small trick that machines do not do well. With a light hammer blow, the fitter upsets the screw just a little, so it spreads inside the thread and holds properly. Too tight and the scissor is stiff. Too loose and it will never cut cleanly.

After that: fine grinding of the pivot point, and a final straightening by hand. Experienced fitters tap the blades with a copper hammer until the action feels right – a bit like a piano tuner searching for the right note.

Machines can do a lot. This part still belongs to the human hand.

5 quick tests for a good scissor

You can check most of this in a shop, in under a minute.

  • 1. Open the scissor and look at the inside of the blades. The inner face should be slightly concave – curved inwards. This hollow grind reduces friction and stops the blades from jamming while you cut.
  • 2. Close the scissor and hold it up to the light. Between the two halves there should be a thin gap you can look through. That gap is intentional.
  • 3. Open and close it slowly. The two halves should meet at only one point. As you close, that contact point travels forward, all the way to the tip. That travelling point is the cut.
  • 4. Look at the joint: screw or rivet? Good scissors have a screw connection. It can be adjusted and it makes service work like resharpening possible. Riveted scissors are usually a one-way product.
  • 5. Try it before you buy. You want an even, smooth action from start to finish – and, most important, a clean cut right up to the tip. Many cheap scissors cut fine in the middle and simply stop working at the point.

How to keep a good scissor good

  • Dry the blades after every use. Moisture in the joint is the main enemy.
  • A tiny drop of oil on the screw joint once in a while keeps the action smooth.
  • Use a Nagelschere only for nails, a Hautschere only for skin. Paper and tape ruin a fine edge fast.
  • Never force a stiff scissor. If the action changes, the screw usually needs adjusting, not more pressure.
  • A good scissor can be resharpened. That is the whole point of buying one.

Made in Solingen – still today

One example: the Dreiturm manufactory (J. A. Schmidt & Söhne) in Solingen has been making scissors for almost 200 years, with around 90 different types of scissors still assembled and checked by hand. You can browse the full Dreiturm range in our shop.

That is the kind of product we look for. A scissor you buy once, use for years, and have resharpened instead of replaced.

Discover our Solingen scissors at nagelzange.de:

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