Tools of the Trade

kwtimo

Well-Known Member
596
22/05/10
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Over the past couple of years, I recall some conversations about a particular pair of shears that Jeff Searle has that were a gift to him from B. Frank Brown. Apparently these shears allowed him to make his cut for air layers in under 10 seconds. Well, I'll call it dumb luck that I found a source that had a few pairs left, and purchased them. While they are expensive ($70), the amount of time they save should be worth it alone, never mind almost losing fingers to razor knives and the like when attempting air layers. I would say that this is a real must have tool for croton collectors, and am happy that I now have a pair. If anyone is interested, I can part with a couple pairs. Send me a PM
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Wow Tim, thanks for the post. This brings back a lot of memories from my childhood. When I was a kid I used to work for a nurseryman in Hialeah after school pulling weeds and air layering crotons. He not only had a similar pair of scissors and taught me how to make them. The pair of scissors you have is an aftermarket modification and you tell by the blue color on the edge by where it was reground. This is an easy thing to do on a grinding wheel and he showed that you only have to follow the angle of the original edge within the grinding area of the arch. Wiss makes these, they are called poultry sheers, not real sure what you cut off the chicken and if they are dead or alive. His had 2 other things, 1) the lower blade had a 1/4" ball formed on the end 2) the upper blade had about 1" reground on the outside to form a knife blade (Japanese one sided knife style). He would use the lower part of the scissor to make 2 girdle cuts then he would open them and use the knife edge to make 2 vertical cuts and peel off the 2 halves to expose the cambium layer and continue with a regular air layer.

Thanks, Kip
 
Wow Tim, thanks for the post. This brings back a lot of memories from my childhood. When I was a kid I used to work for a nurseryman in Hialeah after school pulling weeds and air layering crotons. He not only had a similar pair of scissors and taught me how to make them. The pair of scissors you have is an aftermarket modification and you tell by the blue color on the edge by where it was reground. This is an easy thing to do on a grinding wheel and he showed that you only have to follow the angle of the original edge within the grinding area of the arch. Wiss makes these, they are called poultry sheers, not real sure what you cut off the chicken and if they are dead or alive. His had 2 other things, 1) the lower blade had a 1/4" ball formed on the end 2) the upper blade had about 1" reground on the outside to form a knife blade (Japanese one sided knife style). He would use the lower part of the scissor to make 2 girdle cuts then he would open them and use the knife edge to make 2 vertical cuts and peel off the 2 halves to expose the cambium layer and continue with a regular air layer.

Thanks, Kip

Kip - thank you for relating your experience with this tool. Yesterday I spent a few hours looking for info on these shears. In the past searches, I had come up empty. Enlarging Tim's photo you can see the model number 1DS. Figured I could locate another source. My search revealed no shears with this model number. Even searched the archives of Wiss' historical products no longer manufactured. Only found shears with model no. 1DSN which may also be a no longer mnufactured product, but are available for sale on the internet. Since these are a tool for poultry, this may explain why they may have been discontinued. Most poultry operations are very automated now days. Makes sense to me now that this shears where custom altered by some ingenuous old timers.
 
I can't say enough good about these scissors!!! Like Tim stated, mine was a gift from Frank many years ago and simply love them. And 10 seconds would be somewhat long.....more like 5-6 seconds. Lol. It's one of those things, once you use them, you'll never, ever go back to any other tool. I highly recommend these if your doing air layers.
 
Wow Tim, When I saw your post I thought those sheers looked familar and sure enough checked a kitchen drawer and found these very old poultry sheers that have been here for years. (Can't remember where I got them) Look pretty much the same to me so now I'm anxious to try an airlayer to see how they work. Mine are Sheffied (England), but look similar to yours. poultry sheers.jpeg Thanks for the info. Marnie
 
Well I'm officially hooked on the poultry shears for air layering. I've gone a little crazy and there are small foil balls all over my garden. It's wonderful. Really makes it easy..............so fast. Marnie
 
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