Essay On Scissors

878 Words4 Pages
SCISSORS Raw Materials Generally, scissors are made of steel. Steel scissors exist in two basic forms. Carbon steel is used to make scissors in which the blade and the handle form one continuous piece. Scissors made from carbon steel are plated with nickel or chromium to prevent rusting. Stainless steel is used to make scissors in which a plastic handle is fitted to the metal blade. It has the advantages of being light and rustproof. The Manufacturing Process Making the blanks Before they are sharpened and attached the two halves of a pair of scissors are known as blanks. A blank may consist of a blade and a handle in one piece or it may consist of only the blade. In the latter case, a metal handle…show more content…
Molten steel is poured into a mold in the shape of the blank. The steel cools back into a solid and then the blank is removed. Most quality scissors are made from blanks formed by drop forging. Like cold stamping, this process involves shaping the blanks with a die. This die pounds into a bar of red-hot steel to form the blank. The pressure of the drop hammer, the die, strengthens the steel. The blanks are then trimmed to the proper shape by cutting away excess metal. A hole is drilled through the blank. This hole will later allow two completed blades to be attached to each other. The trimmed blanks are hardened by heating them, then cooling them quickly in cold air, water, oil, or another substance. The temperature to which they are heated and the medium in which they are cooled varies depending on the type of steel from which they are made and the desired characteristics of the blade. The hardened blanks are heated again and allowed to cool slowly in air. This second heating, known as tempering, gives uniform hardness to the blank. The repeated heating and cooling causes the blanks to bend. They are straightened by being placed on an anvil and lightly tapped with a hammer. This process is known as
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