New favourite hand tool

[AndyT]

This post belongs in General Chat as it's not a woodworking tool. I've been spending some time gardening, cutting back overgrown honeysuckle and suchlike, and I've been using these:

They are probably sheep shears; I don't know how to tell - a very similar pattern is sold for grass or topiary.

I bought them on ebay for a fiver - there are plenty about.
What I like about them is the elegance and practicality of the design. A single strip of steel has been expertly tempered so it's springy where it needs to be and will take a good sharp edge. It's a really practical design when you want to hold a grasp a bunch of something, and keep hold of it while you cut it off.

They seem to be fairly easy to find and cheap to buy so I guess many people would reject them as old fashioned. But you can still buy them new, made in Sheffield, from Burgon and Ball, so some people must know a good product when they see it.

These are marked Turner, Naylor and Company on one side

and have the I Sorby 'Mr Punch' logo on the other:

Every home should have some!

PS Somewhere I've seen a video of these being made but can't find it - anyone know where it is?

 

[dm65]

Nice find - well done

Is it me, or is one blade longer than the other ?

I have a pair of new Wilkinson Sword that copy this design and I use them for trimming grass edges where the mower can't get to

Small lawn so have used them for 5 years to do this rather than untangling the strimmer and feeding line through every 5 minutes

 

[ChrisR]

Hi Andy.

Yes I think these are classed as sheep clippers, I can remember my father and uncle using the same type many years ago, for trimming around the edge of lawns and shrubs, as we lived in a rural location, they were probably obtained from the local hardware/farm store.
Also, I am sure I can remember seeing sheep being clipped with the same.

Take care.

Chris R.

 

[Jacob]

Yes sheep shears. Still widely used - after the electric shears to trim bits n bobs.

 

[tekno.mage]

Yes sheep shears - also still used by smallholders with only a few sheep (electric clippers being quite expensive).

 

[graduate_owner]

A friend of mine had 2 pet sheep, and each year used to take them to a nearby farm for shearing - the farmer did them free of charge with his own flock. Then the foot and mouth epidemic happened and animal movements were banned so she borrowed a pair of hand operated sheep clippers and did the job herself. It took her 2 days!!.

K

 

[powertools]

My OH bought these from a garden centre and they called them topiary shears but she never got the hang of the topiary and we have some very strange shape bushes to prove it.

 

[DTTech]

My mom as a tiny pair of these which she has had as long as I can remember. She uses them for snipping off the threads whilst sewing. They have remained sharp as razors despite the abuse me and my brother have put them through.