Sharpening Tin Snips

WILLIE CARSON: Hi! My name is Willie. I'm from Carson Saw Shop here in Eugene, Oregon and I've been sharpening tools here for 25 to 30 years and I'm here with Expert Village today. This is a serrated tin snip and in order to sharpen it I had to take it apart here. I have the parts, the spring washers and the main part bolted together. As you can see it's got these little grooved lines on there and what that does it keeps the sheet metal from sliding out of the jaws so in order to copy that what I want to do is put on a wheel that has coarse side that'll imitate that as I grind it. So I'll go into a drawer here and I got one. This wheel looks it hasn't been used and it's got a real coarseness to it so it should leave a line, it should leave serrated lines when I use it to grind if I don't move when I go across it. Oops, forgot my paper. It's always nice when you're doing tools to have any wheel you think you might need. So in order to keep those things the same what I'm going to want to do is I want to roll it without moving it. So now I have left a similar serrated edge on it. That looks like it ought to give the same characteristic it did before so it wont slip away. And then of course just like every other tool you have to hone those edges back. Make sure they don't bite into each other before you use them. Another important factor we'll get in this tension right too. If they're too tight then the spring won't push them back out. And then if they're too loose the sheet metal will go in between them. A little bit snug still. That feels about right, that one looks good to go. Cut the same similar serration not exactly the same but ought to be enough there to grip to sheet metal.