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Comment by peanut-walrus | Hacker News Reader

I call bullshit on the $4000 scissors. The very very highest end goes to $1000 and most hairdressers use scissors around the $100 mark, which are still extremely good professional tools. Furthermore, if you have a very expensive pair of scissors, you are not going to be sharpening them twice a day... More like twice a year (and you take them to a professional, you don't do it yourself) .

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Playing devils advocate, they probably strop the edge twice a day with a leather strop or a super fine grit whetstone. This isn't really sharpening as such, very little material will be removed from the blade (as you probably know), but to an observer would appear to be 'sharpening' and would theoretically assist in maintaining the very minor burrs that would occur from daily use on hair, if the scissors have some bypass this may also be desirable as a burred edge can interfere with the bypass action. Caveat, am an Amateur bladesmith, not hairdresser so I don't actually know much about scissors specifically and dont have a frame of reference for how much damage hair does to an edge.

I can't comment on the real world value of a $4k pair of professional scissors, but the price is not infathomable if it is hand made, made to order Japanese scissors made out of the Japanese Damascus steel. They are likely to take a month or a few to get made and will outlast the humanity. Yes, they probably require to be sharpened ahem serviced by the same master who has made them.

NHK World ran a program a few years back dedicated to the art of the Japanese scissors making, and it was an enlightening experience to watch. The meticulous attention to every single aspect of the scissors, ranging from the carbon content of the steel to ways of sharpening them by hand (no machinery used) has nearly implored my mind. Or, perhaps, I was just that impressed.

Give OP a break, they're planning to show responses in this thread to their spouse later to get permission to buy themself a nice toy.

If they say their hairdresser uses $4000 scissors because that's what the real professionals pay, hey, let them dream.

I got in to sewing recently and none of my cheapo scissors actually worked for cutting fabric properly. I spent $20 for a two pack of fabric scissors at the fabric store and they work great. I can definitely see how $100 scissors would be just fine!

Also sharpening twice a day sounds more like a ritual than a real need. But what do I know I’m not in that industry.

Sounds like they cut the hair of people with hair like mine. My old hair dresser used to joke about needing to get her shears sharpened every time she cut my hair.

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