There is a place in every burgeoning entrepreneur’s repertoire for daytime soaps or Judge Judy … Some hideous repetitive task looms, and as you eyeball the points, run your hand over the assembly for burrs, loosen or tighten screws, and whack a chunk of whatever is close by, the Good Judge is sending some sobbing teenager into the steely grasp of the bailiff …

Such has been my fate of late. The gloom of my living room and the toil of quality control leavened with the glow of the boob tube. It’s something learned from commercial fly tying; find a show that’s uninteresting – and focus on the task at hand, glancing up only for the obligatory flash of breast-meat or the dismemberment scene.

… and I even oiled the damned things, because I knew you never would.

I received the first shipment of tungsten-imbued Sixth Finger scissors this week. After paying off all the owe-sies, vendors, and blood relatives, it appears I’ll have nearly 50 sets available of the 4.5” (original size) model. The “General Purpose” large size will be arriving next – as I’ve just approved the final design and finger hole placement.

The last six months were spent testing three different fingerhole placements, and the hard part was choosing between the last two (shown with blue handles) – but the right-most won, allowing the 5.5” General Purpose to extend beyond the hand the same distance as the smaller 4.5” Original design.

This allows you to switch back and forth between the two styles without changing your grip or suddenly poking out an eye because you forgot which set you were holding.

The longer heavier blade comprises nearly half of the extra length, and we’ve shortened the spring without affecting the effort needed to press the blades closed. The adjustable screw allows for complete scissor disassembly for sharpening, or just give it a quarter turn every couple of years if they loosen with use (and abuse).

Care and Feeding of your New play toy

I’ve witnessed many hideous crimes committed on or with scissors – and only occasionally was it some other oaf – most were of mine own invention.

The 4.5” scissor is a “light duty” precision scissor. Adding faster colors, adjustable screws and tungsten inserts makes it a extremely sharp, light duty scissor.

… it doesn’t make it invulnerable to your hammy handed enthusiasms, nor should it be used to chew concrete.

The sweet spot for this design is the countless tiny snips and trims associated with preparing feathers, positioning, and the finishing of the final product. It will cleave moose hair off the hide, it’ll whack copper wire into pieces, and accomplish most of the fly tying tasks you’ll ask of it.

Do you think the new scissors would work well for tying glo-bugs? I’m looking for a super sharp, heavy duty blade that will last a while tying egg patterns. I’ll try the sample you sent and let you know.

… and my response:

The 4.5" is still a light scissor. While the tungsten allows it to plow through heavier materials, I’d use the 5.5" scissor instead. The larger size has a beefier blade as well as the tungsten – and glo-bugs are heavy work. I’d use  the heavier blade only because it’s less about "can it do it" – than it is about "can it do a million of them."
Proper tool for the proper job rules – that heavier blade should allow you to chop a fistful of yarn a million times – the lighter scissor might be able to do it – maybe even well – but the pressures on the screw hole will chew the scissors up … the blades will loosen … and you’re left reaching for a new set.

The answer was in the question, “ super-sharp, heavy duty blade.”

Depending on what we were raised on as fly tiers warps our judgment completely. Surgeons have a thousand different kinds of scissor – each suited for specific tasks, yet us fly tiers insist that one pair of scissors be capable of mowing the lawn, mixing drinks, and walking the dog …

Just because you can cut the stem off a turkey quill with a pair of scissors doesn’t mean you can do it a million times without damage.

If you focus your usage in the sweet spot for any scissor, they will last a lifetime.

/end Momma’s lecture

The Avaricious Greed Part

My goal was to keep the price of both styles of scissor below thirty dollars. I was only partially successful …

The 4.5” Tungsten will retail for $28 a pair, and the 5.5” Tungsten will be $29 each. This is consistent with the market maker, Dr. Slick – whose 4.5” tungsten standard scissor is also $28.

But wait, there’s more …

My strident bellow about the inequities of the vendor community require me to trod rarified soil, anything less flirts with hypocrisy. While the gesture will be ignored by the larger community, my ethics require some small allegiance is owed those whose twenty dollars I’ve already pocketed.

Contrary to Harvard Business School and their tutelage, I see the customer as friend and compatriot, not competition.

Therefore, owners of the existing scissor can pick either flavor of the new scissor for $22.

Postage for a single set of scissors is $1.56 – and the padded envelope is $0.42 each, I’ll eat the bubble pack, tape, and the 20 minute wait at the Post Office.

Last time I paid the postage and you got the scissors for $20, this time you’ll pay for the shipping … and get the scissors for $20. This discount will be honored by me only – so asking your local merchant will result in a blank stare.

I’ll keep the offer open until redemptions roughly equal the amount of original scissors sold.

I’ll be working this weekend to update the Google shopping interface (the purchase image in the center column of this blog) to reflect the models and the discount, and dreaming up a surefire way to query you on your older purchase thereby qualifying you for the same.

I’ll mention this option again when the 5.5” models arrive, so if you’re interested in an upgrade decide which flavor you prefer. A rain check will be available if I run out of stock, so there’s little need to rush blindly into a new purchase.

Just my way of saying … thanks.

… and if you simply must be the first on your block, just drop me an email to reserve a set, as this shipment is small and sales look to be brisk.

Full Disclosure: I am the principal vendor for the Sixth Finger scissor and will benefit from any sale of this incredibly awesome scissor. All superlatives used to describe the male enhancing qualities and mind boggling function should be taken with a grain of salt.

Tags: Sixth Finger scissor, tungsten carbide insert, scissor upgrade option, light duty scissor, precision scissor, Google shopping, daytime soaps, Judge Judy, thanks for your patronage

The prototypes for the next generation of Sixth Finger scissors arrived on my doorstep yesterday. I’d asked for them to add a zipper so I could change it each year and obsolete everything you already own …

I figured I could offer it as a fetching facsimile to the Royal Canadian Mounties and the cord that secured their sidearm. Three and a half feet of ballistic nylon – and should you ever lay them down, they’d be available to sit on once you returned to your desk.

It certainly would reinforce the notion to keep them in your hand – the downside would be you’re having to tie standing up for the next three months.

Madison Ave calls it “branding” – affixing the image of a product into your subconscious so you can’t help but think of me when you see it. I call it a life long scar, and you’ll never be able to look at a Band-Aid or tourniquet without cringing …

The vendor has added all of the enhancements I’ve asked for and produced something quite special.

Issue: The current flavor of scissor is a light-duty specialty scissor, with small light blades and fine tips. It’s wonderful for trout flies and medium sized flies, yet has issues with thick or bulky. Those same light blades offer a small sharp tip – but can be deflected by a heavy woven four strand yarn, or bulky chenille.

Resolution: The debut of the General Purpose variant, designed to accomodate light,  coarse, and heavy materials. It is equipped with a larger, heavier blade that cannot be deflected. It’s simple physics that cause the issue, and adding mass to the blade prevents it bending out of the way, and lengthening the handle allows more force to be exerted to sever large materials cleanly.

The General Purpose will be longer by an inch, half of which is in the blade area, and the balance in the handle. The spring mechanism has been shortened yet retains a crisp positive action. Even better is the blades – about twice the mass – both thicker and longer, and we didn’t have to give up the fine tips.

As I eat what I sell, I’ve already started testing the materials that proved difficult on the smaller scissors, and have been chuckling with great glee …

But I didn’t do you no favor …

To assist both normal and this new “General Purpose” variant, I’ve also added tungsten inserts on both models, but I didn’t do you any favor by doing so …

Tungsten Carbide is one of the hardest metals known to Man, and in scissors it makes a superior cutting edge – one that will last much longer than conventional surgical stainless.

It’s also the most brittle. One bleary-eyed late night cut where you catch the hook shank up at the scissor tip, and you can take the points clean off.

This is true of $500 surgical scissors as well as inexpensive flavor. The only known solution is to make a blunt point which allows more tungsten into the area, giving the tip greater shear strength. As fine tips are essential on a good set of scissors, blunt is unacceptable.

Having tied with Tungsten inserts and expensive surgical scissors for the last 25 years, I can vouch for the fragility of the tip. Bill Hunter sold me my first pair and mentioned, “you’ll have to relearn your scissor work, or you’ll tear these up.”

I did. But at the cost of the first pair.

The second set lasted 20 years, so the transition is easy enough to make, but only after you’ve destroyed at least one set. In short, you learn to make all cuts away from the shank – never cutting towards the hook.

We’ve also opted for an adjustable screw to aid quick disassembly for sharpening.  Medical scissors attempt to braise or grind the screw to prevent seams that allow bacteria to collect on the scissor surface. This prevents the screw from turning – and tightening the screw is often not possible.

As all scissors eventually need adjustment (except in the medical profession where they’re often discarded) –  I’ve got a slightly different screw assembly on these prototypes to see if I can adjust it in the future.

Summary: For 2010 I’ll be offering three models of the Sixth Finger; a larger General Purpose scissor with Tungsten inserts, the current model of surgical stainless, and a variant of the original scissor also with Tungsten inserts.

Pricing and availability should be around the mid-March timeframe. I’m attempting to bring the price in around the $25 dollar mark for the Tungsten and larger General Purpose flavors.

… and my thanks for the many helpful comments and feedback on these “children” of mine. Many of you have been quite candid about changes you’d like – or features that suited you, and I’ve rolled all that into this second generation of product.

Based on what testing I’ve completed, they’ll go through your jeans and a couple inches of Gluteus before you have time to draw a breath …

Testers: Around March I’ll be sending out 10-12 sets of the new scissors to some of the existing owners as a test group. If you’d like to test one model over another I’ll inquire before I send them.

I’d like to upgrade everyone, but the economics say otherwise.

Full Disclosure: I came up with the bright idea, and use them daily, to the exclusion of all other scissors. But as I’m also the vendor – I am not to be believed.

Tags: Sixth Finger Scissor, Product Roadmap, fly tying scissors, Tungsten Carbide, adjustable screw hole, fine tips, Bill Hunter, RCMP, shameless commerce