Good Japanese scissors for cutting rubbers

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Hi there,

I use scissors to cut my rubbers. The result is never perfect, but it is kind of decent. Over many years, having tried all kinds of knifes (even good British surgical scalpels) I always go back to scissors. With a knife, the result is sometimes an angled edge which I hate and punching through thick rubber with pimples gives an even more serrated edge. I've been using duckbill / tailor's / napping / carpet pile scissors lately, like this pair from Kretzer, made in Solingen, Germany:


301184.jpg



I am very much inspired by quality, and just out of curiousity I read this short article:
https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/L...f-cutting-How-Japanese-scissors-have-evolved2

Since the Japanese are at the cutting edge of scissor technology, maybe they got an even better or a more creative model for cutting table tennis rubbers? Would be interesting to know, this forum has many helpful Japanese members.
 
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Do you cut the rubber while it’s on the blade? I usually find it easier to cut nice if I mark it up and cut before gluing it to the blade. I get the nicest cut with a knife/scalpel but it takes a little while, and cutting with a knife without the «angle» requires a little bit of training.

For your question: Scissors.jp the standard model.
 
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Always on the blade. Possibly a better result kan be achieved with marking it before putting on the blade, I just feel that I get too large of an overhang when doing this. Should probably try the sharp knife route a couple of times more.
 
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When cutting with a knife, try to make shure and focus on not cutting in an angle, it takes a while to learn. What I find the easiest way to get a good result is to take my time and do several passes and Don’t force the knife through the rubber. (And not a knife that is too short)
 
The best I've found is a surgical scalpel. Can order them online. But a $2 scalpel is almost as good and is better than any other pair of scissors or knife I've used.

The key is as thin as possible and needless to say... sharp.

Anyone who has tried to cut a Tenergy with a thick utility knife blade will know what I'm talking about. Thin is the key.
 
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Thanks, those scissors look quite interesting. I do have a scalpel at home, with some different blades. I will try to find a larger curved blade and see how it compares to scissors.
 
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After seeing the guys in the first club I played at cut the rubber with a cheapo scissor over and over, always perfect, never taking more than a few seconds on any rubber, I realized it is just that, if you have cut enough rubbers, they start to come out fine. The less fuss you make about them, the better they come out. There are other ways to get a very good cut that take longer. But once you have cut rubbers enough times, all you need is a simple method. I am not sure it matters which.

If you like cutting with a knife, a razor, a scalpel instead of a scissor, use your weapon of choice. For me, a scissor is so fast it isn't worth wasting time with other methods.

I am sure the curved blade makes it easier. So that is fine. But I have never felt I needed that.
 
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I believe a curved blade scissors make it easier move the scissors around the edge (give the curved blade points away from the edge). Yes, possibly you can get a good result with anything if you have enough time or a hidden talent. But being lazy, and possibly with no talent, I do not mind making it easier for me.
 
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I was going to say more or less the exact thing
After seeing the guys in the first club I played at cut the rubber with a cheapo scissor over and over, always perfect, never taking more than a few seconds on any rubber, I realized it is just that, if you have cut enough rubbers, they start to come out fine. The less fuss you make about them, the better they come out. There are other ways to get a very good cut that take longer. But once you have cut rubbers enough times, all you need is a simple method. I am not sure it matters which.

If you like cutting with a knife, a razor, a scalpel instead of a scissor, use your weapon of choice. For me, a scissor is so fast it isn't worth wasting time with other methods.

I am sure the curved blade makes it easier. So that is fine. But I have never felt I needed that.
 
says Spin and more spin.
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I was going to say more or less the exact thing

I use these.

d82e6ec1aae8512bc06af0ba03edebb9.jpg


I honestly can’t imagine anything making it enough easier to be worth the time. It takes less than 30 seconds to cut each rubber and they always come out pretty much perfectly.

The fuss; trying to make it perfect just makes it more likely you will mess up. Just cut like you know what you are doing. Not rushed. But not slow. Too slow like you are trying to make it perfect causes the line to not be clean. After a few times not worrying about it, they start coming out how they should.

The one trick is how you approach avoiding the handle to start the cut. And for that you just angle the scissor from under the handle and make small cuts near the tip of the blades. Once you are clear of the handle, the rest is easy. And a long blade like the scissors I use makes it go smoothly. A shorter blade may cause you to need to make too many open and closed moves with the scissor. So, more jagged, not as clean a line.

When I have used a knife, it always takes much longer and does not come out as cleanly.


Sent from my NSA SpyPhone from Sector 13D-SR13Z74 Sub Level 29X Fort Meade, Maryland
 
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