Thank you for purchasing a pair of OUI CHEF SuperSharp® Scissors. They are an invaluable tool for delicate jobs in the kitchen where a lighter touch is required.
They are intended to work alongside a more heavy duty pair of scissors for tougher work. That said, they are a top quality product and similar to your kitchen knives, with a little bit of regular care and maintenance they will serve you well for many years.
[ Adjustment ]
Adjust your scissors whenever they feel too tight or too loose. Proper scissor adjustment is often a matter of personal preference. However, a good rule of thumb is that when the scissors are held open with one blade at right angles to the other in the shape of a cross, the handle that is dropped will just barely move. To adjust a shear you need to tighten / loosen the adjusting screw as needed. Be cautious not to over tighten or over loosen the adjuster as this could damage the shear. Adjust the screw one click at a time until properly adjusted.
[ Care ]
We always recommend gently hand-washing your scissors in soapy water, rinsing and drying thoroughly with a soft cloth. Regular cleaning will help keep the blades sharp longer.
[ Storage ]
Store your scissors in a safe place when not in use. Secure and store them on a magnetic rack or knife roll where they stay safe and dry when not in use. Never toss your scissors into a drawer unprotected.
[ Don’t... ]
Don’t "pressure cut" (torque the blades together). This means squeezing harder with your thumb when the scissors start to go dull. it will cause excess wear on the scissors if you do so.
Don’t cut hard surfaces like bone (especially your own!), prawns/lobster shells etc.
Don’t lend your scissors out. Other people have different hands to you - someone else using your scissors with a hard hand will alter the scissors balance and make them feel different (They don't care for them as much as you do and might even damage them!)
[ Sharpening ]
If your scissors aren’t cutting as well as you would like, it is probably time to sharpen the blades.
The first thing to try is cutting along the full length of the blades through relatively fine thin sandpaper (400-1000) a few times until you get the desired sharpness. Keep going to see if your desired level of sharpness can be achieved.
If you feel that the sandpaper is not achieving the desired results, you have two options:
- Take them to a professional sharpener
- Or, assuming you are comfortable sharpening knives with a Japanese whetstone, you can sharpen them yourself.
First, two terms to be familiar with:
- Bevel: The slanted edge of the blade on the outside of the scissors (as opposed to the flat side on the inside)
- Burr: the very slight rough edge (or curl) on the opposite side to the side you have just sharpened
Disassemble the scissors by fully unscrewing the adjustment wheel, taking care to note the assembly order and don’t lose the washers!
Note that you must sharpen very carefully in order to avoid removing excess coloured coating from the scissors. Then you can carefully sharpen the bevelled (outside) edge of each blade individually using your whetstone according to your preference or the manufacturer’s instructions. We generally only use the finer (4000 - 6000 polishing) side.
The flat (inside) edge does not need to be sharpened and should remain perfectly flat (once the burr has been evened out, as per below).
Each blade has a slight curve in it to ensure that the scissors cuts right to the tip. This is an indication that they are a well made high-precision tool. For this reason you will need to proceed carefully and sharpen each blade in 2 or 3 stages but the whole process shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.
Test the scissors for sharpness as you progress with the sharpening process as you don’t want to over-sharpen them.
If you get a slight burr (it should never be more than a slight burr!) on the inside of the blades, making a few cuts in a doubled over sheet of paper will remove the burr.
Good care and frequent maintenance is the key to keeping your scissors in great working order over the longer term.
We really hope you enjoy your OUI CHEF kit and that it serves you extremely well. Please get in touch with the OUI CHEF team [ hello@ouichef.kitchen ] or on WhatsApp via our website if you have any issues or require further information.