Precision Shears

MIZUTANI SCISSORS

The History

The beginning of Mizutani all started in 1921 in Asakusa, Tokyo where Mizutani decided to create scissors from the passion and the necessity of the best quality scissors.Mizutani was not satisfied with the idea of just "scissors only for cutting" and therefore developed "scissors for easy-use and well-cutting." Over the years Mizutani has improved the traditional craftsmanship and has taken the entire concept it to another level. To this day Mizutani continues to focus and improve the quality and design of scissors.

The scissors


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The Material

Mizutani uses the highest class of steel that appropriately contains the right amount of cobalt, molybdenum and vanadium, according to the purpose of the scissors. The best characteristics of the steel are chosen for slide cutting scissors and thinning scissors as well. Mizutani always uses the correct material that always meets the purpose of the scissors properly, not just by changing the grade.

Mizutani pays close attention to heat-treatment. Their scissors are hardened by the high temperature of 1000 degrees of more. Then the scissors are cooled down suddenly by the temperature of -100 degrees ("sub-zero" process) to remove the retained austenite. This process makes the scissors a minimum distortion. Under such a condition, steel only gets hard.

The Craftsmanship

Courtesy of Motik

FAQ's

Which shears are best for me?

Which steel sheer quality is better, those made in Japan, Korea, or Germany?

Japan has the highest standards for workmanship and quality with steels in hair cutting shears.

Many shears made in Korea which can save some costs on labor, and still maintain good quality.

Use steels from Japan. Look for Japanese Steel.

What metals are used in my scissor?

YIron, Carbon, Nickel, and various other alloys like cobalt, and manganese. When using stainless Steel Chromium is added to make steel Stainless, and prevent rust. Handles are welding to the blades and not constructed using the same quality steels. This is not necessary and would add to the cost.

What are the different categories of stainless steel used to produce hair cutting scissors?

Steels are important to a point in a scissor, and when combined with high-quality machining and design you have a beautiful cutting shear ready to provide excellent performance for many years or career depending on the quality of service the shear receives.

You should never purchase a scissor with a stainless steel rating of less than 440C. This is an industry-standard for stainless steel in hair cutting shears. There are a few entry-level shears made using 410, and 420.

Cobalt Alloy Steel is abrasion resistant and will give increased blade retention, and a longer last edge. These shears can also be machined to a finer edge and have the steel hold the edge the result of adding Cobalt Alloy.

They often cost more due to the increased labor costs of finishing and polishing and extra abrasives used in the finishing process.

Cobalt does have some categories and some companies use there own. They include Cobalt Alloy, ATS-314, V-1, V-10 and now they are using a powered Sintered Cobalt Alloy that is expensive but has excellent performance, and with the use of the sintered powered steel process has great quality control when producing it.

Is there a scissor that never needs to be sharpened?

This is fiction, and simply not true. There are high-quality steels that can hold an edge longer than others with the use of Cobalt Alloys but the longest we can see a shear used everyday cutting hair to last is about 18-24 months and most need to be serviced in about 12 months.

This depends some on the use of the shear how many cuts per day.

The wear resistance when cutting strands of hair is the same as cutting equal diameter strands of copper..! Hair is Keratinized Protein, soft and pliable with strong resistance to cutting.