Grip

  When gripping the shears, the blades should open smoothly, without getting caught onto itself at any point. Should feel well balanced and comfortable in your hands. Depending on the material you wish to cut, the spring in the hips of the scissors might be tough or weak for your needs. Choose your scissors accordingly for your needs.

Blade

  With a Nigiri-basami, there is a surface side and bottom side to the scissor/shears. The most important factor when cutting fabric and/or string, is how the back surface of the blade has been sharpened.

  For a proper sharp blade, the back surface of the Kiri-basami should be sharpened into a concave surface. The sharpening surface should be fine, and the grain lines should follow the surface all the way to the blade's edge. If the back of the Kiri-basami is not properly sharpened, the edges of the cut fabris or string may be left slightly frayed.

  The angle of the tap on the blade edge can also determine the kind of material one wishes to cut. For thin fabric and thin string, the angle of the blade edge tap is very steep, whereas for cutting thick fabric and thick string, the edge of the blade remains quite straight. Or course, making sure that the blade in general is smooth and sharp is also very important.

Kiriochi

  When the Kiri-basami is closed, the amount of space between the two tips of the blade should generally by about 3mms.

Types

  Depending whether you are cutting thin fabric, thick fabric, silk, polyesther, thick string, thin string and other various factors, the type, size and the strength of the waist spring can all differ.

  Also the angle of the blade edge can determine whether the fabric slips forward while the blade is closing on the actual material.

Holding a Nigiri-basami

Normal grip

Difference in shape

  Depending on a regions main industry, the shape and form of the nigiri-basami can be very different. Some shapes of a nigiri-basami can reflect the industry of certain regions. In accordance to the needs of the nigiri-basami users and the ingenuity of of scissor blacksmiths, nigiri-basamis are considered to be very sharp in all shapes and forms.

Sewing and spinning scissors

  In the world of sewing and spinning, there are countless shapes of nigiri-basamis, such as the Morimachi style, Tsume, Cho-ha, Kyo, and Knitting sword styles. Such nigiri-basamis (Japanese style scissors) are very sharp, with a strong waist spring, and are also capable of cutting thick fabric and thick string. Scrissors with a rounded tip are usually formed in such a shape, as they tent not to easily damage the fabric being cut while handling.

Shishu-sori Basami

  The cutting edge is bent at an angle so that the fingers do not get in the way, or touch the fabric. Also, makes for cutting string from its base much easier. To cut silk strings, Sori-basamis have a weak waist spring and the frame of the scissors is very thin. For cutting thick cotton or pungee strings (twisted one-ply cotton or silk yarn), the blade tip is usually made thicker, the waist spring stronger and the scissors itself is slightly longer.

When the nigiri-basami becomes dull

  Prepare a rough grade and fine grade whetstone. The back surface of a dull blade edge should shine white, and also possibly look worn. Look at the tapping angle very carefully , as you will need to sharpen the blade at the same angle. Begin sharpening the worn part of the blade edge with a rough grade whetstone and finish with a fine grade whetstone. The original sharpeness should soon return. If at all possible, have a professional sharpener take care of the sharpening.