A scissor grinder (German: Scherenschleifer), sometimes also scissor and knife grinder or knife and scissor grinder, for short also knife grinder, is a craftsman who sharpens and repairs blunt knives, scissors and other cutting tools. It is an apprenticeship profession that nevertheless requires much experience.
Wandering knife and scissors sharpeners, also known as itinerant sharpeners or, more antiquatedly, cart sharpeners, have existed in Europe since the Middle Ages. Traditionally, they came from a few regions of origin in northern Italy and northwestern Spain. In addition, the itinerant craft was practiced by the so-called traveling people, including Sinti and Roma, and is one of the traditional occupations of the Yenish, especially in Central and Western Europe. They moved through the towns and offered sharpening and sharpening knives and scissors. In the second half of the 20th century, the demand declined sharply and almost came to a standstill. Thus, demand increasingly diminished as cutlery was used less overall in the domestic sphere as a result of the decline in general agricultural activity and the changing supply and buying patterns of food and textiles. The main reason for the lack of demand, however, was the fall in the price of new goods due to the emergence of mass production in cutlery.
In the meantime, the profession of knife and scissors grinders is rarely practiced and is thus one of the crafts threatened with extinction. In addition, professional sharpening tools are increasingly available commercially for household and commercial use. Since the end of the 20th century, the reduced general need for re-sharpening dulled knives and scissors has been served mostly by a dwindling number of mobile small entrepreneurs, some of whom move around nationwide, as an itinerant trade, and by various stationary specialized businesses, some of which are dispatched by mail.
Meanwhile, there is still continuous demand from some industries and professional groups, such as the catering, slaughterhouses and hairdressing salons, as well as more demanding hobby chefs, who often use high-quality and usually very expensive cutting tools. In addition to the specialized trade, a number of stationary and mobile sharpening and grinding services have thus developed since the end of the 20th century, most of which offer specialized services.
History
Emergence of the itinerant trade and grinding technology
With the increasing demand for cutting and thrusting weapons, the scissor and knife grinder emerged from the armorer's trade around 1500. The name comes from his task of grinding a pair of scissor blades to fit. During the production of swords and daggers, etc., they had to be sharpened several times, which was often done by specialized assistants of the armorer. When, in addition to weapons, "good scissors and knives" were increasingly needed by various crafts and were also in demand in private households, the craft of the cutler developed in the 16th century. Subsequently, the increasing qualitative and quantitative demands on the products led to a further division of labor in the form of splitting up the manufacturing process and new occupational groups emerged, such as the blacksmith, heat treating, grinders, sword sweepers and later the reiders. In particular, the "cutlery knife" went from being a special utensil of the nobility to an important everyday item for a broad section of the population. In addition, there was a general increase in the demand for cutlery and scissors, as well as fly cutter, billhook and other cutting tools. As with the armorers, a decentralized method of production prevailed among the knifemakers, which was provided by "mostly independent small masters with their own workshops."
As a result of the wider distribution and use of knives and scissors, the need arose to resharpen cutting tools that had become dull through use. In the case of both knives and scissors, the blades wear out depending on the type and duration of use, in that the sharp edges are initially bent to the side in the minimal range during use, and subsequently torn out and become chipped, which makes recurring sharpening or re-sharpening necessary. This gave rise to the itinerant trade of the knife and scissors sharpener, who moved across the country and through the cities with his standard equipment, usually a grinding wheel, offering and providing resharpening.Velten, Anke (2016-06-02). "Richtig scharf gemacht". weser-kurier.de.
Saint Catherine of Alexandria is considered the patron saint of scissors cutters, as she is for armorers, among others.
The principle of grinding or (re)sharpening is always the same: The blade, such as of a pair of scissors, is moved lengthwise over an even harder surface, a grinding wheel. The heat generated in the process must be dissipated, if necessary, so that the steel of the sharpened material does not lose its hardness, which is already the case at temperatures above 170 °C. The thin cutting edges of knife blades, such as those of a pair of scissors, are always ground lengthwise. The thin cutting edges of knife blades are particularly susceptible. The simplest device, which can still be seen in folklore museums, is a mobile, elongated and open water box, into which the round whetstone protrudes halfway from the top. This is cranked over with the foot or the left hand, while the right hand guides the sharpening material. The water serves to cool the grinding wheel and thus the sharpening material. Rather rarely, the hand crank or (foot) pedal drive was operated by a second person.
Soon, the grinding wheel was cooled mainly by means of a storage and drip container with an adjustable outlet tap mounted above the wheel, from which the grinding wheel was wetted with water (or sometimes also with grinding oil). In addition to the improved controllability, this had the advantage of reducing the weight for transportable grinding racks or for the later grinding carts.
→ See, for example, the corresponding device in the illustrated woodcut "Der Schleyffer" by Jost Amman from his "Ständebuch," c. 1568.
Cart grinders, Moleti, Arrotini, Afiladores
As a result of the emerging demand, scissors grinders began offering their services as itinerant craftsmen in the 17th century. In the beginning, they usually used a portable grinding frame with the grinding wheel, which they carried on their backs. Partly, however, they also used the larger grinding wheels that were usually available in settlements and remote farms, etc., and thus offered only their skill as knife and scissors sharpeners.
From the end of the 17th century, the transportable grinding frame was predominantly replaced by the more robust grinding cart and so-called cart grinders moved from place to place. In the course of further technical developments, differently constructed sander carts or sander carts were created in Europe and the Near East, such as the "Austrian sander", which was widely used in Central Europe. With the end of the First World War in 1918 and "with the industrial production of cutlery, the trade of the cart grinder died out."Helmut Rief. "Der Karrenschleifer und seine Geschichte!". rief-dieschleiferei.at. Helmut Rief, Volders, retrieved November 8, 2018
The wandering craftsmen often came from the then Welschtirol (later: Trentino) and belonged mainly to a few families from the high valley Val Rendena – also called Valle dei Moleti (German: Tal der Messerschleifer) – north of Riva del Garda. As so-called "Moleta" they spread the scissors sharpening craft not only throughout Europe, but also in the US and many other countries of the world. In addition to the seasonal or year-long migration of the men from the Val di Fassa, many of them emigrated permanently and became residents abroad."History of Service Wet Grinding". servicewetgrinding.com. Retrieved February 22nd, 2020.
Another region of origin was the Résia in Friuli, Italy, where there was (also) too little work and the men traveled as scissor grinders, so-called "Arrotini," throughout Europe and especially through the former lands of Austria-Hungary to ensure the survival of their families. The typical grinding carts of the Arrotini were replaced in the 1960s by converted bicycles with the grinding wheel permanently mounted between the handlebars and the saddle. After jacking up the rear wheel with a fold-down or separate stand, which also makes the jacked-up wheel stable, the grinding wheel can be driven by the normal pedals via a belt or separate chain. In more recent times, motorization took place through the use of motor-driven implements and appropriately converted motor vehicles. In the meantime, this itinerant craft has ceased to be important.Comitato Associativo Monumento all’Arrotino: Arrotini Val Resia. arrotinivalresia.it. Comitato Associativo Monumento all’Arrotino, retrieved November 11, 2018.In the rural Spanish region of Galicia, the tradition of scissors sharpeners can be traced back to the late 17th century. The so-called "Afiladores" came mainly from various towns in the north of the local province of Ourense and left their cultural imprint there. Thus, they developed their own cant, the barallete, which was based on the Galician language and enriched it with a mixture of technical knowledge and the itinerant craft of the Galician scissors grinders. The original tool of the afiladores was a rack with the grinding wheel, which they carried on their backs. Later it became a grinding cart that was pushed, then an adapted "scissors grinder's bicycle" as in the Italian Arrotini, and finally it was partly motorized. Meanwhile, the trade of afiladores also lost its importance.Dominguez Carballo, Jose Luis (2017-06-05): Lembranzas de Armariz: La emigración estacional o temporal >> Los afiladores. lembranzasdearmariz.blogspot.com. June 15, 2017, retrieved February 8, 2020.
Wandering craftsmen, scissors grinders from the traveling people
Travelling merchants and craftsmen have been found in Europe since the Middle Ages, mainly Jews and Sinti and Roma. The reason for this was their social exclusion: they were not allowed to settle as craftsmen in the cities and were not accepted into the guilds. Thus, they earned their living as traveling merchants, peddlers, tinkers, scissor grinders or actors and artists. In the urban societies they sold goods that were often not offered by the urban merchants. As craftsmen, their trades – such as that of the scissors grinder – covered a niche in urban crafts, which on the one hand required a certain level of skill, but on the other hand was also not sufficient for subsistence in the city. In rural society, itinerant craftsmen and peddlers were important for their supply and satisfaction of needs until the middle of the 20th century.