What are the names of the parts of a shear?

Do you know the names for the parts of your scissors? Try to guess the names then look at the answers below. If these names differ from your school textbook, use that terminology on your tests and the vocabulary below when talking to scissor sharpeners or scissor salesmen since these are the more common definitions they would use.

Parts of a Shear

1. Finger Hole or Ring (Spanish Anillos) – this is the place where you put your finger. Often both rings are called “finger holes” or more commonly the rings are called finger hole and thumb hole to distinguish. The arrow points toward the finger hole.
2. Shank (Spanish Mango) – attaches the finger holes to the pivot. Sometimes these can be smooth as picture in this Bonika International Shear or have a contoured shank or camel hump shank as on the Bonika ProMaster or Bonika Jazzy Shears. Shears are often referred to as offset meaning one shank is longer than the other or even handled meaning the shanks are equal in length.
3. Pivot Screw (Spanish Tornillo) – holds the shear together. The screw pictured is called a thumb nut screw or adjustable screw. Other shears may have a regular or flat screw. Newer shears may have what is referred to as a UFO screw that requires a specialized tool for adjustment.
4. Inner Blade (Spanish Hoja Interior) – this is the side of the blades that face each other. This particular shear is hollow ground. Lower priced scissors will be flat on the inside and are referred to as having no hollow grind.
5. Cutting Edge (Spanish Corte) – the sharp part of the shears. This shear has a convex, hamaguri, clam shell or Japanese type edge. (These all have the same meaning.) German style scissors usually have a visible grind line and are called beveled or German edge.
6. Ride Line (Spanish viaje) sometimes referred to as a tracking line. This is the smooth shiny line along the inside edge of the blade on which the blades slide or ride over each other. Lower quality scissors will not have this line. Better shears will have this line applied by using a Japanese waterstone or whetstone.
7. Point (Spanish Punta) or tip of the shear. This section gets the most wear especially since many stylists today employ point cutting to create jagged lines.
8. Spine or Bask (Spanish Lomo) the thickest part of the blade usually opposite the cutting edge but may be down the center of the blade in sword edge shears like the Bonika Fishbone Shear.
9. Outer Blade (Spanish Hoja Externa) – the side of the blade that is visible when the shears are closed.
10. Insert Rings or Sizers (Spanish Mmedidor de Anillos) a plastic or rubber ring that fits inside the finger and thumb holes to make the holes smaller to custom fit a hand.
11. Bumper or Silencer (Spanish Amortiguador de goma) A rubber or plastic insert that prevents shock to the hand when shears are opened an closed and keeps the shears handles from clanging noisly together when the shears cut. Some of the new shears have screw on bumpers but most are glued in as in the one pictured.
12. Half Moon (Spanish Luna Creciente) – sometimes referred to as the ride. This area is behind the pivot and is a smooth area where the blades move over each other. Some shears will have a Teflon ride or plastic ride inserted here or other system to create a smoother feel on the shears.
13. Logo or Trademark (Spanish Marca Registrada) – indicates who made the shear. The back will usually indicate the model number, country of origin, length or type of steel.
14. Finger Rest or Tang (Spanish Gancho) the place where the pinky finger rests so it is also called a pinky rest at times. Not all shears have tangs, but the ones for the US market usually have either a detachable finger rest as in the picture or a fixed finger rest that can not be removed.

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