Daily Wire Tip Dec. 11: Can Lindstrom Cutters be Repaired?

Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip
December 11, 2009

Question:

I damaged the cutting edges of my Lindstrom cutters. Do you know if they can be repaired (sharpened)?

Answer:

First I`d contact Lindstrom directly to see if they offer a reconditioning service like Swanstrom does, or find a professional who does tool reconditioning as Lindstom products are rather pricey to mess around with. But they are no good to you as they are and to recondition them yourself, you would use a diamond file or sharpening stone and working in one direction from the joint toward the point, you can reshape and sharpen them yourself. Just remember that as you do this you are removing metal and the jaws will not meet again unless you adjust the jaws to close tighter afterward. (My dear husband made the mistake of using my heavy Swanstrom cutters once for something that about destroyed them and as a metalworker he was able to recondition them for me.)

Answer contributed by Dale `Cougar` Armstrong

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One Comment

1. 

   Jessie Adams

   December 11, 2009 at 1:04 pm

   Sorry to here about your pliers. Trust me your not the only one on the planet that has done this.

   Yep this is why Swanstrom gets the big bucks for theirs. Having gone through several pairs over the years when it comes to cutters.

   I know only three things that you can do:

   1) Try to find someone local that has a sharpening service. The best are usually the guy that has had the shop in the garage for twenty years.

   2) Reuse them where smoothness of cut is not important. I have a couple that I use for trimming spurs and rough pieces off of quartz crystals and minerals preliminary to wrapping. The perpendicular ones work the best. Don’t everybody faint at once! I use eye protection and hand/ foot protections (it’s not fun stepping on a quartz shard that you missed) but it does allow you to trim up the crystals precisely

   3) recycle them.
   Merry Christmas, everyone!
   J