Clip Art
Comments: 2
Ah, the endless battle of man versus nature doled out in yearly rituals. Once again it’s open season on the jasmine* and I’m showing up better armed this year thanks to my new secateurs. I’ve never owned a pair of the Japanese-style ones before but now that I do, I’m feeling ready to do battle in a way I can only describe as Confucian.
To look at them you wouldn’t think they’d be very comfortable but in fact they are and the secret lies in their sitting lower in the hand than Western shears or scissors. The upper handle rests right down at the base of your thumb whereas Western handles tend to have you using the main bone of the thumb (and probably enlisting the distal edge of the first joint as a stability point against the fore-edge of the thumbhole). This brings into play that whole pad of muscle that seats thumb to palm as both cushioning and motive force.
Because the handles are big and wide, you operate them a little differently than Western secateurs. The movement comes from down in your palm rather than your fingers, a big grabby motion you’d use to catch a tennis ball compared to the animating-a-sock-puppet feeling you get from smaller handles.
The weight feels nicely placed about a centimetre behind the brass rivet that hinges the blades. Oh, and they’re sharp as hell.
* I coincidentally bought these today and thought I’d have at the jasmine then remembered I’d written about the jasmine before — on this same date last year as it happens. July 12th must officially be death to jasmine day.
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Posted to Photographs • 2003.07.12 (Sat) • 17:49
Comments
Posted by kristen 2003.07.13, 13:40
I love your comparison of the way the scissors feel. Captured exactly so. You have a great way with words.
Posted by bob 2005.06.24, 04:36
speaking of cool retro and vintage clip art, check out this awesome halloween clip art collection http://www.andynortnik.com/cd_halloween.htm
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