The Manufacturing Process of Utsumi handmade Jyo-Utopia
and NOVA brand shears

Material used I the manufacture hand-mad shears consists of an alloy of iron, chrome, carbon, cobalt and other materials. The style of the shears itself is simple, but achieving this simplicity requires a fine and high degree of skill from skilled craftsmen with many years of experience.

The Utsumi manufacturing process starts by welding together a stamped handle with the blade. This process determines the center of gravity of the implement and can only be accomplished by skilled veterans. The next step is rough shaping. The quality of the shears will be determined in this important process which involves grinding and smoothing of the weld and shaping the shears according to the product specification for width, length, surface and blade shape, hollow ground, and drilling the hole for the pivot.

The hollow ground part is the heart of the shears. It is the base of the "twist" when the shears are in the final finishing process. The "twist" enables the even distribution of the feedback force even hen you cut from the base to the tip of the shears. This process cannot be performed by a computer and requires skilled, and experienced human touch. Utsumi craftsmen have between 10 to 20 years of experience before they are qualified to handle this crucial step in the manufacturing process.

The final process removes any distortions and fine tunes the shears to approach the finished product. The hollow ground side of the shears are polished using a cloth buffing machine and sharpened by a disc stone. The hand sharpening involves several steps from coarse to fine which are applied to both blades. Finally, with the pivot screw installed, dynamic performance is adjusted and verified using a special instrument for fine tuning the completed product. A skilled professional will notice the quality of the handmade shears the moment they hold them in their hand.

	These "Giant Shears" are on display at the factory, they actually have sharp edges.