Retired teacher sharpens skills to become full-time 'Scissor Guy'

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

Hayward Erwin attributes a lot of practice combined and a little talent to his success. -- Staff photo by Taylor

March 10, 2005 - When Hayward Erwin of Riverside started teaching high school social studies, almost 30 years ago, scissors were probably the last thing on his mind.

But he's always been interested in mechanics and how things work, so it only seemed natural when he took the opportunity to learn how to sharpen tools and scissors from a retired NASA employee.

Then, when Erwin retired from teaching in 1997, he took what had become a "hobby" and started traveling around Texas, sharpening scissors and other tools. Now, Erwin is simply known as the "Scissor Guy," and works his "hobby" full-time.

Some customers who have met him at various shows or places mail their scissors to his home for sharpening. But with increased security following 9/11, has sending scissors through the mail become a problem? Erwin said no. Owners pack the scissors in several layers of bubble-wrap, and then package them, and Erwin uses the same packaging to mail them back.

But the Scissor Guy doesn't just sit at home whittling metal. Five days a month, Erwin follows a select route in South Central Texas, and his customers have learned when and where to expect him. Plus, Erwin even goes as far as Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma and Louisiana, offering his services at local quilt shows, cloth shops, upholstery stores and window-treatment shops.

On a good day, he can sharpen up to 120 pairs of scissors, although he noted that pinking shears are the hardest type to sharpen. He uses a Foley Bell Saw, made by a very old company by the same name, and ... yes ... he sometimes nips the ends of his fingers during the testing!

"It's not rocket science! You just need a little bit of talent and a lot of practice," explained Erwin.

Along those same lines, he said he is always concerned that he might ruin a "family heirloom." One customer brought a pair of scissors that were about two-feet-plus in length ... something Erwin had never seen. Turned out the scissors had belonged to the lady's grandfather who had passed away, long ago, and when family members were moving furniture from a family home, the scissors that had been missing for years fell out of the bottom of a sofa!

The story was that the lady's grandfather had worked in a mattress factory for many years to earn a living for his family, and the discovery of the scissors was very bittersweet, remembering how hard he had worked.

That's what Erwin said makes his job so special to him; hearing the stories behind the various tools/scissors he sharpens, and knowing there are family ties that could not be broken. It's not the money that keeps him known as the "Scissor Guy," it's that he feels a strong pull towards families and their histories.

"When you think that you can put your hands right where they (family) put theirs ... that's very special to me," said Erwin.