[Elissian]

Does anyone know where i can buy left handed footrot shears. I get so frustrated, my partner can cut hooves really easily whereas i have to flip my wrist over and cut upside down and can only successfully do this down one side of the hoof. Someone told me you can reverse the blades on some types of shears. Any advice appreciated, thanks
Helen

[Roxy]

I can sympathise, being left handed.  But, I am fortunate in that I only write with my left hand, and use my right hand for most other tasks.  Can't help with left handed foot rot shears though.

[supplies for smallholders]

Hi,

Maybe you need a different type of shear, with blades that are not too thick.

Have a look at the Breeding and rearing brochure download on our site, there are a few types that could be flipped over easily. Also we do the left handed hoof knives.

Thanks

Gareth
www.suppliesforsmallholders.co.uk

[kanisha]

I too am left handed.

thinking about it I can use the foot rot shears in either hand this also works for scissors ( i'm a groomer by trade)
it just means that when you use them in your left hand you place a twist on the blades in a slightly different angle ( the only difficulty comes with scissors with moulded handles)

practice with a pair of ordinary scissors you don't notice but when you use scissors in order to get the two blades to meet the hand places pressure at a certain angle of twist. ( the blades are positioned and cut to assist this natural angle of working when you switch the same scissors  or shears into your left hand you have to get the blades to come together at the same angle and it means placing a different and ( less natural) angle with the left hand. I have no clue about mechanics but the right hand thumb pushes the top blade towards the left and the grip of the fingers pulls towards the right. in the left hand to get right handed scissors to work you need to pull to the left with your thumb and push to the right with your hand grip. (I have to say I don't spend a lot of time analysing this but its more a feeling you get in your hands.) sorry don't know how to help otherwise.

[kanisha]

found this on wiki

Most scissors are best suited to use with the right hand, but left-handed  scissors are designed for use by the left. Because scissors have overlapping blades, they are not symmetric. This asymmetry is true regardless of the orientation and shape of the handles: the blade that is on top always forms the same diagonal regardless of orientation. Human hands are also asymmetric, and when closing, the thumb and fingers do not close vertically, but have a lateral component to the motion. Specifically, the thumb pushes out and fingers pull inwards. For right-handed scissors held in the right hand, the thumb blade is further from the body so that the natural tendency of the right hand is to force the cutting blades together. Conversely, if right-handed scissors are held in the left hand, the natural tendency of the left hand would be to force the cutting blades laterally apart. Furthermore, with right-handed scissors held by the right-hand, the shearing edge is visible, but when used with the left hand the cutting edge of the scissors is behind the top blade, and one cannot see what is being cut.

Some scissors are marketed as ambidextrous. These have symmetric handles so there is no distinction between the thumb and finger handles, and have very strong pivots so that the blades simply rotate and do not have any lateral give. However, most "ambidextrous" scissors are in fact still right-handed. Even if they successfully cut, the blade orientation will block the view of the cutting line for a left-handed person. True ambidextrous scissors are possible if the blades are double-edged and one handle is swung all the way around (to almost 360 degrees) so that the back of the blades become the new cutting edges. Patents (U.S. Patent 3,978,584) have been awarded for true ambidextrous scissors.

[lindy]

You can buy left handed foot shears - I bought some by mistake once. I got them at the local Ag merchants called SCATS.
I am sure many similar large outlets sell them.

[Elissian]

Hi, thankyou all for your replies. scats is our local farm shop, i asked about 6 months ago and they said they couldn't get them but i will ask again.
I will try putting stress on a different part of my hand as i can see what you are saying about the hand pulling the blades apart. when i cut, the sheeps horn usually ends up lying between the two closed  blades without actually being cut. I've always used left handed skissors as my mum realised when i was quite small that i had a problem and got me all sorts of left handed things, even left handed playing cards, before you ask the numbers and suits are on all 4 corners of the card allowing you to fan them both ways.

[kanisha]

it was a standard joke with my grandfather about lefthanded cards:-/  you have no idea how many things ti affects until you are left handed!: Best of luck

[Elissian]

Yes I always thought i was clumsy as i always seemed to knock people when i sat next to them. Then my son was left handed so i got a book out of the library about living left handed just in case it taught me to help him. I realised i'm not clumsy, just left handed in a predominantly right handed world.
Lambing should start here any day now so I'll be needing my shears before turnout, hopefully your advice will sort me out!
thanks, Helen