Tin Snips: Drop-Forged Halves, Trimmed and Riveted

Tinner's snips are made of drop-forged carbon steel. An 1869 patent for forging shears describes the method: a blank is first drawn out under a hammer from a bar, close to the finished shape. It is then struck between a pair of shaped dies; the part of the die that forms the handle's bow presses the metal outward and opens the hole. A thin film of surplus metal, the flash, is left around the edges and across the bow, so the piece goes through a set of trimming dies that cut it away and leave it ready for finishing. Where the two handles differ, each half needs its own dies. The same patent names the "slip-shears" used by mechanics for cutting tin and other sheet metal. The two halves are then riveted together.