Mercer CulinaryKitchen Shears 8-Inch

First off, the Mercer Culinary M14804 Multi-Purpose Shears are the same as the Kershaw Taskmaster 1120X Shears and the Shun DM7300 Shears. These are not just copies of each other, they are the exact same scissors made in the same factory by the same Chinese factory workers. The only difference is the engravings. These were previously made in Japan, but the factory moved to China. They still get their raw material from Japan. Don’t pay more for the Shun or Kershaw. Mercer is the same at a lower price. Shun used to be $26 when made in Japan. They raised the price to $49 and they are now in China. Go figure. Any of these shears are definitely not worth more than $20. I got mine on sale for $13, but I would still be ok with $17 (current price).I also picked up a pair of KitchenAid All Purpose Shears and J.A. Henckels International 11517-100 Take-Apart Kitchen Shears. I definitely like the Mercer Culinary M14804 Multi-Purpose Shears the most amount these three options.:::: Cleanliness ::::Both the Mercer and the Henckels both come apart to make it possible to clean and dry without getting water or bacteria trapped inside. This is a MUST HAVE feature for kitchen shears. KitchenAid does not come apart.::::: Blade Sharpness ::::The Mercer and KitchenAid are both very sharp blades and nice to cut with. From normal use I can’t tell which is sharper, but I didn’t try any side-by-side cutting tests. The Henckels blade sharpness fine, but slightly more rough if you hold the other scissors in your hand.:::: Ergonomics/ Handle ::::Henkles is by far the worst here. The holes are smaller with less room for the fingers to comfortably fit and it feels a little cramped. It’s not painful but not enjoyable. It also makes it more difficult to open the blades and use the scissors. I noticed it, but didn’t realize how much of a disappointment the Henckels is until I used the other shears. The Mercer and KitchenAid are both very comfortable, nice to hold, and easy to open and close. I give the KitchenAid the edge here.:::: Usable Blade Length ::::This is less important because they all have enough to cut but one think to note is the bone cutter notch on the Mercer reducers the usable blade length for most uses. Even with the reduction in usable length it still seems to have more cutting length than the Henckels, especially since I have trouble opening the Henckels all the way. KitchenAid has more length.:::: Functionality and Extras ::::What do you need? I don’t need a mediocre nut cracker or sub-par bottle opener. I won’t use them. I just wanted good quality shears. I’d prefer to pay less and only receive what I need. The protective cover cap on the KitchenAid is nice though because the tip is dangerously sharp.:::: Durability ::::I have not had these long term to be able to say which one will hold the sharpness longer, but I suspect the Mercer will win. The metal is thicker and feels more heavy duty than the others. It is also supposedly made with a high strength carbon steel which means it will hold its edge longer but also be more likely to rust if you don’t dry it.Bottom line... buy the Mercer Culinary M14804 8-7/8” Multi-Purpose Shears. You won’t regret it. If you want an extra pair of good scissors around the house (not for the kitchen) I’d also recommend the KitchenAid, but get it on sale at or at a local store. I bought mine for $6 at a local store.

I love these scissors. This is my second pair- I bought them to have a pair in my craft room. Nice and sharp, strong, easy to clean.

Wanted to get a Shun but didnt felt like spending too much on a pair of kitchen shears. Then I came across this by Mercer, which looks almost identical to the Shun one. Its really hard to get however and is always out of stock, but my patience paid off and managed to get it in the end. Sharp right out of the box, feels sturdy and fits quite comfortably around the fingers.

These are ultra sharp and durable, and piece together and a part nicely. Careful when washing!

These scissors: AWSOME FOR PRICESharp, the break down is smooth and they go back together fast. They are easy to clean, just be careful - once you take them apart you're messing with two knives. They worked great for prep work. I needed some fill in pairs after my "basic" ones got borrowed by a six year old and the edges were shot and they aren't worth sending to have re-sharpened. (Thankfully the poultry shears are out of reach.)For the price you can't beat these.(Mercer in general as I'm a new convert. I got hooked by one of their filet knives...)On Mercer - the Hyundai of the knife world. When Hyundai first came out, they wer eanother generic no name economy recruiter and no one know if they'd make it to 100k without major issues. Twenty years later you can't kill the thing.Mercer has a wide range of entry level "stamped" knives and shears made out of good steel to professional knives that are forged, hand finished, and rivel Wusthof in quality. In many cases it's the same steel you see in higher end kives. The difference is in place of manufacture. If I compare on price alone I can run an 8" Western or Japanese chef's blade from Wusthof or the Henkel hand forged European made ines head to head with Mercer and it's the same metal, same hardness, same or similar handle material and construction method (full tang vs. not, etc) the difference is around $125 in cost. (Under 150 for Mercer, under 250 for Wusthof.)Most of my knives are Wusthof or Henckels (Spain / Germany), forged. I got my first Mercer when I needed a filet knife quick and loved it. Incredibly sharp blade out of the box, great edge retention, and it was a cheaper Mercer. If you had to pick between the three, top of all lines, my guess is it would come down to personal feel. The highest end of Mercer's line is at the very least strong competition for legacy makers, if not equal. Mercer's core line up are made in Taiwan using forged German steel for the most part. Some of the more affordable Mercer Premium are made in China, while a few are made in Germany (I've seen the read knife with a German mark.) Of the three, I prefer not to buy bladed tools from China, Mercer is how I made my first opinion on Taiwan and for them it's great. I've never used their bread knife, I've got a twenty five year old German one.I'd like to find a shop with their full line so I could hold some side by side against other brands I like. I'm not one of those if it's not Wusthof it sucks people, I am partial though to forged vs. stamped, I want riveted handles as the clean well and the grip will never shift when cutting, and it retains edges well. My oldest kitchen knife goes back to highschool so if well cared for 32 years and counting is easy, I've had legacy knives made in the 1800's that are still good - though they are running short on material after being sharpened over 150 years and are now decorative.If you are starting down the road consider Mercer - they are definitely worth it just figure out the differences in their product lines (If you are using Henkel or Zwilling you need to really know there product line as I like their entry level stuff better than Wal Mart Generic but that's not saying much. If you need a daily knife thats built to last forged in Mercer or one of the others is a good place to look. When it comes to cheap stamped entry level knives I use those for when it more or less doesn't matter (not used often and not for fine work). Mercer so far has turned out blades that have performed in line with the rest of my main kit which means I'm comparing to Wusthoff or Henkel, forged, German or Spanish. I'm starting to experiment with Japanese knives so I'm looking at the MX 3 series from Mercer which seems to be similar in quality to Wusthoff. (So more affordable but not cheap. :) )

I use scissors a lot in the kitchen.

They work great, and they've lasted a very long time. Love these!

If you know what good quality kitchen shears are and can do then nothing else will work for you. These are those shears for me. Sturdy, sharp, plenty of built in utility. I have 1 pair for home and 1 pair for my knife roll for work.