Studies of cloth-cropping shears
Several designs of shears for cap-makers, compared for speed of opening and closing
The sheet gathers several designs of large shears of the kind cap-makers use to crop the nap of cloth, each captioned with its handling. Leonardo notes one pair that opens and closes in a single stroke of the hand, others of quick opening or quick release, and praises a version whose operator need not fight the spring at the heel of the shears but only attend to cutting the nap.
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Shears that open and close in one stroke
One design is captioned as closing and opening entirely in a single movement of the hand, and another as being of quick opening with a closing action common to the other pairs.
Cap-makers' cropping shears with an easy spring
Leonardo labels one pair the shears with which cap-makers crop cloth, noting its motion is far easier because the operator need not move the spring or bend as with shears made of a single piece; here one attends only to cutting the nap and not to forcing the spring at the heel of the shears.
A shear with faster opening
A further pair is noted as closing at the common speed of the others, but opening much more quickly than the rest.