A nail clipper (also called nail clippers, a nail trimmer, a nail cutter or nipper type) is a hand tool used to

trim Trim or TRIM may refer to: Cutting * Cutting or trimming small pieces off something to remove them ** Book trimming, a stage of the publishing process ** Pruning, trimming as a form of pruning often used on trees Decoration * Trim (sewing), or ...

fingernails A nail is a claw-like plate found at the tip of the fingers and toes on most primates. Nails correspond to the claws found in other animals. Fingernails and toenails are made of a tough protective protein called alpha-keratin, which is a polymer ...

, toenails and

hangnail A hangnail is a tiny, torn piece of skin next to a fingernail or toenail, related to ingrown nails. The hangnail's other scientific names are: eponychium or paronychium. Hangnails are typically caused by having dry skin, or by trauma to the fin ...

Design

Nail clippers are usually made of stainless steel but can also be made of plastic and aluminum. Two common varieties are the

plier Pliers are a hand tool used to hold objects firmly, possibly developed from tongs used to handle hot metal in Bronze Age Europe. They are also useful for bending and physically compressing a wide range of materials. Generally, pliers consist ...

type and the compound lever type. Many nail clippers usually come with a miniature

file File or filing may refer to: Mechanical tools and processes * File (tool), a tool used to ''remove'' fine amounts of material from a workpiece **Filing (metalworking), a material removal process in manufacturing ** Nail file, a tool used to gent ...

fixed to it to allow rough edges of nails to be

manicure A manicure is a mostly cosmetic beauty treatment for the fingernails and hands performed at home or in a nail salon. A manicure usually consists of filing and shaping the ''free edge'' of nails, pushing and clipping (with a cuticle pusher ...

d. Nail clippers occasionally come with a nail catcher. The nail clipper consists of a head that may be concave or convex. Specialized nail clippers which have convex clipping ends are intended for trimming toenails, while concave clipping ends are for fingernails. The cutting head may be manufactured to be

parallel Parallel is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Computing * Parallel algorithm * Parallel computing * Parallel metaheuristic * Parallel (software), a UNIX utility for running programs in parallel * Parallel Sysplex, a cluster of ...

perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It ca ...

to the principal axis of the cutter. Cutting heads that are parallel to the principal axis are made to address accessibility issues involved with cutting toenails.

History

Before the invention of the modern nail clipper, people would use small knives to trim or pare their nails. Descriptions of nail trimming in literature date as far back as the 8th century BC. The Book of Deuteronomy exhorts in 21:12 that a man, should he wish to take a captive as a wife, "shall bring her home to ishouse, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails". A reference is made in Horace's '' Epistles'', written circa 20 BC, to "A close-shaven man, it's said, in an empty barber's booth, penknife in hand, quietly cleaning his nails." The first

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

patent for an improvement in a finger-nail clipper was filed in 1875 by Valentine Fogerty. Other subsequent patents for an improvement in finger-nail clippers are those in 1876 by William C. Edge, and in 1878 by John H. Hollman. Filings for finger-nail clippers include, in 1881, those of Eugene Heim and Celestin Matz, in 1885 by George H. Coates (for a finger-nail ''cutter''), and in 1905 by Chapel S. Carter with a later patent in 1922. Around 1913, Carter was secretary of the H. C. Cook Company in

Ansonia, Connecticut Ansonia is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. Located on the Naugatuck River, it is immediately north of Derby, and about northwest of New Haven. The population was 18,918 at the time of the 2020 census. The ZIP code for ...

, which was incorporated in 1903 as the H. C. Cook Machine Company by Henry C. Cook, Lewis I. Cook, and Chapel S. Carter. Around 1928, Carter was president of the company when he claimed, about 1896, the "Gem"-brand fingernail clipper was introduced.
''

The American Exporter ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', Volume 102, John C. Cochran Co., 1928, p.162 (retrieved 30 August 2010 from Google Books) In 1947, William E. Bassett (who started the W. E. Bassett Company in 1939) developed the "Trim"-brand nail clipper,Baker, Nicholson
"Clip Art"
Annals of Technology, ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', November 7, 1994, pp. 165-67 (retrieved 30 August 2010) using the superior jaw-style design that had been around since the 19th century, but adding two nibs near the base of the file to prevent lateral movement, replacing the pinned rivet with a notched rivet, and adding a thumb-swerve in the lever.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nail Clipper Mechanical hand tools Nail care Cutting tools Domestic implements Toiletry Medical equipment 19th-century inventions

Design

History

See also

References

External links