A nail file is a tool that can be used to gently grind down and shape the edges of nails. They are often used in

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

s and pedicures after the nail has been trimmed using appropriate nail clippers. Nail files may either be emery boards, ceramic, glass, crystal, plain metal files or metal files coated with

corundum Corundum is a crystalline form of aluminium oxide () typically containing traces of iron, titanium, vanadium, and chromium. It is a rock (geology), rock-forming mineral. It is a naturally transparency and translucency, transparent material, but ...

. A nail drill is a powered rotary tool, which is used by a nail technician to file nails in a faster, more precise way.

Materials

Emery board

Emery boards are small, flat, long objects that have emery or emery paper glued to them, making them both abrasive and flexible, used for fingernail and toenail care. They are used by manicurists to shape and smooth the nail during manicure and pedicure sessions. Emery boards are inexpensive and disposable, making them a sanitary alternative to metal nail files. The emery board was first patented by J. Parker Pray of New York in 1883. Emery boards are generally less abrasive than metal nail files, and hence, emery boards may take longer to file down nails than metal nail files. Emery boards are usually less expensive than metal nail files and so can be economically disposed of after use on a single person. The nail can be smoothed and shaped accurately by taking light, even strokes in one direction across the top of the nail. Twenty to thirty easy strokes can typically shorten excessively long fingernails, while five to ten strokes are sufficient for shaping the nails.

Guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

players have also been known to use emery boards to smooth out

callus A callus (: calluses) is an area of thickened and sometimes hardened skin that forms as a response to repeated friction, pressure, or other irritation. Since repeated contact is required, calluses are most often found on the feet and hands, b ...

es which may snag the strings of their guitars.

Emery pitches

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitchers and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

bowlers have been known to use emery boards to scuff the outside of the ball. The roughness can offer more grip and hand control. Surface scratches also alter the ball's

aerodynamics Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...

making it more susceptible to spin and movement when in flight. However, the deliberate manipulation of the ball using an emery board is classified as cheating in baseball and cricket. In a 1987

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

incident, Joe Niekro of the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

was caught with an emery board in his pocket and suspended for ten games. He claimed it was for filing his nails.

Glass

Glass nail files are more recently available. Since glass nail files have a smoother and more even surface, they do not splinter the nail like emery boards or metal nail files. This makes them a preferred instrument by manicurists, although they are sometimes difficult to find in stores. Glass nail files come in very different qualities, some of them solid glass, others merely glass covered with an abrasive surface.

History

Although the modern nail file only appeared at the end of the 19th century, evidence of nail file-like tools exist further back in history.

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...

was known for her fondness with the ''lime à ongles'', which was a nail file-like tool made of

pumice Pumice (), called pumicite in its powdered or dust form, is a volcanic rock that consists of extremely vesicular rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals. It is typically light-colored. Scoria is another vesicula ...

stone. When her perfectly shaped nails were seen, it became the latest female trend in the French Court of Versailles. The pumice stone was carved into a pencil-like shape, which was used to trim and shape the edges of the nail.

References