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A nail clipper (also called nail clippers, a nail trimmer, a nail cutter or nipper type) is a
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
'' The American Exporter'', 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, ''
hand tool
A hand tool is any tool that is powered by hand rather than a motor. Categories of hand tools include wrenches, pliers, cutters, files, striking tools, struck or hammered tools, screwdrivers, vises, clamps, snips, hacksaws, drills, an ...
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), ...
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
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. ...
and hangnails.
Design
Nail clippers are usually made of stainless steel but can also be made of plastic and aluminum. Two common varieties are the plier type and thecompound lever
The compound lever is a simple machine operating on the premise that the resistance from one lever in a system of levers acts as effort for the next, and thus the applied force is transferred from one lever to the next. Almost all scales use som ...
type. Many nail clippers usually come with a miniature file 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 a ...
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 o ...
or 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 c ...
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
Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_ ...
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
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...
's ''Epistles
An epistle (; el, ἐπιστολή, ''epistolē,'' "letter") is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as par ...
'', 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
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'', 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.
See also
*Cigar cutter
A cigar cutter is a machine, mechanical device designed to cutting, cut one end off a cigar so that it may be properly smoking, smoked. Although some cigars are cut on both ends, or twirled at both ends, the vast majority come with one straight cut ...
* Dog grooming#Nail clipping
* 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 a ...
* Pedicure
A pedicure is a cosmetic treatment of the feet and toenails, analogous to a manicure.
Pedicures include care not only for the toenails; dead skin cells are rubbed off the bottom of the feet using a rough stone (often a pumice stone). Skinc ...
* Pliers
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 ...
References
External links
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nail Clipper Mechanical hand tools Nail care Cutting tools Domestic implements Toiletry Medical equipment 19th-century inventions