Sharpen a Nail Clipper

Many years ago when this nail clipper was new I needed to cut a couple of fine copper wires. I had nothing else at the time and I used my nail clipper. The wires made nicks in the cutting edges of the clipper. Eventually I learned a way to sharpen the clipper's cutting edges evenly and did so. (Ignore the surface rust that has appeared in the years since.)

Step 1 Remove the Actuating Lever

The jaws will need to be held in position for sharpening. You need some precision difficult to obtain by using the actuating lever alone. Remove it by squeezing the jaws together with your thumbs or thumb and first finger, or with a pair of pliers as shown here. The lever falls out of the pin. Remove the pin.

Comments

[henster22]

My nail clippers are curved and dont have a flat top!!!

[Phil B]

I empathize with you, but see Prfesser's comment below on how to sharpen clippers like yours. These is a way.

[henster22]

Thanx
I also have another use for nail clippers.
You can use them to sharpen a knife!!!
Check out my step by step on it

[Phil B]

Yes, I saw it. I am surprised that works. I did one on using the teeth of a carbide tipped saw blade to sharpen a knife. It was not listed as one of the related Instructables, but there are a lot of Instructables on sharpening knives and other things.. The long corner edge of a carbide tipped saw tooth removes metal quite effectively and makes a very sharp edge. See it at: http://www.instructables.com/id/Sharpen-A-Knife-Quickly-and-Easily/

Thanks for looking.

[mikeasaurus]

new nail clipper = $2.00 (or less, choose your currency)

I like renewing just about anything (even tools), however you have to wonder if the time spent is worth it. I mean I don't re-bend my used staples. I guess my question is: why bother?

[mikeasaurus]

Re-reading my comment, seems more abrasive than I intended. Selective editing would have helped. Also, apparently there's a larger community of people who have an affinity with nail clippers than I thought. To be clear, I don’t think that re-sharpening clippers is a bad idea, though I think the die has been cast on that from my previous comment. Your approach to the problem of dull clippers is very clever. DIY sharpening is a skill I wish I had. Kudos, Phil!

[Phil B]

Thank you, Mike. There is probably nothing that can be written in the English language that cannot be misunderstood by someone. I remember hearing and reading that 58% of our communication is non-verbal (body language, facial expressions). 35% is voice tone. The remaining 7% is the words we speak. Both of the first two are missing in Internet posts, opening the door for a lot of miscommunication.

[electric_piano_5k]

The sharpening takes less time than a trip to the store, so it is time saved, not time spent. I didn't even do the screw trick, I just held the clippers closed while I rubbed them on the sharpening stone. Took about 1 minute. So now I have half an hour to waste on instructables.com instead of going to the store.

[Phil B]

Good man! Thank you for your comment.

[mrtentaclenun]

This is actually a really good idea and something I would show my dad. He has a pair of nail clippers that he got when he was in Vietnam (for the war, not just to visit) so he held onto them and still tries to use them for sentimental reasons I guess. So despite buying new ones, he still likes his nam ones....

[Phil B]

This nail clipper was a gift from my father when I went away to college. At the time I felt an obligation to value his gift and restore it to its original condition. He died about ten years ago and now it is a remembrance of him worth more to me than the cost of replacement. I really do not like to waste things by disposing of them when they can be restored or repaired fairly simply. Although I did not mention it, the principle involved in sharpening a nail clipper as I did is the very same approach one would use to sharpen a set of pinking shears like my wife uses for her sewing projects, which I have sharpened for her a number of times. Those are more costly to replace. In the end it is your call. But, $2 here and $2 there begins to add up after a while. A penny saved....

[Molo]

I used to work in a well equipped aerospace machine shop and a coworker asked us machinists to sharpen his nail clippers. Well, using expensive equipment at high cost labor hours was out of the question. So, some simple stoning did the job. Well done, Phil. Good article.

[Phil B]

Thank you. Simple methods are always good. Your story about the aerospace machine shop reminds me of a story about Charles Steinmetz during his time working under Thomas Edison. Edison asked Steinmetz to calculate the volume of a the glass envelope for a very large light bulb. Steinmetz calculated as best he could, noting that part of it was conical and part was a sphere. He did what he could to calculate the area where the two joined and took his approximations to Edison. Edison looked at him and asked why he did not just fill the thing with water and then measure the water it held.

[pocketlama]

Sure you value them 'cause they were your dad's but damn it, you don't need a reason to learn something interesting. So what if they only cost $2.00? You learned something, did something, and taught something. Life is good. Thanks muchly!

[masterochicken]

All my nail clippers are zamak. I broke a pair of finger nail clippers trying to cut my toenails.

[googbar]

Nice work. I, too, like renewing my old stuff. In fact, I love old stuff. Like my old car (i'm knowing almost everything about it, so I don't have to take it to mechanics), my old house, my old tools. I hate wasting a still useful thing. Obviously, sometimes it's time to buy a new thing to replace, but...

[Phil B]

Learning how something works often allows you to refurbish something someone else is sending to the junk. Someone once threw out an almost new Briggs & Stratton vertical shaft lawnmower engine. The soft key (less than 25 cents in cost) that aligns the flywheel on the crankshaft was partially sheared from the mower blade hitting a tree root or a dried gopher mound. That changed the spark timing so the engine would not run. I replaced the key and installed the engine on a friend's favorite lawnmower with an old fatally worn engine.

[googbar]

Yeah. Knowledge is power. Read 1 Samuel 13:19-22 and see what I'm talking about. God bless you.

[Phil B]

Your point is well taken. To add to it, if you go to 1 Samuel 17:50, you see that when knowledge like that in 1 Samuel 13:19-22 is not available, a knowledge of very simple things can overcome or make irrelevant even the latest in technology. Thanks, and God bless!

[Prfesser]

Good instructable! One reason for sharpening nail clippers is that even new ones can be pretty bad. Sharpen them, and they snip through tough nails cleanly. For hand-sharpening the concave clippers, wrap a sheet of sandpaper round a dowel and use as a sanding drum.

[Phil B]

The sandpaper around the dowel would be very helpful for anyone without a Dremel. I did not have one until about ten years ago, and I am 62 years old. Mine had belonged to my father-in-law before he died. Thanks.

[killerjackalope]

Ok that must be very old, mines taken tonnes of abuse without being any less sharp or dented, cutting reasonably thick wires, stray jean threads and other stuff, occasionally I get round to cutting my nails too! But it's always good to know this stuff, mine are stainless though so I suppose I don't lose any sharpness to rusting... Funny there's a marked difference in how fast you have to sharpen scissors that aren't stainless and ones that are...

One thing, couldn't you have simply tied the handle down to save you the bother of removing it?

[Phil B]

Perhaps I could have tied or taped the lever to hold the jaws in place. I thought the screw and nut would give me more precise, more certain adjustment. Stainless steel would likely stand up to copper wire much better than steel. In time even stainless will dull. Sharp tools are a joy to use.

[killerjackalope]

I know it will, I have a bad habit of losing my razor, partly because I walk around the house shaving while being late for things and often resort to a pair of nail scissors when time is on my side, they've been sharpened twice now and they're not that old.. It does solve the quandary I get in to over my butt chin which is just not easily dealt with...