# How did people cut their nails before clippers were invented? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2013, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-cut-their-nails-before-clippers-were-invented/658930 "2013-05-21T14:58:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-cut-their-nails-before-clippers-were-invented/658930/42 "2022-10-06T00:04:15Z")
This is wrt to India. Before modern nail trimmers, there was something called a “Noroon” which was a high carbon steel forged tool. It was made of the same metal as a straight edge or scalpel, and came in usually two different sizes : one for toe nails and one for finger nails. Most people would have the barber trim their nails. It was like a small inclined wedge about the width of a spoon handle. This video shows a guy trying to imitate it, but he’s not that good. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/XWg3oekCNY0/maxresdefault.jpg "Barber Uses 200 Year Old Tool To Cut Nails | #BarbersOfBihar | Puremassage") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWg3oekCNY0) ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-cut-their-nails-before-clippers-were-invented/658930/43 "2022-10-06T00:22:57Z")
One other thing, the tool was sharpened on one edge only (single bevel). This allowed the tool to cut very flush. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-cut-their-nails-before-clippers-were-invented/658930/44 "2022-10-06T00:45:35Z")
That is an interesting tool. I use a clipper on my fingernails and a small pair of dikes on my toenails. My big toenails are a little too big for the curving clippers and my small toenails curl over the end of my toes. Except for the little toenails. They curve up. They’re small enough that they can be clipped with nearly anything with a good grip. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-cut-their-nails-before-clippers-were-invented/658930/45 "2022-10-06T15:31:24Z")
I’m able to file and clip my fingernails quite well, but I get a pedicure ina nail salon every couple of months to clip my toenails. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-cut-their-nails-before-clippers-were-invented/658930/46 "2022-10-06T16:14:45Z")
Teeth. (Then eat them (the nails, not the teeth) - they’re a good source of calcium) ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-cut-their-nails-before-clippers-were-invented/658930/47 "2022-10-06T17:53:35Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > (Then eat them (the nails, not the teeth) - they’re a good source of calcium) You mean my mother wasn’t correct when she said that they’d inflame my appendix and that when it was removed the doctors would find that it was packed with crescents of fingernails? ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-cut-their-nails-before-clippers-were-invented/658930/48 "2022-10-06T17:57:59Z")
You need to chew them up well, otherwise your mother was correct. (probably) ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-cut-their-nails-before-clippers-were-invented/658930/49 "2022-10-06T17:58:52Z")
I presume you have offered a quid pro quo? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2022, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-cut-their-nails-before-clippers-were-invented/658930/50 "2022-10-06T18:05:01Z")
Mom had a number of odd beliefs. She was sure, for instance, that drinking soda would make your sweat sticky. She was a great believer in clippers for fingernails. Not sure about toes. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-cut-their-nails-before-clippers-were-invented/658930/51 "2022-12-05T07:43:08Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > So even if I managed to survive and built shelter and learned how to fish and crack open coconuts, if one of my fingernails split and I didn’t have a clipper with me, I might have to bash my head in with a rock. I am sort of like that, I hate rough edges and hangnails, and keep a glass nail file and set of clippers on my desk and in my messenger bag for nail care. Actually a clam shell is just rough enough to use as a nail file, and there is an [Amazonian fish](https://www.saintjohnssponge.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/pages.page/id/395/pn/Products.cfm/sf/product_detail/product_id/4) that the scales were used as nail files. I figure that people used knives or equivalent to rough trim, and then something abrasive to smooth. Even a chip of flint and a bit of sandstone would work out. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2022, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-cut-their-nails-before-clippers-were-invented/658930/52 "2022-12-06T01:31:47Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Even a chip of flint and a bit of sandstone would work out. The secret is to bang the rocks together, guys. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-cut-their-nails-before-clippers-were-invented/658930.md?page=2)