Manicurist

“ The block, besides increasing the leverage, prevents the hammer-head from injuring the surface of your work, and makes it possible to withdraw the nail in a fairly straight condition.
Fig. 31.—Toe-nailing.
Toe-nailing consists in driving nails diagonally into a piece of wood. It is used in fastening the ends of uprights, as shown in Fig. 31, where the nails cannot be driven in any other way, and also where there is danger of a board springing. You will often find it convenient to use this form of nailing [Pg 34] when the nails are too long to be driven straight into the work. ”

“ In fact, if the most nimble-fingered watchmaker among you will come to my workshop, he may set me to put a watch together, and I will set him to dissect, say, a blackbeetle's nerves. I do not wish to vaunt, but I am inclined to think that I shall manage my job to his satisfaction sooner than he will do his piece of work to mine.
In truth, anatomy, which is my handicraft, is one of the most difficult kinds of mechanical labour, involving, as it does, not only lightness and dexterity of hand, but sharp eyes and endless patience. ”

“ I now replaced the nail and regulated it attentively. A person passing out through this window might have reclosed it, and the spring would have caught—but the nail could not have been replaced. The conclusion was plain, and again narrowed in the field of my investigations. The assassins must have escaped through the other window. Supposing, then, the springs upon each sash to be the same, as was probable, there must be found a difference between the nails, or at least between the modes of their fixture. ”

“ Let any one attempt to drive a nail vertically into an horizontal piece of timber by the statical effect of the simple pressure of a load placed gently on the head, as weights are laid in scale-pans. Let the depth to which the nail is thus moved be measured. Again, let the same nail, under the same circumstances, be driven to the same depth by the impact of a hammer-head, then it may for our present purpose be said that the load placed on the nail is a representative statical measure of the impact of the hammer. ”

“ Fig. 124.
Toe-nailing is the driving of nails obliquely in order to fasten two pieces that may be at an angle to each other, as illustrated by Fig. 125.
Fig. 125.
PROBLEM IN HAND RAILING.
The student, not having had wood turning as yet, will not consider the making of the turned balusters, such work being introduced in the course in wood turning.
In commencing work on the hand railing, notice the several parts that [Pg 107] have to be made; first, the newel post; second, the easing at the bottom of the stairs; third, the straight piece of railing; fourth, the return or twist at the top. ”

“ And manicuring is one of the advancements that likewise calls for the change—for fifty cents in change anyhow and more if you are inclined to be generous with the tip.
Shall you ever forget your first manicure? The shan'ts are unanimously in the majority. It seems an easy thing to walk into a manicure parlor or a barber shop and shove your hands across a little table to a strange young woman and tell her to go ahead and shine 'em up a bit—the way you hear old veteran manicurees saying it. It seems easy, I say, and looks easy; but it isn't as easy as it seems. ”

“ I should guess also that this person’s feet had some marked peculiarity, since such pains had been taken to conceal the footprints. Then the cast of the hand here encourages speculation. Fingers long, slim, and delicate, save at the nails, where, with the exception of the little finger, are to be found unmistakable signs of the habit of biting the nails,—see, here are the hang-nails,—but, strange to say, the nail of the little finger has been spared, and suffered to grow to an unusual length. ”

“ Now open your hand, spreading out your fingers. As you move each finger up the knuckles loosen and dimple the skin; as you clench them once more together the knuckles curve into clean sharp forms. Each finger is based in a good strong knuckle, remember that. Young artists are too fond of crowding knuckles together, and if hands grew as their drawings indicate they would have a poor chance of gripping an oar, a handle-bar or even the useful knife and fork. ”

“ Ten chances to one the artist has paid too much attention to minor things. He has tried so hard to give the nails the right shape; but what attention has been paid to the knuckles, to the base of the fingers, and firm shapes between each joint, to the joints themselves, all of which are a great deal more important?
Fig. 17. Bones of Hand The ring on the finger the watch on the wrist, is eagerly depicted, for it is 'jolly interesting.' So it is. But if the metal is beautifully and intelligently drawn, and the finger, or the wrist, looks feeble and patchy, what then? ”

“ The right hand is uplifted, and the three forefingers stretched out; the left hand holds the orb, and, at the same time the mantle, which is drawn across the figure, and the noble folds of which are produced by the advancing position of the right foot. The following of nature in this masterly figure is in all its details so perfect that not merely the nails of the fingers, but the structure of the joints is characterized in the finest manner. ”

“ I know how faculties come to us by reaching after them—know that the craftsman’s deftness is the result of long practice and education of sense and muscle; but I cannot find in the highest craftsman’s hand a single extra nerve or tendon, or a better articulation, than I find in the clumsiest day-labourer’s fist which never knew the use of a more delicate instrument than a spade. ”

“ Do not think because you have gloves on that you are safe in neglecting your hands. You may be suddenly called upon to perform some act which would necessitate taking off the gloves, thus exposing soiled hands. The nails should be kept perfectly clean and projecting about one-twelfth of an inch from the tender flesh and not too pointed, and are to be only slightly polished. All hang-nails should be cut off, and advanced flesh pushed back from the root of the nails. [127] Do not wear too many rings. A gentleman should never have on more than two, and those to be placed one on each hand. ”

“ A knife is a broad, sharp nail projected; the saw is a set of nails, or perhaps teeth; and the primitive hatchet was a finger-nail and looks very like a talon, as did its maker's finger. The fist is a hammer. ”

“ The hand tool is frequently a lively and decorative symbol of a society at a given time—a symbol, which, according to the judges at London's Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851, gives "indications of the peculiar condition and habits of the people whence they come, of their social and industrial wants and aims, as well as their natural or acquired advantages." [8] The hand tool, therefore, should be considered both as an object of appealing shape and a document illustrative of society and its progress.
Figure 15.—18th century: Cabinetmaker's dividers of English origin. ”

“ No matter what part of the human body we examine, we shall find that its mechanical work is performed by means of bony levers. Having seen how the head is moved as a lever of the first order, we are now to choose a part which will show us the plan on which levers of the second order work, and there are many reasons why we should select the foot. It is a part which we are all familiar with; every day we can see it at rest and in action. The foot, as we have already noted, serves as a lever in walking. ”

“ The nails should be neither longer nor shorter than the points of the fingers; and the surgeon should practice with the extremities of the fingers, the index-finger being usually turned to the thumb; when using the entire hand, it should be prone; when both hands, they should be opposed to one another. ”

“ I should take some of the male thumbs from small, delicate men who had never done any hard work, and who had taken good care of their hands by wearing gloves and availing themselves of the services of a manicure, while I should select some female thumbs from women whose hands are hardened and enlarged by exposure and toil, and to whom nail-brushes and soap-and-water are rarities. ”

“ Look where we will, we find the hand in time and history, working, building, inventing, bringing civilization out of barbarism. The hand symbolizes power and the excellence of work. The mechanic’s hand, that minister of elemental forces, the hand that hews, saws, cuts, builds, is useful in the world equally with the delicate hand that paints a wild flower or molds a Grecian urn, or the hand of a statesman that writes a law. ”

“ The finger nails are there and all the fine lines that can be traced on the inside of the hand and fingers. There are many lines on the surface of the human body that require the aid of a magnifying glass to discern ”

“ In the human machine the levers of the arm have been fashioned, not for climbing, but for work of another kind—the kind which brings us a livelihood. We must have perfect control over our hands; the longer the lever of the forearm is made, the more difficult does control of the hand become. Hence, in the human machine the forearm is made relatively short and the upper arm long. ”

“ To extract ingrowing toe-nails the patient is deeply anaesthetized owing to the extreme sensitiveness of the matrix of the nail, the nail is then seized with a forceps and literally dragged out by main force, leaving a sore and tender surface, which renders the foot useless for long after the operation. ”

“ Then again, we are in the habit of taking knives or rasors and paring our nails every little while, so much so that we can safely say that in the course of a year we cut off or pare from our fingers and toes, as the case may be, perhaps an inch of nail, at this rate, a man who lives to be seventy-two years of age would pare off seventy-two inches of nail, which would be six feet. ”

“ Instead of cutting his toe-nails as we do with the help of a long-handled pair of scissors and a telescope, he preferred to take each nail off separately, trim it, and put it back, although this invariably made his mother cry. ”

“ Get the skin on face and around mouth placed, then draw the neck skin tight and nail to the edge of the board with finishing brads an inch or more long. Any surplus remaining can be trimmed away. A square of rough board, screwed on the end of the neck, will enable it to stand on the bench with nose up while the final touches are put on the anatomy of the head and face. ”

“ A manicure lady could no more do a manicure properly without using an orange wood stobber at certain periods than a cartoonist could draw a picture of a man in jail without putting a ball and chain on him or a summer resort could get along without a Lover's Leap within easy walking distance of the hotel. ”

“ A carpenter wishing to countersink a nail places in contact with the nail head a small instrument called a countersink, which he then strikes sharply with a hammer. The contact hand of the adjuster represents the countersink and is used by the two arms as a passive instrument for transmitting shock. ”

“ When he sees a man repairing a boot he says sarcastically: "Take care you strike the right nail." The other laughs, but proves his confusion when the next instant he strikes off the nail of his left-hand thumb. ”

“ Then push the nail in the gimlet hole so that only the head appears on the outside and no one not in the secret will ever suppose that the innocent-appearing nail is the key to unfasten the door. When you wish to open the door from the outside, pluck out the nail, pull the string, and walk in. ”

“ The making of a nail, however, is by no means one of the simplest operations. The same person blows the bellows, stirs or mends the fire as there is occasion, heats the iron, and forges every part of the nail: in forging the head, too, he in obliged to change his tools. ”

“ Nails are usually "set," that is, the heads are driven with a nail-set below the surface. They must always be set below surfaces which are to be planed. It is often wise not to drive the first nail or two way in until the work is examined. ”

“ In steep climbing, where they come more into play, instinct directs them how to cling. But in taking finger-holds, especially for pulls, it must be remembered the hand is as fine a piece of machinery as the foot, and less protected. ”

“ Drive a stout nail or screw into the upper part of the door frame. Throw the strap over the nail, and lift the body, first using two fingers, then one. Trained gymnasts lift the entire weight of the body several times by the little finger alone. ”

“ Until you get hardened, it requires courage of a very high order. You, the abashed novice, see other men sitting in the front window of the manicure shop just as debonair and cozy as though they'd been born and raised there, swapping the ready repartee of the day with dashing creatures of a frequently blonde aspect, and you imagine they have always done so. ”

“ They give him the details of their inner lives: they also bring with them hammer and nails. There is nerve in those delicate fingers, energy in those sympathetic souls: the number of nails they contrive to hammer in is astonishing. ”

“ Make the legs of the animals separately and fasten them on to the bodies with tiny nails. Place the two fore legs or two hind legs in position on either side of the body piece, and drive through them a short wire nail, a very little longer than is necessary to go through the three thicknesses of wood. ”

“ But when it comes to flinging a stone or other object a long distance, I always use the left hand as coming the most natural. There are two things which I cannot possibly do with my right hand, and that is to drive a nail, or to carve, cut, or whittle. ”

“ Just when the conflagration threatens to become general she stops using the polisher and proceeds to cool down the ruins by gently burnishing your nails against the soft, pink palm of her hand. You like this better than the other way. You could ignite yourself by friction almost any time, if you got hold of the right kind of a chamois skin rubber, but this is quite different and highly soothing. ”

“ You get so that you aren't satisfied unless your nails run down about a quarter of an inch further than nails were originally intended to run, and unless they glitter freely you feel strangely distraught in company. Inasmuch as no male creature's finger nails will glitter with the desired degree of brilliancy for more than twenty-four short and fleeting hours after a treatment you find yourself constantly in the act of either just getting a manicure or just getting over one. ”