A clipper that cuts instead of crushing.

The Commons paving does not file a nail down. Neither does an apartment floor, except by annoying the person downstairs. Indoor dogs need a clip every three or four weeks. Indoor cats need the hook taken off the tip, especially when the stair carpet is doing the scratching for them. We sell the tool. We do not clip the animal.

• Scissor nail clipperStainless, spring sized for a thick nail$22
• Spare clipper bladeWhen the cut starts to crush$9
• Coarse nail fileKnocks the burr off the cut face$7
• Styptic stickIf you nick the quick$6

Counter prices in US dollars, before sales tax. If a shelf tag disagrees, the shelf tag is the price.

Why this shape

Style

Scissor clipper, stainless. We do not stock a guillotine.

Blade

Replaceable. A dull blade is how people start squeezing harder.

Spring

Sized so a thick nail parts instead of crushing. Feel it at the counter before you buy.

File

Coarse, to take the burr off the cut face so it does not catch on cloth.

Styptic

A stick, for a nick to the quick. Press and hold. If the bleeding does not stop, that is a clinic, not a second try.

A guillotine clipper circles the nail and squeezes. On a thick nail the cut crushes before it parts, and the nail can split up the length. That is why it is not in the drawer.

Take a thin slice off the tip and look at the cut face. You want the pale, dry oval. When a darker center shows, that nail is done.

At the counter

We will put the clipper in your hand and show the angle on a card taped under the drawer. We will not hold your dog or your cat, and we will not start the lesson on a foot that is already sore. If a nail is curling into the pad, or the toe is hot and the animal will not use it, call a veterinarian.

Dark nails hide the quick. One nail a day is a legitimate pace for a cat that will not sit through ten toes. A single long nail on a dog is the one the downstairs neighbor hears. Do that one first.

The September note on lease walk-throughs and stair nosings is the stair carpet does the clipping. Declawing is not a conversation we will have.

Care of the tool

• Wipe the blade after use. A drop of ordinary oil on the pivot, not a pour.
• When the cut starts to crush, change the blade. Do not lean harder.
• Keep the spare in its sleeve. A loose blade in a drawer goes dull on the other tools.
• An open blade seal does not go back in the drawer for a refund. An unused clipper, within 14 days, with the receipt, does.