Q. Can I teach myself how to use an electric nail file?
The short answer is no! If you’ve not used an electric nail file before, the first step is to sign up for a course.
Right now there are a lot of problems going on within the market, with ill-trained technicians using e-files that they bought from a company with no education or they are self-taught.
When it comes to shopping for an electric file, chances are you’re focused on the RPMs (rotations per minute). But these only tell you how fast the e-file can spin, not how well it works when filing. For that, it’s all about the torque, or in other words, just how strong your e-file is as it rotates. Always look at not only how fast the machine goes (the RPMs) but also the torque.
In the e-file world, torque is more important than RPM. If you have a cheap e-file it is relying on high RPMs because there is no torque.
To work out if your electric file has good torque, lightly touch the bit to the nail. If it stops spinning, that is low torque. If your e-file keeps spinning when you put your bit on the end of the nail and use the e-file to shorten long acrylic length, that is high torque. It’s the friction at high speeds that makes the nail hot and can burn the client. Torque means that you don’t need to work with those high speeds.
There are a lot of common misconceptions that e-files cause damage to the nail but … you can do just as much damage with a hand file when misused.
When used properly with the right technique, the right bits and at the right speed and torque there is more precision with an e-file than with hand filing.
Q. How can an e-file boost my profits?
As a nail technician, profit is king! The e-file can help you make more money while offering your customers an express service.
An e-file manicure is much faster than soaking in a bowl and using traditional softeners. Women are busy and sometimes a client just needs a quick service so their nails look well put together.
With an e-file you can do a dry manicure in 15 minutes – literally half the time of a traditional water manicure. Time is money so I would charge the same amount for an e-file manicure as I would for traditional manicure and be able to do more in a day and make more money.
