Sandpaper fingertips?

[LASur5r]

I used to see this on the old "shoot 'em up westerns. Gunslinger used to take a little bit of sandpaper and applied it to his fingertips. Supposedly made him draw like greased lightning.

What about you TFL 'slingers.....would that help you or hurt you?

[Kalindras]

Yeah, you also see that with safecrackers and pickpockets in films, too.

Supposedly, it takes off any callouses, and makes your fingertips more sensitive. When I've done it, it just makes my fingertips hurt.

Of course, the sandpaper was on a 2/48" belt sander, and was moving considerably faster than would be suggested, I'm sure...

:p

[Betty]

Of course, the sandpaper was on a 2/48" belt sander, and was moving considerably faster than would be suggested, I'm sure...

(crosses eyes) Disgusting mental picture of the day! Eeew! :D

[Hard Ball]

I don't think that it would do me any good at all so I will pass.:confused:

[wingnutx]

A rotary wire wheel doesn't feel so great, either.

[Don Gwinn]

Yeah, I tried that with a stone wheel grinder once, too. I was twelve and trying to make a miniature bowie knife. The knife was launched off someplace and I was lucky it didn't come to rest in my eyeball.

It wasn't really that gross, just a squishy red hole in the tip of my thumb for a few weeks.

[Betty]

Don - (chuckle) I've got a teeny 1 1/2" bowie knife that my brother made on the grinder when he was a kid. He made miniature rifles and swords, too. But he didn't tenderize his fingers!

I used the key machine alot when I worked in a hardware store - imagine your fingers slipping off into THAT. (I never had that happen, luckily.) :eek:

For "digital" traction, keep hands soft with a little lotion, or try the office supply store and get a little container of that waxy stuff that people dab on their fingers so they can sort through piles of papers.

[KSFreeman]

Well, not in that way. In some skuls, skateboard tape is applied to the position where your finger should be because unless you are a gun rag hack you follow Rule 3. When your finger is in pain, you are learning.:D

[C.R.Sam]

Supposedly made him draw like greased lightning. Sumpin else we no longer see on the market shelves.
Lightning grease.

Sam

[Long Path]

I had a buddy at U.T. that used to sleep with his hand in a box of sand before martial arts tournaments and demonstrations. He said that it made his hand much harder, for breaking boards, bricks, and the like. Dunno about what else it did for him, though he was one of the fastest guys I've ever known.

[Coronach]

Sumpin else we no longer see on the market shelves.
Lightning grease.The EPA determined that it breaks down into CFCs when the lightning strikes, and as such it is a threat to the ozone layer. It was banned with Lawn Darts and DDT and other cool things a few years back.

Mike :D

[bobs1066]

Long Path, when I read your post the first time, I thought it said "...used to sleep with his head in a box of sand...".

:D

[kungfool]

I doubt gunslingers had much access to sandpaper

I imagine a real "slinger's" hands were quite callused, fingertips included.

People cracking safes used to sand their fingerprints down so as not to be so detectable...(movie lore)....and as seen in movies, to make their fingertips more sensitive......more sensitive to pain perhaps but not to the tiny tumblings occuring behind a steel dial.

Sleeping with your hand in a box of sand would not "de-sensitize" one's fingertips, most likely the opposite. Might be a mental placebo though.

There are a couple of ways to "toughen" one's fingertips. In any case, while toughening up the fingertips may be beneficial to someone wishing to run their fingers through boards, I can hardly see why it would be beneficial to anyone needing a more sensitive touch..ie; gunslingers & safecrackers.

I have a 50 gallon drum of Lightning grease (great for arthritis)....but i'm hoarding that along with my 5 gallon spray can of DDT and my well hidden Lawn darts!

[Double Naught Spy]

So did the saloon girls in the old westerns used sandpaper for a similiar purpose on their customers...to increase sensitivity and speed service?

[LASur5r]

Don't know 'bout them saloon girls, but I had a cousin once who was in the Navy in the late 40's. He wanted to make the acquaintance of one of those ladies across the border but ended up kissing the fat end of a bat with his head. Took every penny that he had on him.

He said that the bat sensitized his head somethin awful.

Didn't learn his lesson, though....went into a New York subway restroom once, by himself..... Someone introduced his head to a shortclub...maybe it was a long club...he can't remember.

Thank you all for the input...:confused: :confused: :confused:

[moredes]

I was an auto painter for several years, and we used to spend 10-20% of the time on the job wetsanding cars. Pushing sandpaper for that much time every day really made for sensitive fingertips.

I could feel the tumblers on combination locks and even some safes. If only I knew when to stop and change directions;). But the really good safes have dials that rotate smooth as glass.