It is one of these great unanswered questions Spaw. I have often wondered myself. But believe me, it is a very pleasant experience being pampered by an oriental lady for twenty minutes every two weeks ...........

Don, I have never had an acrylic nail break. I am not saying it can't happen, but that stuff is seriously strong. I mean, I am cutting sheets of plywood and running rough lumber through planer all day long and they never break.

I think my nails would probably be too stiff to do any banjo frailing with, I play steel string with a heavy attack as back up for fiddle. Imagine Lester Flatt playing fingerstyle and that's about it. However, Martin Simpson gets his done with a much thinner coating of acrylic, and he still frails the occasional banjo, so I imagine if you explain what you want, she would do it for you.

If you want to remove the nail, you soak the tip of the finger in acetone (NOT nail polish remover) for an hour and it will have dissolved by then. The acrylic that is, not the fingertip. Contrary to myth, your original fingernail will be as good as new. It is only when (God forbid) the acrylic pulls off accidentally that a layer of the natural nail is removed, and weakened. This doesn't happen if you maintain them regularly.

Murray