Nail Strengthening

[Longsight John]

I play my steel-strung less and less with a plecky these days.
But my index and 2nd finger nails are getting quickly worn down.
I don't pick, just strum.
Yeah, I should probably cool it a bit, but I love the feel and the sound.

Any beauty and cosmetic tips?

[djangodeadman]

Martin Simpson has his nails silk wrapped.

[Albatross]

I use Sally Hansen Diamond Nails.

[adrian_k]

My third finger nail gets used a lot and often breaks. I currently have a bit of table tennis ball jammed under the nail and superglued in, and then I reinforce the top of the nail with layers of tissue paper and superglue, topped off with nail hardener. It needs maintenance every few days especially if I use the backs of the nails. Not very pretty though....

[Wonks]

My fingerpicking mate is currently using standard false nails that are stuck on. But they aren't really up to the job and still wear and split or get notches in and require quite a lot of maintenance and trips to the nail bar for him.

[Sam Inglis]

I find that the middle finger nail is the problematic one. The index finger gets heavily worn but grows just about fast enough to keep up, and the ring and little fingers are generally OK, but for some reason it's the middle nail that always breaks. If it happens before a gig I glue a false one on, which works fine but doesn't do the nail much good.

[DC-Choppah]

James Taylor shows us how he has learned to do it. Very kind of him to share this.

http://www.jamestaylor.com/guitar/lesso ... nus-video/