It is my mission to train Pixie to accept toweling and nail trims because my 'tiel hates both with a passion. It's historically been a major source of stress anytime we have to go to the vet or I've had to trim his nails. Towel training isn't going so well, but I have had some major success recently with towel-less nail triming with both birds. What I did was have the bird sit on my bare knee (makes it easier to get at the nail than if you have pants on), hold a sliver of almond (their preferred treat) in one hand and the evil nail clippers of doom in the other. The bird happily nibbles away at the almond and I quickly and efficiently clip nails while s/he is distracted. This would probably require an extra pair of hands if you're dremeling/ filing nails.
Jackie's the same. The clippers come out and Jack promptly exits. 
