While most of us have probably had a paper cut at one point or another, it’s difficult to imagine a cutting tool made from paper.
Well, it turns out paper is quite a sharp object.
Carpenter John Heisz who runs the I Build It website, recently uploaded a video on his YouTube page in which he makes a paper blade out of a regular sheet of paper.
After he fits the paper blade in his saw, he uses it to first cut paper, then cardboard and finally a thin piece of wood, with the paper blade successfully cutting into all three.
Heisz then tries slicing a piece of thicker wood. But here, the paper blade gives up, though not before cutting through nearly half of it.
Heisz on his site writes, "And while this really doesn't have any practical applications, it was interesting to do. Even more so, since the paper I used was nothing out of the ordinary – just regular printer paper with no special treatment. Add to that the time of year (it was hot and humid, making the paper fairly limp with moisture), it's amazing that it worked at all."
He said he also tried to make another blade to test on a piece of aluminium, "but it more or less just polished the edge before wearing out. The abrasiveness of the paper works well on wood, but is no match for anything harder."
Heisz' video has been viewed over 4 million times in just two days since it was uploaded.
Watch the video here.