Just when you thought there was nothing left to explore on the frontiers of knowledge, three Danish academics have uncovered the science of paper cuts!
Paper cuts are surprisingly common but not well understood. Researchers found that paper around 65 micrometers thick is the worst culprit.
“Here we visualize and quantify the motion, deformation, and stresses during paper cuts, uncovering a remarkably complex relationship between cutting, geometry, and material properties”
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The most dangerous paper
They tested different paper thicknesses on gelatin blocks and found that paper 65 micrometers thick is the most hazardous for paper cuts. 65 micrometers is 0.00256 inches (aka caliper).
That’s slightly thinner than the standard office paper used in most printers – i.e 80 gsm paper is about 100 micrometers.
So, beware thinner paper around 70 gsm weight if you’re worried about paper cuts.
Thinner papers than 65 micrometers buckle, and thicker ones are too blunt. So, be careful with office paper and magazines.
They even made a low-cost paper scalpel on a 3D printer called the Papermachete that can cut through fruits and veggies. See Competition between slicing and buckling underlies the erratic nature of paper cuts
