Competitive wood planing

...yes, you read that right. I stumbled across video from a competition in Japan to plane the thinnest possible wood shaving. The winning entry here is only 9 microns thick. (For perspective, a hair is about 45 microns, a red blood cell about 7).

I believe the skill is really in making the plane itself. To design a tool that is sufficiently sharp and precise to shave a sliver of wood hardly thicker than a blood cell... that's the textbook definition of "skillful" I'd say!

Be careful with clicking the various links on the side, however. If you're like me, you'll spend an inordinate amount of time reading about woodworking techniques.