EffJot

A company, the name of which I withhold because of the ongoing innovative product development, is currently testing their new product “corundum rapid abrasion paper” (c.r.a.p.) at our university.

This paper has several special properties:

• The fabric can be produced to be equivalent to sand paper grit sizes of >120, but is considerably thinner. Thus, even constricted openings and gaps can be neatly polished.
• In a special test run, fabrics were produced that are so thin that even light shines through, allowing the treated surface to be observed during the abrasion process.
• Due to its high structural integrity and low wettability, the material maintains a floating position on water, even when subjected to strong downwards pull, and without losing its coherence.
• Undisturbed storage on the roll is ensured by torque-limiting perforation (TLP): should any forces happen to disturb the spatial attitude of the roll, the generation of any torque is effectively averted by disrupting the transmission path.
• Thanks to bulk purchase, this product is extremely cost-effective, if not to say dirt-cheap.

However, there are still some disadvantages:

• The paper is rather brittle and prone to strong wrinkling. This complicates working on rounded surfaces.
• The low adhesion capacity of the fabric surfaces impedes lifting off and retaining material abrased from organic/biologic items.

Because of cost reasons and in order to assess the human component (“user interaction”, “skin feel”, reaction to larger amounts of blood), the tests are not performed by the FMPA (materials research and testing centre), but – sadly – directly in the various university department offices.

We're not quite happy with the location of the test stand. Although it's situated in a discreet and undisturbed location, conflicts of interest must be expected: