Every now and then someone notices that the end of a hair has split. Horrors! For some reason split-ends are socially frowned-upon. Currently the standard way to fix them is to go to the hairdresser and get a trim, or get some special hair goop that basically can glue the split ends back together.

Well, time for a new solution. This one is an extremely sharp diamond blade, with an appropriate holding device. You place the split-end hair in the device, and slide the diamond blade down the length of the hair, thereby giving you two full-length hairs (albeit half as thick), neither of which has a split end!

This Idea is half-baked, of course, because usually someone has a lot of split-end hairs to deal with. I've read that the average non-bald person has about 100,000 hairs on the head. It could take a while to apply this device to each and every split-end hair!
-- Vernon, Jul 02 2011

Obsidian http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsidian
"obsidian blade edges can reach almost molecular thinness ...." [8th of 7, Jul 03 2011]

The problem is, the hair will grow out, and you'll have to extend the cut down to the follicle, on a regular basis, for each hair. But for those inclined to split hairs, that's not a bug, it's a feature.

[mouseposture] Industries, Stg. plans to market a system consisting of: A dissecting microscope, two pairs of jeweler's forceps, a special glue (very low viscosity, so it can be dispensed from a pulled-glass micropipette), and a device for aligning the split ends (the prototype uses a groove scribed on a glass slide).

The major problem we're encountering in development is the difficulty convincing our beta testers to take breaks for meals and personal hygiene.

[jutta] I hope this doesn't run afoul of the "no advertisements" policy?
-- mouseposture, Jul 02 2011


Obsidian might be better than diamond in this application.

<link>
-- 8th of 7, Jul 03 2011


Let's not split hairs over it.
-- rcarty, Jul 03 2011


//why not micro-etch something on all the flat sides//

With respect, [Vernon] may require more than one head of hair to express himself fully.
-- mouseposture, Jul 03 2011


nano-barbers.
-- FlyingToaster, Jul 03 2011


It's only a short step from follicular manslaughter to going full-on Sweeney Todd.
Just sayin...
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jul 04 2011


[8th of 7], with thousands of hairs to split, that's why I chose diamond over obsidian. It will last longer! I'm also fairly sure that diamond can be even sharper than obsidian (the atoms making up the material are smaller).
-- Vernon, Jul 06 2011


I'm told that diamond microtome blades are better than glass ones, and last longer; glass is often used, though, because the diamond ones are so expensive.
-- spidermother, Jul 06 2011



random, halfbakery