This just in -- lots of possibilities here *LINK*

Wow! That's cool!

Re: This just in -- lots of possibilities here

John lucas

Ive seen that on an older youtube video and thought it looked cool. I saw some pictures of vessels done that way at the AAW symposium

Re: This just in -- lots of possibilities here

Stuart Johnson

There is someone over on WoW that has done this. I think you are dealing with some pretty dangerous power but I don't remember all the details.

See William's response on Messages

Ellis Walentine

Better yet, I'll quote him here. Sounds like there are potential dangers involved. This could be a "don't try this at home" moment.

Almost 800,000 views in three days is pretty impressive. But, think about how many cataracts and retina burns could have been caused by the microwave radiation from the magnetron if all those people had watched it in person. No mention is made of sheilding. Couldn't he use a Tesla coil or a neon sign transformer or even a Taser instead?

Re: This just in -- lots of possibilities here

Dick Hines

Looks like a good possibility you could burn your shop down if you are not careful.

Microwaves?

John K Jordan

>by the microwave radiation from the magnetron if all those people

>had watched it in person. No mention is made of sheilding.

From the picture on the Facebook page it appears thay guy is using the transformer from the microwave oven, not the magnatron (which generates microwaves.) I see no reason to generate microwaves for the wood-burning trick.

The transformer steps up the voltage to about 2000 volts, enough for all kinds of fun things. This is perfectly "safe" (and perfectly lethal.) Any person who does not know exactly the issues and hazards should NOT try this at home.

Discarded microwave ovens are goldmines for parts: microswitches, motors, timers, etc.. My electronics wizard buddy Joe recently rewound a microwave oven transformer for lower voltage and mich higher current. He demonstrated by melting a nail and exploding an aluminum can. Good clean fun! I sent him the link - I'll bet a chunk of cocobolo he will try this before the end of the week.

JKJ

Re: This just in -- lots of possibilities here

Dale Gillaspy

I've done something similar with a transformer from a neon sign, although I like his results better. Mine didn't wind up with the crisp details that his did. Being in the Risk Management/Safety field for the last 20 years, I will say this...

The key to safety is not what you do, but how you do it....in other words....knowledge is power. There are a lot of processes out there that may look dangerous but can be done with minimal risk if done properly. Conversely, there are many relatively routine tasks that wind up causing serious injury or fatality because people either don't think or don't take the time to do them properly.

Still a cool result.

Re: This just in -- lots of possibilities here

John K Jordan

>like his results better. Mine didn't wind up with the crisp details that his did.

Dale, my first thought for better practical use was to direct the path of the discharge for "artistic" effect, i.e., paint the conducting fluid in a path on the wood. Or apply thin conductive foil, rub in a path of conductive powder, paint thin paths with conductive paint that would perhaps burn away. We have directed fire and voltage a number of ways in our play time.

I imagine the type of wood, finish, and the voltage/current/frequency parameters might contribute to the crispness of the lines. Also, some fire retardant soaked into the surface might help minimize smearing by flames.

JKJ

High Voltage Low amperage

john lucas

I worked on copiers for years. High voltage but low amperage on the wires. Same is true for neon signs. Scares the hell out of you, won't hurt you much. On the other side I was almost seriously hurt when working on a Radar Antenna in the Air Force by 24volts. Had a lot of amps and blew me off the antenna. That was the good thing. If I had been hit by the same amperage where it could grab me I would be dead. Since I fell it pulled me off the wire.

knowledge is power

Geoff Whaling

Its a spectacular technique that a few artists have been experimenting with. Hope it does not get overdone though.

"The key to safety is not what you do, but how you do it....in other words....knowledge is power."

Dale very well said,

The trick is acquiring the knowledge with out getting injured. ;-) Knowing what the hazards are and being in control of them is key to minimizing risk of injury or even failure of the process.

When we transfer technology from another field into our own we face a huge learning curve but primary in our thoughts should be the questions, what are the hazards, will this harm me, how do I control it etc.

Re: This just in -- lots of possibilities here

Barry Irby

I know almost nothing about this type of electricity. Some body was talking about doing this with a turning on the lathe. I am trying to figure out what Technatool or Oneway, or Anybody that makes a lathe loaded with electronics would say if you burned up your lathe with this technique.

It is pretty cool, but I woudl rather watch, from a distance.

Re: High Voltage Low amperage

Ric Taylor

As a C-130 pilot (many models) for 14 years, I'm very familiar with the APN-59 radar system. It was pretty primitive by today's standards, but back in the day a skilled operator could use it to see whatever needed to be seen, from picking your way through a hurricane to finding the drop zone or end of the runway from the ground clutter.

I destroyed several by driving large birds through the radome and also by lightning strikes on the radome.

Re: This just in -- lots of possibilities here *LINK*

Dick Coers

Wood is coated with a saline solution for conductivity before hooking up the transformer.


http://testtube.com/hardscience/wood-burning/

Re: This just in -- lots of possibilities here

john lucas

Cool I have the Variac. All I need now is the neon transformer (and of course the actual time to do this)

Re: High Voltage Low amperage

Brad Vietje

DC can be dangerous, because it doesn't oscillate; just locks on, causes muscle contraction, and stays on. Even fairly low amperage DC can be dangerous, since you can't let go.

Safe spinning,

Brad Vietje

Newbury, VT

Re: Microwaves?

Bill Boehme

I agree. When I saw the picture, I said to myself, "that's the step up transformer and not the magnetron. It would be very dangerous to use a magnetron in the open and I can't imagine why he is misleading people by saying that it is the magnetron. There is nothing spectacular about what he is doing -- I've been doing it for years in distributor caps on several of my cars. On one occasion when my distributor cap got a carbon trail, I was out in the middle of nowhere and it was starting to freeze and snow.

Re: High Voltage Low amperage

Bill Boehme

When the voltages get extremely high -- somewhere in the vicinity of 15kV there is the danger of x-ray emissions when connected to a CRT. That transformer doesn't appear to be anywhere that high voltage, but some of the old large CRT televisions had fly back transformers that ran as high as 25kV. They had shielded enclosures as well as shielding on the CRTs. Of course there was some leakage -- maybe a lot in some cases and I probably glowed in the dark when in college and worked on TVs for pocket change.

Re: This just in -- lots of possibilities here

Bob Macgregor

If it is high voltage, low amperage, then wouldn't an electric fence energizer do the same job...especially if you could figure out how to make one continuous, rather than pulsed?

Electric fence charger

John K Jordan

> wouldn't an electric fence energizer do the same job...

In short, no.

I use several fence chargers here on my farm. There is no big transformer inside. The power in those in use today on farms have nowhere near the amount of energy needed to propagate across the surface of a board and leave a mark. If it did the things would catch fire and burn every time a branch or tree fell across the fence and electrocute kids that tried to climb over the fence. As it is, a green leaf touching the wire might turn brown for 1/4" right at the contact point after a few days. Chargers in use around the elephant enclosure at the zoo and Fort Knox might be different.

For ag use high voltage is delivered in extremely short pulses. To give some idea of the actual power involved, three of my fence chargers are powered by small 6-volt batteries kept charged with 8x10" solor cells. These use so little power they will continue to operate for weeks with no direct sun. Although a charger is capable of energizing 10 miles of fence, just few weeds will nearly short out the zap.

I understand at one time weed burning chargers were common, powered from the AC lines. These started a lot of grass fires.

JKJ

Really high voltage needed, 2,000-15,000 volts *LINK*

Dick Coers

I've seen anywhere from 2,000 volts, to 15,000 volts used. That would be one hell of an electric fence charger! You wouldn't have to worry about birds grounding out to the steel posts! Maybe a puff of smoke, but no grounding issues!


https://vimeo.com/60814695

Electric fence confusion

John K Jordan

Don't feel bad, it is common to confuse voltage with power/energy. High voltage and low amperage won't fry a cricket. I think I mentioned this: my buddy Joe could get 11" sparks off the end of his tongue with a van de graff generator we built. Fun at parties.

Most fence energizers are rated in joules which gives the farmer a feeling for the energy in the jolt, the tolerance for shorting, and the approx number of miles of fencing it will support. The maker often does not list the voltage but I know that some output in excess of 10,000 volts. Here is one chart of recommended voltage for some different animals (those with a thicker coat and tougher dispositions need more voltage). Our horses and the wild deer don't need much. I used to raise goats, they are the worst - they push against fences and some are ornery enough to ignore many zaps.

CATTLE 4,000 To 5,000

HORSES 3,000 to 5,000

SWINE 4,000 To 5,000

GOATS 7,000 to 9,000

SHEEP 7,000 to 9,000

BISON / DEER 5,000 to 8,000

PREDATORS 5,000 +

PETS 3000 +

GARDEN PESTS 4,000+

We have llamas and alpacas - almost nothing will get through 4" of dry alpaca coat. Fortunately they respect every fence, charged or not. On the other hand, you should see what it takes to keep bears out of beehives...

JKJ