![]() ![]() Posted in Misc Hacks Tagged highvoltage, Lichtenberg, Lichtenberg figure, wood burning Post navigation doesn’t really show us too much about his process, but luckily recently posted a video of his process for riding the lightning. The contrast between the charred and intact wood, and the way the resin fills the voids really brings out the fractal nature of the Lichtenberg figures. ![]() We’ve seen these Lichtenberg figures before, but generally as electric discharges in acrylic sheets or crystal balls using multi-mega-electron volt accelerators. ’s technique is considerably simpler and well within the reach of most would-be fractal artists, relying as it does on a transformer salvaged from a $20 Craigslist microwave.īut the extra twist that really brings the wow factor to the fractal patterns burned into the wood is the addition of some phosphorescent resin to fill the valleys carved by the electric discharge. carefully prepares the wood, fills the burns with glow powder mixed with epoxy resin, and finishes with a little sanding, linseed oil and polyurethane. puts a new twist on it by using a microwave oven transformer to generate fractal patterns in wood. "The equipment can't be made safely, and the real issue here is that there are not enough safeguards once those home-based systems are built to ensure that they can be operated safely.Wood burning, which goes by pyrography when it’s feeling fancy, has been an art form for centuries. ![]() "I believe that's probably been the largest contributing source to the individuals who are being injured and dying from this," McDonald said. Phil McDonald, executive director of the AAW, said the organization adopted a strong recommendation against fractal burning beginning in 2017 after seeing a "proliferation" of social media tutorials instructing people on how to use "extremely high-voltage transformers to create their own home-based fractal burning systems." They're sometimes called "Lichtenberg figures," and they're observed in other electric discharges, including the scars left on people who are struck by lightning. The intricate patterns burned into the wood as the electric current passes over it can resemble a bolt of lighting or the branches of a tree. Some offer cursory safety warnings some do not. They include videos of people who used home microwaves as a power source and others who use a car battery. There are hundreds of such videos on YouTube, TikTok and other video-sharing sites. In Wisconsin, a Rock County man died in 2020 after he got interested in fractal burning because he had watched videos about it on social media. Those who've died include new hobbyists and experienced woodworkers alike, and even in one case "an electrician with many years of experience working with electricity," according to the AAW's website.Ī man in Michigan's Upper Peninsula died in July as a result of the practice. "You can see the potential danger that's there, when you're working with something like the power supply to a microwave."Īt least 33 people have died as a result of fractal burning, according to the American Association of Woodturners, which has sought to educate people about the extraordinarily high risks of the practice. ![]() "It's a very dangerous process," Billeb said, that involves using jumper cables to run a high-voltage electric current from a disassembled microwave across a piece of wood. The house fire then started as a result of the same current. Following a weekslong investigation by local authorities and the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory, on Thursday Chief Deputy Chad Billeb said during a press conference that the two had died in their garage from electrocution by the electric current they were using to burn fractal patterns in wood. The Marathon County Sheriff's Office identified the deaths as " suspicious" and investigated the scene for signs of arson and homicide. Carolfi, 52, were found dead in their rural Marathon County home on April 6 when firefighters responded to a house fire there. Two people in Marathon County were electrocuted while they were engaging in a wood-art practice called "fractal burning." Their deaths are calling attention to the risks of the practice, which has spread on social media, and which experts say cannot be practiced safely by home woodworkers. ![]()
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