# Maple Fractal Bowl



## WoodLove

So I was bored one night and decided to check out some videos and ran across one about woodburning..... I decided I wanted to try it and ordered the needed parts. I turned a 4 inch bowl out of a piece of plain hard maple. It seemed to be a good candidate to test my fractal woodburning skills on and this was the result. Now I understand the bowl isn't finished but I was too excited and wanted to share.......

For those wondering what fractal woodburning is...... it is done by burning the wood using high voltage electricity.... My setup is approximately 2500 volts...... Ya never touch the wood when the current is on because you will NOT get a second chance..... you will be dead. Hope ya like it....

Before.......



After.......

Reactions: Like 4 | Way Cool 15


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## ripjack13

That is seriously cool.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Sprung

Very cool! Jamie, would you be up for doing a tutorial whenever you feel confident enough in the process to do so? I've seen this before, but would love to see how it's done.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## kazuma78

It's really cool. It looks like trees growing in the wood.


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## Final Strut

Now THAT is cool. I would love to see a tutorial on that.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## JR Custom Calls

How many amps going through it?


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## Kevin

Cool Jamie! I just looked at a short video on it. Easy to make too - a high KV xfmr from a MW oven is the main component. Nice job on the bowl.


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## WoodLove

JR Custom Calls said:


> How many amps going through it?


Not sure of the amperage but I know the voltage from my transformer is 2000+..... it takes less than 1 amp to kill a person though..... a police taser puts out 50,000 volts but only generates 1.51 milliamps..... that's why it doesn't kill the person when tased..... low/no amperage. (I'm a retired deputy sheriff that's how I know)

Reactions: Like 2


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## JR Custom Calls

WoodLove said:


> Not sure of the amperage but I know the voltage from my transformer is 2000+..... it takes less than 1 amp to kill a person though..... a police taser puts out 50,000 volts but only generates 1.51 milliamps..... that's why it doesn't kill the person when tased..... low/no amperage. (I'm a retired deputy sheriff that's how I know)


Yeah, that's why I was curious. My dad is a retired science teacher and had this thing you could put your hands on and it would stand your hair up. I forget how many thousands of volts, but it had either 0 or almost 0 amps.


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## WoodLove

Sprung said:


> Very cool! Jamie, would you be up for doing a tutorial whenever you feel confident enough in the process to do so? I've seen this before, but would love to see how it's done.


@Final Strut , I will make a tutorial for it. I will have to have an extra set of hands to take pics so I can focus on the process. I will try to have a tutorial up in the next day or so. I will

Reactions: Like 2 | Thank You! 1 | Way Cool 1


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## Kevin

To figure the amps you need to know the R of the wood. You'd probably need a megger to measure that but then it wouldn't be very accurate probably because it would vary so much from the salt water. Easy solution - clamp an amprobe on the supply circuit. My guess is less than an amp.


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## WoodLove

Kevin said:


> To figure the amps you need to know the R of the wood. You'd probably need a megger to measure that but then it wouldn't be very accurate probably because it would vary so much from the salt water. Easy solution - clamp an amprobe on the supply circuit. My guess is less than an amp.


I can check and see..... a standard 1100 watt countertop microwave draws an average of 5 amps total though. Some building codes require they be on their own 15 amp circuit nowadays..... I will see about hooking up my meter and see what it draws when burning the wood...


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## Schroedc

Way cool. Looking forward to seeing how it's done.

Reactions: Funny 6


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## Kevin

WoodLove said:


> I can check and see..... a standard 1100 watt countertop microwave draws an average of 5 amps total though. Some building codes require they be on their own 15 amp circuit nowadays..... I will see about hooking up my meter and see what it draws when burning the wood...



Yes but the only resistance the HV xfmr sees in a MWO is the high voltage resistor, the magnetron, then lastly the waveguide (almost zero). The mag and waveguide will offer less than one ohm of resistance - the wood offers no telling how much. An order of magnitutde more than the MWO so the amps will be considerably less.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## DKMD

That's the coolest thing I've seen in a long time! Very, very cool!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## barry richardson

That is supper cool Jamie! I've never seen that technique before, I too, am interested in the process. Your getting way out ahead of us buddy...


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## ClintW

That is awesome! I had seen a video on doing that to flat work. I guess you had the same idea as me and thought that would look awesome on a bowl!


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## Tony

super cool Jamie! I am a candy around electricity, so you will never see this come out of my Shop, but seriously cool! Tony


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## WoodLove

barry richardson said:


> That is supper cool Jamie! I've never seen that technique before, I too, am interested in the process. Your getting way out ahead of us buddy...



Trust me, I am years behind your talents, Barry. You are an amazing carver.... and I am just trying to find a niche in the market around here so I can make some money to upgrade my tools..... and buy more wood...... and one of your carved hollowforms...

Reactions: Like 1


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## Fsyxxx

Yup, I'm doin that.... Love mad scientist stuff!


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## gman2431

I've been seeing these videos floating around and its amazing!

Cool to see someone here to it.


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## Horatio

This weekend I saw a piece on one of those Sunday morning shows.....CBS Sunday Morning? And an artist was using this technique on huge slabs - and I thought that's really cool but I don't want to be electrocuted...

Its beautiful and I think its pretty awesome to be able to translate it to a 3D medium as opposed to a flat surface. Great work.


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## WoodLove

Horatio said:


> This weekend I saw a piece on one of those Sunday morning shows.....CBS Sunday Morning? And an artist was using this technique on huge slabs - and I thought that's really cool but I don't want to be electrocuted...
> 
> Its beautiful and I think its pretty awesome to be able to translate it to a 3D medium as opposed to a flat surface. Great work.



I'm not gonna stick it to my tongue...... like its a frozen flag pole or somethin..... lol..... I will hopefully post my tutorial tonight......

Reactions: Like 1


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## barry richardson

WoodLove said:


> Trust me, I am years behind your talents, Barry. You are an amazing carver.... and I am just trying to find a niche in the market around here so I can make some money to upgrade my tools..... and buy more wood...... and one of your carved hollowforms...


Thanks Jamie! Can it be sanded some to clean up the look after burning without removing the pattern? The fissures look pretty deep, might be possible to fill the pattern with a different material for a cool look, all kinds of possibilities....

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Kevin

I was thinking about that too Barry. I also wonder what using different types of conductors (varying the R) might do. This has really got me interested too and I need another project like a hole in the head.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## kweinert

I saw something in one of the videos where the person had filled the fissures with a glow in the dark epoxy mix. It was flat work, but evidently you can fill them for a different look.


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## WoodLove

barry richardson said:


> Thanks Jamie! Can it be sanded some to clean up the look after burning without removing the pattern? The fissures look pretty deep, might be possible to fill the pattern with a different material for a cool look, all kinds of possibilities....


I will post a pic of the bowl when I sand it tonight. The thicker portions of the fractals can be filled. I will try to answer any questions and be as thorough as I possibly can in the tutorial. Feel free to throw the questions my way and I will answer them..... if I don't know the answer I will certainly come up with a good BS story that sounds like an answer....lol


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## gman2431

Kevin said:


> I was thinking about that too Barry. I also wonder what using different types of conductors (varying the R) might do. This has really got me interested too and I need another project like a hole in the head.



Same here but I'm a sucker and will drop everything in doing to try it. Haha

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## WoodLove

@barry richardson I Sanded the bowl with 120 grit and what it has done is remove the shallowest tips of the fractal and in doing so it really made the deeper fractals stand out. Hope this answers your question....

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Way Cool 4


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## Kevin

Jamie you really got that down it looks just like a tree awesome job.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## kazuma78

WoodLove said:


> @barry richardson I Sanded the bowl with 120 grit and what it has done is remove the shallowest tips of the fractal and in doing so it really made the deeper fractals stand out. Hope this answers your question....
> 
> View attachment 87148


Awesome! It made it look better I think, looks more like a tree now!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## WoodLove

Hey yall, I am typing up the tutorial on how to do this so bare with me because its going to be several posts with a fair amount of pics....

Reactions: Way Cool 1


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## WoodLove

Ok.... the fractal wood burning tutorial is up and ready for review in The Classroom. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions......

Reactions: Like 1 | Way Cool 1


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## barry richardson

That's awesome, I'm kinda like Kevin, I need another project like a hole in the head, but that is just too cool!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Kevin

Guys I kid you not, last night I dreamed I was walking around the yard dragging a high voltage xfmr on a dog leash. It was sliding along real easy as if it weighed a feather, and Terry was standing at the back door with her hands on her hips looking at me like I had two heads. I guess this means I'm gonna build one.

Reactions: Like 2 | Funny 1


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## justallan

Very cool indeed! I just saw a video on this and was amazed.


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## Jerry B

VERY cool design/process and beautiful bowl 
Many thanks for the tut in classroom, I've been watching some YouTube videos on this recently and nothing fully explains anything in detail.


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## barry richardson

Kevin said:


> Guys I kid you not, last night I dreamed I was walking around the yard dragging a high voltage xfmr on a dog leash. It was sliding along real easy as if it weighed a feather, and Terry was standing at the back door with her hands on her hips looking at me like I had two heads. I guess this means I'm gonna build one.


A message from god....,go forth and fractal.......

Reactions: Great Post 1


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## barry richardson

Is the wattage of the microwave I get the transformer from an important factor? They vary quite a bit... I see plenty of microwaves on craigslist cheap, just wondering if any ol one will do....

Reactions: Agree 1


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## kazuma78

Il looking to build one also now. The designs are just way too cool. Do you hold onto the sticks as you burn the bowl?


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## Kevin

barry richardson said:


> Is the wattage of the microwave I get the transformer from an important factor? They vary quite a bit... I see plenty of microwaves on craigslist cheap, just wondering if any ol one will do....



The HV Xfmr from even a lower watt (say 900) MWO will put out enough volts to turn the surface of a wet board into a path of conduction. So yes, IMO it will work fine.


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## WoodLove

barry richardson said:


> A message from god....,go forth and fractal.......


I don't care who ya are..... that was some funny junk!!

Reactions: Agree 1


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