# More Fractal Woodburning...



## Kevin

Freddy the Fractal Froggy read @WoodLove 's Fractal Maple Bowl thread and has been chomping at the bit to try it, so he cannibalized the HV Xmfr from a junk MWO for a kwik test burn . . . 



 



 



 




 



 



 

This was my first go at it and I'm going to have to experiment. The burn was fast, furious, and deep. Need to lower my percentage of soda in the water and fool around with some other things.

Reactions: Like 1 | EyeCandy! 1 | Agree 1 | Great Post 1 | Funny 1 | Way Cool 8


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## kazuma78

How long did it take you to make that kevin? I'm dying to make one as soon as I get back but I threw away my broken microwave right before I left :( gonna have to order one of those boxes from the bay


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## Kevin

Doesn't take long at all. The longest thing was just finding the time to put the oven on the bench so Freddy could do his work. I'm going to secure the transformer to a board and incorporate a fuse and switch and solder all my connections to make things a little more permanent.

Reactions: Like 1


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## kazuma78

My brother in laws scrap, I wonder of they have a scrap microwave...


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## barry richardson

Oh man, first one and it's a master piece, I love the free form look of the burn... I'm wondering if different woods behave differently, I imagine we will be finding out soon enough.....


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## Fsyxxx

Think I've secured my xformers. Should be making lichtenburg fractals before long. I'm thinking of adding a foot switch for safety, so you have to stand away and hold the switch down to get the burn, that way when you walk back you automatically interrupt the circuit.


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## Kevin

A foot switch is okay as long as it isn't in a bucket of water.

Reactions: Funny 2


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## Fsyxxx

Kevin said:


> A foot switch is okay as long as it isn't in a bucket of water.


Yeah. That would make your day suck real fast like

Reactions: Like 1


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## WoodLove

barry richardson said:


> Oh man, first one and it's a master piece, I love the free form look of the burn... I'm wondering if different woods behave differently, I imagine we will be finding out soon enough.....


the different woods will respond differently. The maple burned slower that the sycamore board I burned..... and the plywood was different from those.

Kevin, how much baking soda sis you use? your burn was probably quicker than mine due to the size of your clamps..... that's a huge contact area compared to the tips of the finishing nails used on my setup.....

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Kevin

Jamie the jumper clamps are definitely too much area. I'll play around with more tonight.


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## Dennis Ford

Very cool. I am definitely going to try this at some point.


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## JR Custom Calls

Someone is going to end up zapping their ding dong off because of this... and it might be me.

Reactions: Agree 2 | Funny 8


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## DKMD

JR Custom Calls said:


> Someone is going to end up zapping their ding dong off because of this... and it might be me.


I think that's the reason my wife keeps mine in her purse

Reactions: Funny 13


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## Kevin

JR Custom Calls said:


> Someone is going to end up zapping their ding dong off because of this... and it might be me.



The secret in avoiding that is to quit playing with your ding dong long enough to do the burn. Keep it in your pants and you should be just fine.

Reactions: Funny 4 | Informative 2 | Useful 1


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## Tony

JR Custom Calls said:


> Someone is going to end up zapping their ding dong off because of this... and it might be me.



Won't be me, I'm a candy around electricity!! Nice to see everyone's work though. Tony

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Kevin

DKMD said:


> I think that's the reason my wife keeps mine in her purse



So now I know the reason for the long face at SWAT. She stayed home and wouldn't let you borrow her purse for the weekend.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 7


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## justallan

I vote we have a lottery on who gets zapped first!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## barry richardson

You need to go to the market and find you an old microwave Allan!

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 1


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## justallan

I think I have an extra out in the 5th wheel, but I won't even have to go that far if my girlfriend happens to look in the one I have in the kitchen right now.

Reactions: Funny 5


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## justallan

BTW future scientists, microwaves hold a charge in there somewhere. Whether it's a capacitor or just some little SOB in there with a tazer. Believe this, it'll make your curly ones straight and your straight ones curly!

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 7


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## ripjack13

I'm surprised no one said anything about Freddy....

Reactions: Agree 2


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## justallan

I think Freddy won the lottery, or lost.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Kevin

I attached the components to a scrap piece of wood and installed a switch and fuse in the circuit.

Reactions: Like 2


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## TimR

Oh boy...I can see it already, we're gonna be seeing a lot of Freddy, or perhaps a thread on "Where's Freddy now?"

Hey, the fractal thing is looking pretty cool, will have to see if I can nab a defunct MWO somewhere.

Reactions: Like 1


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## kazuma78

Kevin said:


> I attached the components to a scrap piece of wood and installed a switch and fuse in the circuit.
> 
> View attachment 87532


Thats a nice piece of fbe you've got there that you attached it to. Haha I'm having trouble finding a scrap microwave. I'm considering just getting the transformer from the bay

Reactions: Like 1


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## Kevin

Here's my second piece. This BLM quilted thin was very cupped before I started - it didn't sand very well and messed up the pattern by taking a lot of the smaller branches off. There's more to this than just hooking up the leads and flipping the switch.

Reactions: Like 1 | Way Cool 5 | Informative 1


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## TimR

@kazuma78 , it's a shame...our local recycling center has typically dozens of them just sitting under a lean to shelter waiting some fate in the recycling game. Would probably find all sorts of stuff there otherwise. I think Craigslist would be a good bet...be sure to find a big one, I'm thinking the higher wattage would have dictated a higher voltage on the secondary side of the transformer.


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## woodman6415

Will home owners insurance cover the big fire ? I'm with Tony I don't play with electricity ... It's always a shocking experience for me ...

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 2


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## TimR

I wonder what the effect would look like with multiple leads...may not burn quite as hot locally, and the patterns could possibly spread larger??  Kinda wingin it here from my arm chair...good perspective for all things that require hindsight and someone else to do the work.


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## Kevin

ANy MWO transformer you get will suffice they are all going to put out at least 2000 volts which is plenty.

One thing that does bear repeating is that these things can and will kill you. I'm going to totally enclose mine if I continue to experiment.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Kevin

woodman6415 said:


> Will home owners insurance cover the big fire ? I'm with Tony I don't play with electricity ... It's always a shocking experience for me ...



If you use a welder you risk a fire just as much or more than using a fractal burner. In fact, you can actually builder a very effective welder using one of these transformers.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## WoodLove

TimR said:


> @kazuma78 , it's a shame...our local recycling center has typically dozens of them just sitting under a lean to shelter waiting some fate in the recycling game. Would probably find all sorts of stuff there otherwise. I think Craigslist would be a good bet...be sure to find a big one, I'm thinking the higher wattage would have dictated a higher voltage on the secondary side of the transformer.


you should maybe talk to the recycling center and offer them 5 bucks per transformer and tell them you would be willing to remove them yourself...... then sell them to all the guys here scrounging around looking for them for a profit...... ahhh,,, the entrepreneur life.....


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## WoodLove

TimR said:


> I wonder what the effect would look like with multiple leads...may not burn quite as hot locally, and the patterns could possibly spread larger??
> Kinda wingin it here from my arm chair...good perspective for all things that require hindsight and someone else to do the work.


stay tuned and I will let you know..... I'm turning a bowl tomorrow morning and wanting to try a multiple lead type scenario....... I will take pics of what I am doing and if it works I will post the results....

Reactions: Like 1


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## kazuma78

That's not a bad idea to check with the recycling centers. There are a few in el paso if I remember right.


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## Kevin

Just a guess on the multiple lead . . . . the current will take the path of least resistance and only one lead will draw from the ground lead -- until the resistance between the ground and one of the others becomes the least. So I doubt you'll get all the leads trying to bridge at the same time but who knows man maybe it won't follow theory lol.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## WoodLove

Kevin said:


> ANy MWO transformer you get will suffice they are all going to put out at least 2000 volts which is plenty.
> 
> One thing that does bear repeating is that these things can and will kill you. I'm going to totally enclose mine if I continue to experiment.


This cannot be emphasized enough.... There are no 2nd chances with this type of high voltage technique....... like they say on that Alaskan lineman show.... if you don't hear the pop, feel the pain, and taste metal in your mouth...... you are probably dead! 

Disclaimer: Although I started this fractal excitement... don't blame me for your failure to be safe...... oh yeah, if you're gonna be stupid ya better be tough...... just sayin


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## Schroedc

Kevin said:


> If you use a welder you risk a fire just as much or more than using a fractal burner. In fact, you can actually builder a very effective welder using one of these transformers.



Hmmm.... I've got a Miller Welder with a bad feed motor. Wonder what would happen if I just used that instead of dinking around with making a power source........

Reactions: Agree 1


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## WoodLove

Kevin said:


> Here's my second piece. This BLM quilted thin was very cupped before I started - it didn't sand very well and messed up the pattern by taking a lot of the smaller branches off. There's more to this than just hooking up the leads and flipping the switch.
> 
> View attachment 87536


Kevin, That BLM thin is awesome..... if you clean out the burn on the right and backfill with white paint and the get some stain and dye some grass and leaves on the burn on the left you could have yourself a pretty awesome wallhanging. it would look like lightning coming down to strike the tree....... that's what I saw when I looked at it.

It's crazy how fun and addicting it is huh? I call my stuff fractal fingerprints because no two are ever alike.....

Reactions: Like 1


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## kweinert

WoodLove said:


> stay tuned and I will let you know..... I'm turning a bowl tomorrow morning and wanting to try a multiple lead type scenario....... I will take pics of what I am doing and if it works I will post the results....



You should post whether it works or not. That way we can all learn from your mistakes instead of just you :)

Talking about making a welder from one of these, check out a guy on YouTube named The King of Random. He does all sorts of neat and cool stuff with this sort of thing. A lot of other things as well and he's just an interesting guy to check in on every now and then.

Salvaging a microwave oven





And making an arc welder from it (well, it and a friend)


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## TimR

Kevin said:


> Just a guess on the multiple lead . . . . the current will take the path of least resistance and only one lead will draw from the ground lead -- until the resistance between the ground and one of the others becomes the least. So I doubt you'll get all the leads trying to bridge at the same time but who knows man maybe it won't follow theory lol.


I'm better with mechanical stuff than electrical...but my guess is that if both are relatively equal in their lead and clamp construction, and not terribly different in distance to other probe...that one will definitely be the dominant, but the other will take a share of the amps based on it's total resistive load.
That may be a bunch of BS...but it sounds good to me! 
Looking forward to the true test results.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## woodman6415

I'm not usually welding on wood ... Usually on open cement pad or dirt drive ... And never ever inside my wood shop

Reactions: Agree 1


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## WoodLove

I just scored a microwave sitting out by the curb........ I'm planning on dissecting it in the next day or two. @barry richardson if you want it let me know and we can work something out. If Barry passes then its open to the rest of yall......


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## kweinert

I just got my neon sign transformer: 8kv @ 30ma

I don't like the switch - it's a pull switch which makes perfect sense if you're using it how it's supposed to be used. Going to have to try some stuff out this weekend.


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## barry richardson

WoodLove said:


> I just scored a microwave sitting out by the curb........ I'm planning on dissecting it in the next day or two. @barry richardson if you want it let me know and we can work something out. If Barry passes then its open to the rest of yall......


 Hey thanks for the offer Jamie, but after viewing quite a few you tube videos, I think I'm going with the neon transformer, less wiring I have to figure out how to rig, among other supposed benefits. Im sure someone will put it to good use.


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## kazuma78

barry richardson said:


> Hey thanks for the offer Jamie, but after viewing quite a few you tube videos, I think I'm going with the neon transformer, less wiring I have to figure out how to rig, among other supposed benefits. Im sure someone will put it to good use.


Do you have a link to how the neon transformer ones are made?


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## barry richardson

kazuma78 said:


> Do you have a link to how the neon transformer ones are made?


Josh, here is a link to a video that got me thinking I want a neon transformer, It appears they are pretty much "plug and play" of course I'm just going by what they guy says...

Reactions: Informative 3


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## Kevin

Quite a few of you started or planned to start making one of these, has anyone done it? Freddy says he can offer some help if anyone needs it. I guess he's bored.


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## kweinert

It's not good timing for me. I know I bought a neon transformer but couldn't get it to do anything. No sparks at all.

Of course it's all packed in a box somewhere either in storage or on a trailer and I don't have a shop to work in right now - but I'll sure follow along if anyone else is getting helped out.


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## Kevin

Ken if you send it to me I'll build it for you - if you sign a release.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Fsyxxx

i never was able to get mine to work well either

Reactions: Like 1


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## barry richardson

I must admit, I was fired up to try it, but haven't backed up my talk yet, just too darned busy....

Reactions: Like 1


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## woodtickgreg

Can't believe I missed this thread. Glad I found it, very interesting!


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## gman2431

I've wanted to build one of these but have been to chicken to do so. I might have to enlist my dad to help if he has time before he heads South again otherwise I'm out. I wish the ones @DKMD has were a little cheaper cause in would buy one for sure.


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## mdlbldrmatt135

I'm fighting a hot wire cutter for foam at the moment. But then I also just got the Ni-chrome wire to finish it. Thinking that's why the transformer wasn't doing anything... there wasn't a complete circuit.


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## Spinartist

justallan said:


> I vote we have a lottery on who gets zapped first!




I make a real nice cremation urn...

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Spinartist

barry richardson said:


> You need to go to the market and find you an old microwave Allan!




I got an extra!! Come get it!!!


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## Spinartist

Tony said:


> Won't be me, I'm a candy around electricity!! Nice to see everyone's work though. Tony




After catching a lightning bolt (really) that sissy stuff coming out of the wall don't scare me!!!


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## Spinartist

Kevin said:


> I attached the components to a scrap piece of wood and installed a switch and fuse in the circuit.
> 
> View attachment 87532




Ahhh... much safer.. I won't smell your burning hair here in Florida...


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## Spinartist

Kevin said:


> I attached the components to a scrap piece of wood and installed a switch and fuse in the circuit.
> 
> View attachment 87532




SCRAP WOOD!!!! FBE!!!!!!??????? Look at my avatar, I'm comin fer ya!!!!!


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## Spinartist

Kevin said:


> Here's my second piece. This BLM quilted thin was very cupped before I started - it didn't sand very well and messed up the pattern by taking a lot of the smaller branches off. There's more to this than just hooking up the leads and flipping the switch.
> 
> View attachment 87536




Practice on junk wood PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!! Or don't post picts, you're making us wonder about you!!


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## Spinartist

TimR said:


> @kazuma78 , it's a shame...our local recycling center has typically dozens of them just sitting under a lean to shelter waiting some fate in the recycling game. Would probably find all sorts of stuff there otherwise. I think Craigslist would be a good bet...be sure to find a big one, I'm thinking the higher wattage would have dictated a higher voltage on the secondary side of the transformer.




There's also a web site called www.freecycle.org in most areas where you can offer or ask for free stuff. Lots of microwaves in my area.


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