I'm surprised no one said anything about Freddy....
More Fractal Woodburning...
- Thread starter Kevin
- Start date
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.
Hey, the fractal thing is looking pretty cool, will have to see if I can nab a defunct MWO somewhere.
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
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #26
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.
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@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.
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 ...
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. 
Kinda wingin it here from my arm chair...good perspective for all things that require hindsight and someone else to do the work.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #30
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.
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.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #31
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.
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.....
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....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.
That's not a bad idea to check with the recycling centers. There are a few in el paso if I remember right.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #35
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.
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
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........
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.....
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)
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.