Not your father's tele

[Cagey]

I understand what's going on with the fractal burning, what amazes me is how it's simultaneously wild and controlled. Electricity is pretty opportunistic about finding a path to get where it wants to go, but here it seems to sorta behave itself, staying on the general path without trying to get on the top/back. Really worked out well.

Gives me ideas about a body I have here where the wood in the upper rear area of the top, which is pretty wide open, has a grain figuring that looks sorta like a starfield/galaxy. I've been trying to figure out a way to finish the thing to enhance and take advantage of that, and this might be just the thing. Although lightning doesn't bounce around the stars, I've got enough hippie in me to pretend it's the side of a van and do something surrealistic that way. Be a helluva conversation piece.

 

[arealken]

I don't like the gold hardware on that- totaly goes agaisnt the whole vibe of the guitar..don't get me wrong, love the guitar.

 

[Rich]

I understand what's going on with the fractal burning, what amazes me is how it's simultaneously wild and controlled. Electricity is pretty opportunistic about finding a path to get where it wants to go, but here it seems to sorta behave itself, staying on the general path without trying to get on the top/back. Really worked out well.

Gives me ideas about a body I have here where the wood in the upper rear area of the top, which is pretty wide open, has a grain figuring that looks sorta like a starfield/galaxy. I've been trying to figure out a way to finish the thing to enhance and take advantage of that, and this might be just the thing. Although lightning doesn't bounce around the stars, I've got enough hippie in me to pretend it's the side of a van and do something surrealistic that way. Be a helluva conversation piece.

It's controlled chaos and you're at the whim of the electricity once you power on. The control you do have is the baking soda solution. You wet only the parts you want to burn. The arc only travels where it's damp.

 

[Rich]

I don't like the gold hardware on that- totaly goes agaisnt the whole vibe of the guitar..don't get me wrong, love the guitar.

Funny you say that. I love gold for the builds I've done. It's an earthtone for me the umami of metals, if you will. BUT I was contemplating a patina/heat stress process for all the hardware, sans the springs and threads...

 

[Cagey]

It's controlled chaos and you're at the whim of the electricity once you power on. The control you do have is the baking soda solution. You wet only the parts you want to burn. The arc only travels where it's damp.

I think the water is just to slow down the burn. Contrary to popular belief, water itself is a non-conductor. It only appears to conduct due to the dissolved minerals/elements in solution. In this case, I believe it's the sodium in the baking soda that's allowing conduction. You could probably get similar results with saltwater, but it might change the speed or pattern. Might be worth an experiment, with varying dilutions of salt.

Now I gotta find a high-voltage transformer somewhere...

 

[mayfly]

Take it easy buddy - I don't want to be reading about you in the paper later... 

 

[Cagey]

Never fear - Cagey's here! Me and electricity go way back. Got in trouble over it in grade school with one of the nuns, pointing out how it was omnipotent, omnipresent, invisible, in all of us and necessary for life, been around forever, etc. just like another subject of their acquaintance. Only fly in the ointment was its decidedly provable existence. Didn't go over well, as you might imagine :icon_biggrin:

 

[mayfly]

 

[Sovereign_13]

Baking soda ionizes in water, which produces free/loosely bound electrons.  Hit them with a high enough potential, and off they go!

One thing to note, per Wiki baking soda is a weak base, so it doesn't produce a lot of ions and in solution is only mildly conductive.  Saltwater is considerably more conductive, as it ionizes completely in water (up to the solubility limit).  If all the electricity is moving through the saltwater, it might not create much of a burning effect.  I have no evidence to support this notion.

Just be sure to shout "for science!" just before you apply the leads to the wood (all good mildly-dangerous experiments start this way).  And probably wear rubber gloves, just in case.  :icon_jokercolor:

 

[swarfrat]

My guess is that mildly conductive = slow enough to be controllable. Not that you can steer it, but you'd probably get more burning and less detailed / compilicated paths with a solution that's too conductive.

 

[swarfrat]

http://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/death-prompts-ban-fractal-burning

 

[Cagey]

Phbbt. What a buncha snowflakes.

 

[bagman67]

You can pick up a microwave at the Goodwill store for $15 and yank the transformer from it.

 

[swarfrat]

The thing that struck me regarding safety is use the metalworker's rule of thumb. All work needs to be adequately fixtured and jigged. Woodworkers hold all kinds of ridiculous crap by hand that's simply not possible with metal due to the forces involved, heat generated, or precision required.

 

[Cagey]

You can pick up a microwave at the Goodwill store for $15 and yank the transformer from it.

That's an idea. Or, maybe somebody I know is itching for an excuse to buy a new one. Trade the old one for an opportunity to watch me risk my ass, end up with some unique art either way. Pretty sure my brother Mark would be up for it.

Mark: What are we gonna do?
Kevin: Hook up the 2,000 volt transformer that's in there to make miniature lighting on this nice piece of Mahogany.
Mark: No way!
Kevin: Way. It'll burn it in, and maybe later we use it on a guitar body.
Mark: Cool!
Kevin: Here, hold my beer...

 

[Sovereign_13]

You mean a 2kV, 1000W electrical supply is dangerous when taken out of the context of its intended use?  I'm shocked.

Pun unintended.  But I'll own that one.  Not as shocked as that guy, tho... 

Seriously, though.  If you're dealing with electricity at mains level or above, you should probably take some precautions.  There's a reason they tell you to disconnect the battery of a car when doing any maintenance...and that's a 12V system.

 

[bagman67]

Oh, I'm all about the safety.  I know Cagey has the chops to do it right without killing himself.  I would not recommend to anyone who is less of an engineering baller.

 

[Rich]

Here's my death rig:

 

[Cagey]

There's a reason they tell you to disconnect the battery of a car when doing any maintenance...and that's a 12V system.

"They" tell you to do all sorts of things. Did you know there's a buncha warnings on BIC lighters that variously say "keep away from children" and "contains flammable gas" and "be sure flame is out after each use", among others. Seriously. Who needs to be told these things? But, I digress.

I'm a EE with decades of experience doing some pretty wild stuff. Theoretically, I'm one of "they" :laughing7:

 

[Cagey]

Nice "death rig". Pro tip: don't check the voltage with your tongue.