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Started by doc henderson, July 14, 2020, 12:06:06 AM

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doc henderson

@WV Sawmiller ,  can you see if you can interview and take pics of your buddies machine and process.  I have seen video, and would like to try, but not die.  high voltage is to be respected!
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

WV Sawmiller

Doc,

   I just meet him at our local flea market and never been to his house which is 20-25 miles from me. I will ask him if he has a picture or try to get one of it if I'm ever there. I think his wife will be buying some basswood from me soon.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

doc henderson

thanks Howard.  Maybe he would like to join the forum and school us all.   :o :o :o  :D
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

Larry

My Dad was a licensed electrician working in power company substations with high voltage. In the service I worked on microwave and some radar installations using high powered klystrons. Also worked around voltages where arc flash was a concern. I think I have a good working knowledge of what can happen with high voltage toys. Safety precautions need to be extreme when working with the voltages a junk microwave oven can produce. Knowledge of what kind of insulation is sufficient is paramount.  Even test equipment is suspect.  Ever seen a cheap multi-meter explode?

While I think fracking is something interesting that can be pursued with caution, I don't think the how to's should be discussed on a open forum. Some folks don't have a appreciation of the dangers of super high voltage.

Another one dies this spring.

Widow of Milton man warns of “wood fracking” dangers
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

doc henderson

good points Larry.  this is why I would like to learn from someone that has knowledge and not just cuhonnas.  I do not want to learn the hard way!   :o :o :o
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

lxskllr

" I don't think the how to's should be discussed on a open forum."

I disagree with this pretty strongly. More knowledge is always better than less knowledge, and it's up to every individual to evaluate the risks themselves. Every aspect of this forum is dedicated to activities that carry a risk of death and injury that tops OSHA's charts, and that's with professionals doing the work. Taking away information can only increase the risks.

Sedgehammer

Neon light drivers are much safer. Plus you never hold the arch when on. If set up properly IMO you set both electrodes and let go. Then switch on. Some that use the microwave transformers use the dial power ones. They start it on low and then increase the power.
Necessity is the engine of drive

doc henderson

WVs guy seems to do a good job, and not dead yet.  everything I do in life has risk.  
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

WV Sawmiller

   He's not dead but he says he has been shocked a time or two which may explain his current mental sate - or may be he was crazy before. :D
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

doc henderson

maybe if he reverses the polarity, he will be sane again??  not recommended, helps to be a little off.   :D :D
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

Tacotodd

Just remember: Crazy, not Stupid.
Their is a BIG difference!
My friends say I'm crazy, and only those that know me say I am not stupid. Ignorant, yes. Stupid, no. Ignorance can be taught better. Stupid is forever.
Trying harder everyday.

shinnlinger

When I do if I use an old oil burner transformer.  10,000 volts but only .023 milliamps.   I have been ticked a time or two but what works great is clamping the two leads in place and stepping back and turning the power on.   

All that said, it gets old and it can be overdone.  

Dave
Shinnlinger
Woodshop teacher, pasture raised chicken farmer
34 horse kubota L-2850, Turner Band Mill, '84 F-600,
living in self-built/milled timberframe home

scsmith42

I have no idea what is being discussed in this thread... but I'm intrigued.  Can anyone enlighten me?

(Nevermind - I found the related threads)
Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

TimW

I met a new customer that does it.  Saw it done to a cedar board while he was dialing up the power slow.  It looks like controlled lightning moving down the board and very beautiful and mesmerizing.
They called in Frackning.
         hugs,  brandi
Mahindra 6520 4WD with loader/backhoe and a Caterpiller E70 Excavator.  My mill is a Woodmizer LT40HD Wide 35hp Yanmar Diesel. An old Lull 644D-34 called Bull

doc henderson

Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

WV Sawmiller

Doc,

   The only pictures I have are of the results - not the process. 

 
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Jeff

Which of you would go out and stand beneath a lone pine in the middle of a barren field during a major thunder storm?
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Old Greenhorn

Now that's funny right there! And fairly accurate too! :D
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

caveman

We had a customer (biker chick) several years ago who bought quite a bit of wood from us.  She used to do wood burning and then got into this process along with epoxy resin.  She stayed busy making things for clients and then she moved to Utah.


 

 

 

The bottom photos are of a bar she did somewhere in SW Fl.  From what I've read about it, it (Tom) is a good way to get killed.  The results, assuming one survives, are pretty spectacular.
Caveman

Jeff

Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Magicman

Plus to me, some of it is overdone and ugly.  ::)
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

YellowHammer

We had some customers in the past do it, some got "knocked to the ground" some just quit, and some I've never seem again.  I talked to the ones who were doing it at length to determine their electrical awareness and skill level, as well as their technique.  None seemed to be using proper electrical safety precautions as they described their attempts to me.  None were using a proper remote deadman switch.  None were using proper electrical PP&E.  One said he bought his Lichtenberg set online and so it was "Safe."

There seem to be two tiers of technique an operator progress through.  A purely remote technique that can be managed relatively easily in terms of safety, and once they get bored of that, then a manual, hands on stage which is much more dangerous but gives much better results.  The manual hands on technique involves moving the electrodes across the wood piece, in effect like a lightning pen, and the operator can do some pretty amazing stuff like write names, draw lake outlines, and stencil.  However, it's by far the most dangerous and it also produces the best results.  

One guy I talked to was hand holding his electrode wearing only a single set of rubber electrical protective gloves he ordered from Amazon.  He was painting electrolyte solution with one hand and holding the energized electrode in the other, burning people's names on wooden coffee cups.  I verbally laid into him in front of his wife at our shop and let them both know that they better get his last will and testament in order.  

The most common response I get from our customers is they say if they "get hit" it will be no worse than an electric cattle fence.    
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

WV Sawmiller

   I don't do it. I take my wood to a guy who does it for me. I think he said he used the transformer out of a microwave oven. Others use transformers out of neon signs. I am told the neon sings have a much lower wattage (Amperage?).

    I saw a man at our local flea market selling jewelry boxes he had made and engraved. He said he used a low voltage kit and told me about the neon sign. He also filled his with colored epoxy to make the etching stand out more.
 
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

doc henderson

volts x amps = watts

I have considered it, but not sure who to trust to teach and build/buy a unit.  I could get pics of a pattern and just laser engrave it on wood with CO2 laser.  Lost my hard drive (computer cannot see it) after a power outage a few days back.  not good at graduation time.  
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

YellowHammer

We had a Lichtenberg guy show up yesterday, about 30 years old, barefoot.   ::)  He brought some samples and I thought about this post.  

The problem I see is what happened yesterday, that the patterns are pretty random and other than the "Oh, it looks cool" that people blurted out first, then they immediately ask "What's it supposed to be?"

I like Doc's idea, use a laser engraver to match the look while actually making a design that fits the customer and becomes a sellable product, not just a novelty.  
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

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