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Lichtenberg Burned finish
- Thread starter getBAK
- Start date
My son actually does that technique to furniture. It requires a magnetron from a microwave and some sort of liquid pored on the wood.
It's not really all that dangerous if you take reasonable precautions. I've been doing a ton of it lately. Microwave transformers work well, but I've gotten even better (and safer) results with a neon sign transformer. 10kv @ .3mA, 1 tbsp of baking powder per cup of hot water, 5 minute soak, and lots of patience.
I've experimented with several different species of wood, too. The best results have been with poplar, pine, and to a limited extent maple. Oily and dense woods are the worst - rosewood, african blackwood, and ebony have all been spectacular to watch but conduct too readily and don't leave much branching. Fibrous woods like oak, hickory, and zebrano (zebrawood) tend to follow grain lines, which isn't always a bad thing. Laminates are a no-go, as well. CA (and wood glue) are both conductive and combustible, or conductive enough that once the current "finds" them, they just burn and burn along the glue lines. That part is super disappointing, I admit.
I'd be more than happy to do a bass body of ash, alder, or basswood for free if someone wanted to cover shipping to and from me. Backfilling with epoxy and/or body finishing we'd have to discuss.
For reference, the turtle shell is about 7" long, the purple piece is about 10" long, and both have been backfilled with epoxy and finished. (The purple one needs some more finish work). The Horde symbol has no backfill and is dyed red with a heavy pour clear coat (in this pic it's still curing to an extent). The peacock is post-burn, after cleaning but before any finish has been applied.
I've experimented with several different species of wood, too. The best results have been with poplar, pine, and to a limited extent maple. Oily and dense woods are the worst - rosewood, african blackwood, and ebony have all been spectacular to watch but conduct too readily and don't leave much branching. Fibrous woods like oak, hickory, and zebrano (zebrawood) tend to follow grain lines, which isn't always a bad thing. Laminates are a no-go, as well. CA (and wood glue) are both conductive and combustible, or conductive enough that once the current "finds" them, they just burn and burn along the glue lines. That part is super disappointing, I admit.
I'd be more than happy to do a bass body of ash, alder, or basswood for free if someone wanted to cover shipping to and from me. Backfilling with epoxy and/or body finishing we'd have to discuss.
For reference, the turtle shell is about 7" long, the purple piece is about 10" long, and both have been backfilled with epoxy and finished. (The purple one needs some more finish work). The Horde symbol has no backfill and is dyed red with a heavy pour clear coat (in this pic it's still curing to an extent). The peacock is post-burn, after cleaning but before any finish has been applied.
