Tungsten.Chromium
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Optimal Electrolytic Solution for Lichtenberg Wood Burnings
Hello all!
A friend of mine and I spent this last weekend burning Lichtenberg figures into some wooden planks we had found lying around the barn using an oil
burner ignition transformer. We found that the voltage really liked to follow the grain of the wood.
In order for the current to properly flow through and burn the wood, it had to be coated in an electrolytic solution. We used a crude mixture of
baking soda and tap water.
I am curious to find the "optimal" solution to apply for conductivity. In addition, I would like to be able to block the direction of the burn as
well; I am assuming DI water would be ideal. Can anyone recommend a particular solution composition that you feel would conduct electricity very well
without reacting with wood to change its color too much?
http://i65.tinypic.com/2q2qxle.jpg
Prosit!
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LearnedAmateur
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If you’re up for some solid maths and experimentation, I found this procedure for determining the conductance of electrolyte solutions.
https://www.csun.edu/~jeloranta/CHEM351L/experiment4.pdf
I’d recommend trying potassium nitrate or sodium chloride as the electrolyte, as these two are used in the salt bridges for standard electrode
potential experiments.
In chemistry, sometimes the solution is the problem.
It’s been a while, but I’m not dead! Updated 7/1/2020. Shout out to Aga, we got along well.
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wg48
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Quote: Originally posted by Tungsten.Chromium  |
I am curious to find the "optimal" solution to apply for conductivity. In addition, I would like to be able to block the direction of the burn as
well; I am assuming DI water would be ideal. Can anyone recommend a particular solution composition that you feel would conduct electricity very well
without reacting with wood to change its color too much?
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I doubt you want very good conduction that would not heat up.
You want sufficent conduction that the conduction path heats up but not so high that it shorts out the voltage source. So the ideal resitance will
depend on the voltage source and its impedance.
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Sulaiman
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If you can get it, try strontium nitrate (or other pyrotechnic colour salts)
- I guess that the burning process will look more interesting with red (or other colour) flames 
[Edited on 16-1-2018 by Sulaiman]
CAUTION : Hobby Chemist, not Professional or even Amateur
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MrHomeScientist
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For "blocking" the flow, could you paint the electrolyte on the wood in the desired pattern? The current should follow the electrolyte path and not
stray much into the rest of the wood. Disclaimer: I have no experience with this experiment and am not 100% sure how it works!
[Edited on 1-16-2018 by MrHomeScientist]
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DraconicAcid
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Potassium nitrate could very well make the burn spread farther than you would like.
Sodium chlorate might be fun, too.....
Please remember: "Filtrate" is not a verb.
Write up your lab reports the way your instructor wants them, not the way your ex-instructor wants them.
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NEMO-Chemistry
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There is an electronics forum with alot on it about this, be careful though. If the current is enough to burn wood its not going to be healthy
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Tungsten.Chromium
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Thank you for all the quick replies!
I think I should have been a little more specific on how we were applying the solution to the wood. We used a sponge dipped in the liquid and wiped a
thin layer of the solution on the boards first. After they dried, we knocked in some finishing nails, hooked up the leads, and turned it on. I guess
what I'm getting at is that I don't need the solution itself to be overly conductive, but am more concerned with the conductivity of the residue left
behind. We dd have better results with planks that were still a little damp, so maybe its better to have the solution put on right before we hit the
switch.
| Quote: Originally posted by wg48 |
You want sufficent conduction that the conduction path heats up but not so high that it shorts out the voltage source. So the ideal resitance will
depend on the voltage source and its impedance. |
Our voltage source is 120v, single phase, 60hz. My friend is the electrician and he said the meter read about 4.3A being pulled while burning. We
are stepping that voltage to 10kV RMS with about 25mA output (still very dangerous).
We have run it until the two paths meet a few times. The transformer jumps to peak voltage (14kV) and thats when we turn it off. There is an
overload relay in front of the transformer as well as a breaker for current protection and neither one of them have popped yet.
| Quote: Originally posted by MrHomeScientist | For "blocking" the flow, could you paint the electrolyte on the wood in the desired pattern? The current should follow the electrolyte path and not
stray much into the rest of the wood. Disclaimer: I have no experience with this experiment and am not 100% sure how it works!
[Edited on 1-16-2018 by MrHomeScientist] |
This was a fun learning experience last time and part of the reason for the original post! Even when we only "painted" the areas we wanted the
current to take, it still didn't like to cross the grain, this is why I'm looking for a better conductor solution to paint on there. When following
the grain, we may even use one molarity, and when crossing the grain, we might have to use a higher one.
Thank you again for all the replies, we're planning on doing some more burns this weekend. I'll see if we can play with these ideas a bit and post
results!
Prosit!
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Tungsten.Chromium
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Well this last weekend didn't go as well as the first, but was still pretty cool nonetheless. We tried coating some new boards using a 3M and 1M
baking soda solutions and the results were not as interesting as our crude mixture. (The 3M solution didn't even fully dissolve). We also had some
issues with the solution drying out and not conducting, which was strange since it was over 70F with humidity aroud 90%!
My next question would be to look into maybe a "dry cell" battery paste that we could try coating the boards with. I believe that as these burnings
are happening, the wood is heating up and drying out too much. As the wood is becoming too dry, the conductivity goes down and sometimes the circuit
stops burning. I think if we had a dry conductive solution, we could get uniform conductivity throughout the board. I need to find the right
solution that stays conductive enough while wet, but not too wet so that it stops current from flowing.
I wasn't able to find any potassium nitrate around town, so I'll have to find a supplier online and order some. Once we get some better looking burns
I'll post more pictures.
Prosit!
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