lichtenberg figure question

Discussion in 'Architecture & Engineering' started by domesticated om, Apr 3, 2008.

  1. domesticated om Stickler for details Valued Senior Member

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    Anybody ever made a Lichtenberg figure before? I was thinking about making a large flat clear acrylic one as decoration for my house .

    In consideration of the cost of the materials, and the fact that you only seem to get one chance to get it right, I was wondering if anyone had tips on the most effective way to pull it off?
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2008
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  3. BertHickman Registered Member

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    Unfortunately, to make a Lichtenberg figure inside an acrylic sheet, you need to have access to a multi-million volt electron beam. I wish there was an easier way, such as using a high voltage source (such as a Van de Graaff generator, Marx generator, Cockroft-Walton multiplier or Tesla Coil), but you actually have to embed charge deep inside the acrylic. The only way that I know how to do this (and I make them!) is with a particle accelerator. The trick is to embed enough charge to get a good looking figure without injecting too much (which causes it to self-discharge). If you have the right amount of charge (about 1 uCoulomb/sq-cm), you'll get a nice lookikng tree-like figure that almost fills the entire piece.
     
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  5. BertHickman Registered Member

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    Unfortunately, to make a Lichtenberg figure inside a piece of acrylic, you need to have access to a multi-million volt electron beam. I wish there was an easier way, such as using a high voltage source (such as a Van de Graaff generator, Marx generator, Cockroft-Walton multiplier or Tesla Coil), but you actually have to inject charge deep inside the acrylic. The only way that I know how to do this (and I make them!) is with an electron beam accelerator. The trick is to embed enough charge to get a good looking figure without injecting too much (which causes it to self-discharge). If you have the right amount of charge (about 1 uCoulomb/sq-cm), you'll get a nice looking tree-like figure that almost fills the entire piece.

    You can make surface Lichtenberg figures on wood and some other insulating materials by means of a high voltage source (such as a neon sign transformer). For example, look up Lichtenberg Figures on Wikipedia and check out the "Making 2D Lichtenberg Figures on wood" article in the External Links section at the end of the article.
     
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