https://youtube.com/watch?v=2-gXUMh0-Jw
– [Narrator] This project actually starts at a friend's shop. I wanted to do some
Lichtenberg and epoxy boards, but I don't have, and I don't wanna have
a Lichtenberg setup, which obviously is a bit of a problem. So I went over to my buddy
Adam MoDigg Wood Workings shop. And he was kind enough to
collab with me on this project and do the burning for me. And of course, let the
doggos play together. Anyway, if you're not familiar
with Lichtenberg figures, they're created by using
electricity to burn random patterns into wood. As we know, wood is normally an insulator and not a conductor of electricity.
So the first step is brushing
on an electrolyte solution onto the wood to give the
electricity a path it can take. Then the electricity is
adding using two probes. But one of the problems is standard 110 Volthouse
electricity like we have here, in the United States, is
pretty averse to resistance. Basically looks at that weak
solution on the woods and goes, "You know, that looks
like a really hard trip "to get over to that probe.
"It's gonna be a lot of work. "I think I'll just stay
cozy in this wire here." So we need something more adventurous, something more willing to jump between the sparse stepping stones,
across the river so to speak. We need higher voltage. Adam uses a Neon Sign Power
Supply that steps the voltage from 110 to 7,000 volts. Higher voltages are restless
and eager to go new places and make connections. So it's just what we
need for this technique. The trouble is, that's exactly
what makes it so dangerous. Every few months a new
article pops up about a garage hobbyists that died
using his homemade setup. Why? How? Well, those high voltages
required to make electricity form a circuit through
weak solution on wood, behave differently than the lower voltages most of us are used to.
High voltage, even air becomes
a conductor of electricity. That's not actually news
to anyone on earth though, which is everyone, because
that's how lightning works. And that's how accidents happen. Not touching the work
isn't enough to stay safe. You can't get so close that
the journey to your body is easier than the path across the wood.
And there's no warning shots. The first person to find
out that you made a mistake will be the next person to
visit your shop, not you. If you're interested in an alternate technique for
producing Lichtenberg figures, I'm experimenting with
some safe techniques, that's totally different. So consider subscribing and
hitting the notification bell if you wanna catch that when it comes out. Otherwise, do what I do, and
find someone that's comfortable and experienced with
Lichtenberg figures that maybe doesn't have any dependence. After finishing up at Adam's shop, I brought the boards
home and got the woodwork and epoxy part of this project. First step is cutting
the walnut board in 1/2 so it can become two charcuterie boards. After marking what I feel is center, I rip it down at the bandsaw.
The cut edge is a bit rough,
so I'd go ahead and joint it. But since this is going in a mold next, the jointing could be skipped. The poplar board I wanted to
give some more creative shapes, mainly to exercise that
part of my creativity, because I feel like I'm really bad at it. So I just use a pencil
and sketch out a profile that I think is gonna look all right. And then I separate the
boards with the jigsaw. I don't bother cutting the
exact profile yet because I know the epoxy is gonna make a mess of things, and require some trimming up
afterwards and leaving extra, just gives me extra to play with.
The poplar boards have some
cracks as well as the figures to be filled with epoxy. But they don't need a full form. Or I'm just lazy. So I use some parchment
paper under the cracks so the epoxy won't try to bond
to the adhesive side of the tape, that would happen
if I just stuck tape under the bottom. That actually worked well, but I screwed up thinking
the tape was gonna hold on the end grain of the boards. I should have dammed up the ends of the cracks with hot glue instead, but we'll get to that later. I'm using TotalBoat
ThickSet Epoxy for these, two to one probably would work fine because it's not very
deep in these boards, but I like how the thick
set releases air bubbles well on its own, kinda
like me in the pool, and settles into the cracks
easier because it's thinner.
So I mix up a little more
than I expect to need and add some pigment for each board. Then the fun is always epoxy pour-over. The walnut boards are
a bit different though. They're going to be 1/2 epoxy so they do need a full form built. I did some experimenting
in a previous video and found out that marker board actually works fine as a mold. So I break it down to have
a bottom slightly larger than the finish boards I want, and some thin strips to be sides.
And then those all get
cut to fit the base, and to keep with the idea of
these being quick and cheap like me. I assemble it with tape and
then silicone the corners to make it watertight. Then the boards get clamped into the mold and a feeble attempt to
keep them from floating. Reality is, that would
take a couple more clamps. But now I know that. For details on building larger molds, check out my "Epoxy Coffee Table Build". Then I can get up to mixing
up a much larger batch of TotalBoat ThickSet for these bigger pores, separating them out and adding pigment. This is a lesson in why it's important to test your pigments. 'Cause this beautiful deep
red with magenta tones, I'm not great with color, that's going into this walnut. Well, I won't ruin the surprise. Just wait till you see what
it looks like after it dries and is out of the mold. If you're keeping count at home, I've got another walnut board to do.
This time, I'm mixing some
pistachio-colored pigment that my wife picked out, and it actually turned
out to be my favorite, even though I would have never
thought to pick this color for a charcuterie board. And I'm definitely not saying
that for brownie points with my wife. But anyway, remember those poplar boards? Well, they did have some
embarrassing leakage because of that tape
problem on the end grain. So once it cured, I
made some hot glue dams, it's like I talked about
earlier, on the ends. And then top them off
with a bit more epoxy. After a few days, the epoxy was cured and everything could be demolded.
I was really pleased with how
the parchment paper and tape worked on the poplar
boards, it peeled right off. Then I started sending
boards to the planer to remove the excess
epoxy and flatten them. But I didn't realize how shallow some of the Lichtenberg figures were. So even taking light passes, I accidentally went from being
almost down to the figures, to inadvertently removing almost
all of one side of a board. So at that point, I started taking even lighter passes and focused more
on planing than the camera. And remember that beautiful
red and walnut board? Well I don't think this is red. Anyway, after the boards
are flat on both sides, I can get to squaring them up. At least the walnut boards. The poplar boards, the idea
is to not be close to square. The epoxy edge was against the mold wall, and it's really straight, so I referenced it as the
first cut off the table saw.
And then take a spring pass on the epoxy
side just to clean it up. With the long side straight and parallel, the miter saw makes quick
work of squaring the ends. And the last finishing
touch on the walnut boards is using a router to put a chamfer on the underside of the boards. It's just a detail I
like and makes it easier to pick them up in lieu of having handles. But if you don't have a
trim router, a hand plane or a sander, a router table
will also work in a pinch to do that chamfer.
Before I get to sanding, I need to get the poplar boards ready too. I finalize the shape I
think I want them to be. I often see people cutting
these out with jigsaws and coping saws and everything. So I thought I'd show instead
that a bandsaw will also work, even if you only have a resaw blade. It just takes a little
finagling around the corners and some relief cuts. Whichever saw I use though, always tends to leave a rough cut.
But my oscillating sander makes quick work of smoothing them out and is a
lot faster than hand sanding. A chamfer didn't feel
right on these boards since they're so curvy, so I opted to break
the edges on both sides with a round-over bit instead. And once again, if you
don't have sandpaper files or a hand router, a router
table can also work. And finally, the part I've
really been looking forward to sanding these through the grits, which actually is kind of
fun with my new marker setup. It takes all the crappy
parts out of sanding.
It goes faster, barely vibrates,
is practically dustless, and is a lot quieter. I'm only wearing earmuffs so I don't have to turn
up my earbuds as loud. And finally, for what seems to
be everyone's favorite part, at least on par with pouring
epoxy, the finishing. To make sure these are
safe for food contact, I'm coating them with General
Finishes' Salad Bowl Finish, which is non-toxic when cured. For a full shakedown on food
safety with cutting boards, and epoxy, and all that, be sure to subscribe and hit the bell.
So YouTube actually tells you when I release that video next week, which I'm working on,
diving deep into that. Also, these boards are for
sale until they're sold. So check the description
for information on that if you're interested. And with my little Ortur Laser, it's super easy to
personalize these boards in just a few minutes. And I really look forward to
playing with this laser more. Anyway, thanks for watching. I hope you learn something, or inspired, or at least entertained. And until next time, make
time to make something..