Lichtenberg Figures

The outside of the kaleidoscope is decorated with branching patterns created by high voltage electrical discharges. These patterns are literally burned into the wood. The same patterns are created in nature by lightning strikes
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Don’t try the following at home, this process is well known but very dangerous. The current is sufficient to kill and it has. My son, an electrical engineer, gave me a half-hour safety lecture before I was allowed to try this. I use safety equipment and special precautions when creating these kaleidoscopes.

I “paint” the kaleidoscope with a baking soda solution which provides a source of ions for the electricity to travel through. I then place wires (probes) to the wood and turn on a high voltage (12,000 volt) neon sign transformer which provides current to the probes. If the wood is too wet or too dry, nothing will happen; but if the conditions are right, the current attempts to make a connection between the probes by traveling along the surface of the scope and burning the wood.

While you would think the current would go in a straight line between the probes, it doesn’t. Instead the wood burns in a random pattern known as a Lichtenberg Figure. Eventually it completes a connection between the probes at which time the power is turned off and the probes are moved and the process is repeated. 

After the image is burned into the wood, the wood is scrubbed with brass brushes and washed under running water to remove excess charring on the wood. 

After the wood has dried out, it is then bleached with a wood bleach which increases the contrast between the burn and the maple wood.