Distinctive designs left on wood after the electric current has passed through it

About burning wood and the method of protecting and coloring wood called Shou Sugi Ban This is wood burned by classical methods where everything is controlled so that it can be stopped at the desired moment. But there is another way of burning wood - electric burning. And here I am not referring to pyrography but to a more aggressive way in which the wood is practically curried. I have seen all kinds of material and videos about electric wood burning, but I always had the feeling that the wood is very tortured. Perhaps my exaggerated passion for wood makes me see it as a method of torture and that's why I've bypassed it so far. I'm certainly very subjective.

Electric wood burning is extremely dangerous

What you need to know first of all is that the method is really dangerous, involving thousands of volts, and I don't recommend you try this. I find it very risky and life-threatening. Without thorough knowledge of the phenomenon, protective equipment and assistance when the process is in progress, NO you need to experiment with the method.

It began in 1977 when German physicist Georg Lichtenberg made an interesting discovery. Electric discharges on flat surfaces produced certain patterns, since then called Lichtenberg figures. The same patterns also appear on people's skin when they are energized or struck by lightning. They are complex patterns like tree trunks with many branches, each branch copying the main trunk.

These images occur when electrical discharges occur in an insulating material. The current does not quickly pass through the material because of its poorly conductive properties and gets trapped in it. It is as if lightning had been trapped in the material. Incidentally, interesting tests have been carried out in which the electric current was discharged into a block of transparent plastic material that does not conduct electricity. The result is a piece of material that has ... lightning inside.

That's how it came to wood. As you know, wood is an insulating material. However, in order to make those drawings, the current has to enter the wood. That's why you need to increase its conductivity. This is done by wetting the wood with an electrolyte - a solution of salts in water. Electrolyte conducts electricity much better than ordinary water. Table salt can be used, but baking soda is preferable. Salt contains chlorine, and the very high temperatures developed during the process can lead to toxic by-products. Using baking soda (baking powder) eliminates this risk.

The big risk of the process comes from using very high voltage current. It takes at least 2000 volts to make drawings on a small piece of wood (10×5 cm). You can imagine how risky that is. Basically, this electric current is discharged on the surface of the wood with the conductivity increased by the electrolyte, this discharge remains imprinted on the wood in the form of a Lichtenberg figure. After burning, the wood is gently cleaned with a wire brush to remove the carbonized part, wiped and then varnished to protect it. The result is small wooden 'paintings' with Lichtenberg figures. If the boards are larger, they can be used as table tops or as part of other pieces of furniture.

Any type of wood can be treated in this way, but from what I have seen from specialists, electric wood burning works best on thin plywood made of 3 sheets of technical veneer, veneered on both sides with very thin veneer veneer. When wetting, the solution does not go deep into the wood but remains on the surface, wetting only the veneer layer above. The board will not be totally wet and will be less dangerous.

Electric current propagates better along the fiber than perpendicular to it. In my opinion, this is because the current travels more easily along the paths where the food has traveled inside the tree, because those paths contain the most salts, so the electrolytes are stronger.

There would be much more to say on this subject, but I admit that this time I don't want to elaborate. Electric wood burning is dangerous and I do not think it should be included and tried in your projects. The danger in this case is infinitely greater than in other ways of treating or processing wood, and can mean loss of life. Therefore I repeat: NO do this if you don't have the training!