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-   -   Homemade incinerator beam! (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=12530)

Suicide Junkie July 23rd, 2004 10:58 PM

Homemade incinerator beam!
 
The parts can be found at your local dollar store, and it scales up reasonably well.

Be sure to ask permission from any women in the house before you try this at home, and be careful.

Note:
I did keep the garden hose on hand for safety, and used it twice. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif <hr> http://imagemodserver.mine.nu/nick/t...burn_setup.jpg<hr> http://imagemodserver.mine.nu/nick/tempstuff/4-burn.jpgThat stick is about a centimeter in diameter, and the end fell off about three seconds later.

Aiken July 23rd, 2004 11:49 PM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif it means that all those sinister talks about SOI were true http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/confused.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon6.gif

astruskustuvas July 23rd, 2004 11:51 PM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
haha nice..ill try it too

Raging Deadstar July 24th, 2004 12:11 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Quote:

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:
[QB] The parts can be found at your local dollar store, and it scales up reasonably well.

Be sure to ask permission from any women in the house before you try this at home, and be careful.

Note:
I did keep the garden hose on hand for safety, and used it twice.
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Would this tie into your sneaky stratergies to win a poker tournament SJ? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif Or are you planning something more sinister...

Suicide Junkie July 24th, 2004 01:10 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
It has nothing to do with Poker.

However, I have recently acquired the parts nessesary to quadruple the power, and tomorrow should be a sunnier day. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif

Ed Kolis July 24th, 2004 01:43 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Ah, a Wave Motion Gun http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Baron Munchausen July 24th, 2004 02:02 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Bah...

A giant Fresnel Lens will do things like this, and more.

http://slashdot.org/articles/04/05/21/1936210.shtml

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bclee/lens.html

http://giant-fresnel-lens-for-sale.p...om/index.shtml

Raging Deadstar July 24th, 2004 02:21 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Quote:

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:
It has nothing to do with Poker.
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Indeed it does, just send those photos to your opponents and i'm sure they'll surrender. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

But thats pretty impressive considering it's home parts and stuff. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Suicide Junkie July 24th, 2004 02:26 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Quote:

Originally posted by Baron Munchausen:
Bah...
A giant Fresnel Lens will do things like this, and more.
...

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I do have a fresnel lens, but its more trouble and the focal length on it is too short. (Its off a busted overhead projector, so about 30cm on a side, but the focal length is about 10cm)

These mirrors are cheaper too.

narf poit chez BOOM July 24th, 2004 05:28 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Ok, given all this, why hasn't anybody tried to generate steam electric power from sunlight?

Phoenix-D July 24th, 2004 05:53 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Quote:

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:
Ok, given all this, why hasn't anybody tried to generate steam electric power from sunlight?
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">We have. The problem is to generate a significant amount of power you need a lot of sunlight to make a lot of steam. It gets impractical after a while, and the mirrors difficult to maintain.

Ragnarok-X July 24th, 2004 11:57 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
could you please explain what exactly you did ? You just focused 4 small mirrors at a certain point yes ?

kerensky July 24th, 2004 09:08 PM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Quote:

could you please explain what exactly you did ? You just focused 4 small mirrors at a certain point yes ?
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">This is exactly what appears to have happened, but if you have ever used a magnifying glass to burn things with, it is the same basic priciple. basically the focused sun energy burned a hole in the stick. Now to only implement this on a large scale...

[ July 24, 2004, 20:08: Message edited by: kerensky ]

Suicide Junkie July 24th, 2004 11:36 PM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Yeah, but I also used those vanity mirrors, since they are slightly concave, and each one focuses down to a tiny spot.
Its like having a whole bunch of magnifying glasses working together http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Each one is enough to burn things like dry paper, and slowly oxidize heavier things...

With four together, it burns quite nicely, and today I set up 16 of them in the sandbox:

http://imagemodserver.mine.nu/nick/t...f/16-smoke.jpg
http://imagemodserver.mine.nu/nick/t...ff/16-fire.jpg

Raging Deadstar July 24th, 2004 11:59 PM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Quote:

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:

With four together, it burns quite nicely, and today I set up 16 of them in the sandbox:

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">On Tonights show...When Science goes bad http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

geoschmo July 25th, 2004 12:29 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Quote:

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:
Ok, given all this, why hasn't anybody tried to generate steam electric power from sunlight?
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumeri...heets/csp.html

http://www.mtpc.org/2004dev/cleanene...fo/thermal.htm

http://www.volker-quaschning.de/arti...2/index_e.html

Instar July 25th, 2004 01:14 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
all I can say is
Oh yeah! lots of burnination!

atari_eric July 25th, 2004 03:51 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Stop that! You'll burn your eye out!

Seriously, be careful... and watch your backfield.

Intimidator July 25th, 2004 10:03 PM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Don't be afraid atari eric, he is just looking for a new way to mow his grass.......... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ July 25, 2004, 21:13: Message edited by: Intimidator ]

Raging Deadstar July 25th, 2004 11:13 PM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Quote:

Originally posted by Intimidator:
Don't be afraid atari eric, he is just looking for a new way to mow his grass.......... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">And the entire neighbourhood. Men with wooden sheds will run in fear! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Suicide Junkie July 26th, 2004 01:41 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Lining the fence with small mirrors at the desired height and then bLasting an industrial laser round the yard would cut the grass pretty quick.

Unfortunately it would preclude the possibility of leaving anything ON the lawn...

Kamog July 26th, 2004 05:56 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Wow, looks like fun! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

What we need is to put a little electric actuator on each mirror, and some electronics so that all the mirrors track the sun automatically and aim them at the same spot. I think they have devices like that, called heliostats, for directing sunlight into light pipes for lighting buildings. But that will make it more expensive.

mottlee July 26th, 2004 06:53 PM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
OK How did you get them all to "Look" at the same point? I know you did not stand in front to adjust them! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif

Ruatha July 26th, 2004 07:23 PM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Quote:

Originally posted by mottlee:
OK How did you get them all to "Look" at the same point? I know you did not stand in front to adjust them! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">As long as you don't stand in the focal point it shouldn't be dangerous to stand infront of them, i wouldn't recommend staring into them and moving until you locate the focal point though, better not look at them at all from that direction, but standing infront of them should be ok.

EvilGenius4ABetterTomorro July 26th, 2004 07:38 PM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
I have a bird house and an annoying Blue Jay that would look good in that focal point! Squaaaawk!

EvilGenius4ABetterTomorro July 26th, 2004 07:40 PM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Can you Bar-B-Q with this? You could put propane out of business.

Sorry Hank Hill.

Suicide Junkie July 26th, 2004 09:31 PM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Quote:

Originally posted by mottlee:
OK How did you get them all to "Look" at the same point? I know you did not stand in front to adjust them! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I used a large wooden board, actually.

Hold it up in the focus, move a few more mirrors into alignment, then hose it down again before the gushing steam turns into billowing smoke.

-----

It wouldn't be very good for a barbecue...
There's not very much heat, just extremely high temperatures.
So you wouldn't cook anything, just burn spots on/holes in the surface http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[ July 26, 2004, 20:33: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]

Ruatha July 26th, 2004 09:45 PM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Quote:

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Originally posted by mottlee:
OK How did you get them all to "Look" at the same point? I know you did not stand in front to adjust them! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I used a large wooden board, actually.

Hold it up in the focus, move a few more mirrors into alignment, then hose it down again before the gushing steam turns into billowing smoke.

-----

It wouldn't be very good for a barbecue...
There's not very much heat, just extremely high temperatures.
So you wouldn't cook anything, just burn spots on/holes in the surface http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">But, if you put a metal pan in the focal point, the heat would dissipate out in the metal and generate a more diffuse heat, enabling some cooking/baking, but perhaps not barbeque though.
There are actually solar driven stoves.

SJ, can you try boiling some water?

Suicide Junkie July 26th, 2004 11:51 PM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
That was my point...
Spreading the energy back out defeats the whole purpose of concentrating it.

There's only a couple hundred watts going through the 16-array, and you don't have to spread that very far before its merely warm to the touch...

mottlee July 27th, 2004 12:16 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Hmmm....I kinda like this Idea! SJ you had 16 in your set-up? I wounder if larger mirrors would be better...alas is a pipe dream I do not have the free time to do this in the daylight hours http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

Kamog July 27th, 2004 02:12 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Do you think you can put an additional mirror at the focal point of the 16 you already set up, so that now you can use the 17th mirror to direct the beam in different directions? You just turn the extra mirror around to move the beam to different targets.

I'm not sure if this would work because the light beams may diverge again after being reflected.... There must be a way to keep the beams parallel, like using a convex mirror or using a lens or something.

Suicide Junkie July 27th, 2004 02:30 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Bigger is better, of course, but I don't think you'll find converging mirrors much larger. And certainly not for a buck each http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Rather than a small mirror at the focal point, you'd want a fairly large plane mirror closer in.
You can use it to move the focal point around where you like.
Alternatively, you could put the small mirrors in the shade and set them to a fixed focus, then use the large plane mirror to reflect sunlight onto them at whatever angle you need. You can move the one big mirror to follow the sun instead of all the little ones...

David E. Gervais July 27th, 2004 03:45 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Quote:

Originally posted by mottlee:
.... alas is a pipe dream I do not have the free time to do this in the daylight hours http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif
<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">hmmm, do the same setup to reflect moonbeams,.. hmmm use a focal mirror to redirect the beam and aim it at passers by... The moonbeams should be 'enhanced' enough to fool people into thinking it's a full moon out. Sounds like a very good way to ferret out wherewolves. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

speaking of focal points,.. I have a nice laser pointer that has a wavelength of 650-680nm with a power rating of 5mw. I did a test to see how far I could 'point it and still see the red dot,.. my max distance so far has been about 1000 yards (approximately 3 length of a football field. It was still clearly visible and could obviously shine further. But I had no targets further away and didn't feel like taking a walk just to test it with greater ranges. Maybe tomorrow night I'll try it.

anyway, babble mode off.

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Kamog July 27th, 2004 05:47 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
1000 yards is pretty far.

I have only tried it in the daytime, and the range isn't very far at all. One time, I was at work in the board room for a meeting, and still waiting for some people to arrive. So we played with the laser pointer and pointed it outside at cars driving by, but we couldn't even see the red dot.

Laser pointers are so cheap now! You can buy one for $1 at the dollar store. I remember when they first came out and I got the impression that only the very important top executives used them for presentations.

Ruatha July 27th, 2004 06:00 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Me and two friends where having a LAN weekend and I'd borrowed a projector from work, so at around midnigth we pointed it at the neighbouring apartment block about perhaps a 100 meters away and played some UT2003 with a approx 30x20 meters image, not for very long as we thought some people might disapprove of having blood projected into their apartments, but what a image, it was great, good enough for a movie!!
But it was a dark night.

Kamog July 27th, 2004 06:31 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
I remember reading an article some time ago that said that in ancient Greece, over 2000 years ago, Archimedes used the same technique of using multiple mirrors to focus sunlight on enemy ships and burning them.

[ July 27, 2004, 05:33: Message edited by: Kamog ]

narf poit chez BOOM July 27th, 2004 06:42 AM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
I read that in elementary school. Not sure where.

EvilGenius4ABetterTomorro July 27th, 2004 05:07 PM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
In the late 1800's some scientist came up with a plan for the Heliograph. Using a vibrating mirror you could use sunbeams to transmit a voice message like a phonograph. Didn't explain how it was received though. Would you need a vibrating mirror to receive it? Maybe a dark colored diaphram? If Google is up I think I'll search it and Archimedes too. I'm getting too many evil thoughts. Must...have...outlet...for...thoughts!

Jack Simth July 27th, 2004 06:05 PM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
The reciever just has to have high-fidelity detection; it doesn't necessarily need a recieving mirror at all - a solar panel shaded against direct sunlight feeding a mic input would do the job. From the description below, one simple idea would be that the vibrations on the mirror caused by sound waves would slightly change the angle of reflection, resulting in a measureable difference in reciept at the target; a small target either has the signal or has the signal interrupted - the length of those interruptions then determines the wavelength of the sound wave that produced it. A basic amplitude modulation system, really. A sufficiently large target can actually recieve the beam all the time, but at different locations - in which case, the sound wave gets graphed in it's entierety and you get better fidelity.

Quite frankly though, a laser link is more reliable (not weather-dependant, don't need to constantly adjust for the position of the sun, can use a specfic set of wavelengths to help filter interference from other sources {can even pick frequencies the sun hardly uses so that you can broadcast even with the sun directly behind you}, et cetera).

geoschmo July 27th, 2004 07:20 PM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
Figure a steak the size of one of your mirrors is getting enough energy to raise it's teperature to 90+ degrees on a hot day. You only need it up to 200-300 or so to cook it. You could do it with 3 or 4 of your mirrors there. You wouldn't need or want to focus them as precisecly as you are doing there of course. You want the focal area of the reflected light about the same size as what you are cooking instead of down to a point like you are doing when burning sticks. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Suicide Junkie July 27th, 2004 07:31 PM

Re: Homemade incinerator beam!
 
!?
Ok, you mean Fahrenheit...

Still, don't expect the temperature to go up linearly...
The hotter it is relative to the surroundings, the faster it loses energy.


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