[TheForge] RE: Frying pan

Fri Aug 22 02:31:00 2003

Funny you should mention that, some friends of mine were goofing around
about 9 months or so ago, and decided to make HUGE thermopile.  Basically
its either a heating/cooling device, or as they wanted it for the reverse
which was apply thermal energy to make electricity.

They took the sheets is dissimilar materials and stacked them on top of a
10" thick 4x8 sheet of steel, then proceeded lift on top of this thing
another sheet or as it looked to me more like a BLOCK of steel, about 20"
thick with sides welded and gusseted to the edges  inside this thing was
over 300# of high explosive, they won't tell me what kind......  (Probably
cause I'd have been there digging out a chunk with a shovel to say I had
some)...  I guess its better than anything I can buy.  So basically after
having assembled this clamshell sort of thing, they then proceeded to stack
4000# concrete blocks on top to the tune of about another 80,000 #.   Then
came the really neat part.  Or at least I though it was going to be really
neat.   I got to push the button, and wondered as I was standing there why
these idiots didn't have ear plugs in.  KA-PING..........  it sounded about
like a .45ACP....  I was pretty bummed at this point thought something had
gone wrong.  They then proceded with the arduous task of unstacking the
monolith.  Amazingly enough inside the clamshell was left what looked like
the pristine sheets we had put in, except for some oily residue and white
powdery stuff.  The guys got out their meter tested the two plates and by
god it was making like 60 volts from only the residual heat.......  INSANE I
SAY

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Spencer" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2003 9:57 PM
Subject: [TheForge] RE: Frying pan

> > One of my nicer pots...is SS with a thick aluminum layer fused to the
> > bottom.
> > ....
> > This struck me as something I could probably make  myself...
>
> I think this is where the guys who like Very Loud Noises come into
> their own.  I *think* the way you do this without expensive machinery
> is to put the sheets of metal on a platen under a layer of sheet
> explosive with suitable containment stuff on top and fire it off.
> Explosive welding.  I looked into explosive forming once but found the
> bureaucratic doo doo involved in getting the materials was just too
> much hassle.  Everybody takes it all soooo seriously. If you have a
> blaster license or a licensed buddy, you can probably make some neat
> bi-metal stuff.
>
> There was an article in Smithsonian some years ago about a woman in (I
> think) Arizona who did explosive-formed sculptural objects.  I talked
> to her on the phone but she wasn't very forthcoming.
>
>
> - Mike
>
> --
> Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~.
>                                     /V\
> [email protected]              /( )\
> http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/   ^^-^^
>
> --
>
>
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