Will It Lens?

[big_bad_al]

A couple weeks ago, Dustin got a whole bunch of people to each contribute a few dollars, and we bought a four foot by three foot fresnel lens. It arrived earlier this week, and we've been spending our lunch hours out in the sun playing with it.

Comments

[teffers]

That makes me think of the Kindergarten Solar-powered Death Squad (about halfway down the page).

That's pretty neat. I have to go to work, otherwise I'd spend some time thinking of suggestions.

As it is a heat source, you can try and initiate some chemical reactions that require a significant initial energy cost.

[big_bad_al]

Thanks for the link! Bill Beatty has written a lot of cool things.

[iguanawow]

If you can find a dime, nickel, or quarter from 1964 or before, it's 90% silver, 10% copper. Much higher melting point.

I remember bars of Dove soap being fun to microwave. They might be fun to lens too.

[big_bad_al]

The soap is an interesting idea! I'll add it to our list of stuff to try.

As for old coins, I'm not sure we can melt silver precisely because it has a much higher melting point. On top of that, a silver dime has a melt value around 90 cents, so I'm fairly certain I can't just pick up at the bank (all remaining ones should either have been melted down or put in coin collections years ago).

yeah

[iguanawow]

they are extremely rare, but i actually found a 1964 (last silver year) dime in change once, back when silver was farthur down at $4.50/oz or about half of what it is now.

[big_bad_al]

Thanks for the soap idea; it totally worked! Check out part 4 or the entire photo set for the results.

[chouyu_31]

You forgot the safety disclaimer about telling people *not* to put their hands into the light (like I do repeatedly). ;)

[big_bad_al]

It's the fourth sentence of the "SAFETY NOTE" paragraph. I can't help it if you refuse to read the safety warning and ignore the rest of us when we plea with you to get your hand out of there (re: the cup of milk). I'll just keep photographing. :-)

However, I and a bunch of other people would feel better if you had some sort of tongs or something to keep your hand farther away.

[chouyu_31]

Think of my hand in the light as a train wreck. Yes, everyone would prefer that I not get burned, but it makes the experience so much more exciting to watch ;) .

I also wouldn't do it if I believed that I would get burned; I'm not a masochist. I trust the lens carriers to keep it steady, and I trust my hand to be steady. Discussions about my sanity in trusting others with a lens that could burn my flesh instantly are still open.

[big_bad_al]

I agree that in normal conditions, you won't burn your hand. However, I'm concerned about unusual events. If there's a medium-sized earthquake (like that 4.5 we had a couple months ago), your hand gets burned. If a bird craps on one of the people holding the lens and they get surprised, your hand gets burned. If something boils/pops/etc unexpectedly, your hand gets burned. That's the sort of thing I'd like to avoid.

Deleting your comment

[big_bad_al]

Sorry, but I'm deleting your comment because it is completely off-topic and pushing a political agenda. I understand that you think the proposed bill would be terrible if passed into law, and lensing a copy of it might be entertaining. However, I intend to keep these posts as non-political as possible.

My removal of your comment should not be construed as an endorsement of the bill; I haven't learned enough about it to form my own opinion.

Your other suggestion of an iPod is entertaining, but not within our budget.

things to lens

[anonymous]

try piping the focal point through some fiber optics
focus the focal even further with small lens or magnifying glass
lens solar cooker try to make steak