Turn A PENCIL Into A LIGHT !

I thought this was pretty neat...



http://www.metacafe.com/watch/726251/turn_a_pencil_into_a_light/

What a waste of a perfectly good pencil. That is pretty neat though; a homemade filament?

graphite lamps...its not somethings thats new, just commonly overlooked

now if you use 2 carbon rods from batteries, give it an initial contact and then separate them slowly...you'll get more light than just a pencil....but your gonna need both hands and its going to get HOT!



I wonder if using pencil lead work with batteries with lower current output....

Illum_the_nation said:

graphite lamps...its not somethings thats new, just commonly overlooked

now if you use 2 carbon rods from batteries, give it an initial contact and then separate them slowly...you'll get more light than just a pencil....but your gonna need both hands and its going to get HOT!



I wonder if using pencil lead work with batteries with lower current output....

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OK, show us your video. LOL!

I'd like to know how you find all the components and assemble this contraption in the dark, so that you can have some light...

LuxLuthor said:

OK, show us your video. LOL!

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im not sure where I can find carbon rods cheap....
I've trying to extract them from F cells in 6V lantern batteries but I keep breaking them:shakehead

Dont ever do that near the engine! Combustible material like petrol will set your car on fire!

JRTJRT said:

I thought this was pretty neat...



http://www.metacafe.com/watch/726251/turn_a_pencil_into_a_light/

Click to expand...

You could try American Science & Surplus.

They might have some carbon rods.

It's sort of pot-luck, they have whatever they can find on closeout or surplus, but back in the 90's as a kid screwing around in my garage, I got the carbon rods there when I made an 110V AC arc-furnace out of a terra-cotta flower pot, and some curtain rods, and a salt-water/lead fishing sinker rheostat.

The design was from an old 1950's "Jr. Scientist" book, back when liability was the assumption of the experimenter, not the publisher.

It worked great until I got the idea to use a wall dimmer rheostat, instead of the salt-water/lead one. It worked for a few seconds, then promptly melted, shorted across itself, and blew half the breakers in the house... :candle:

At least summer vacation was interesting at my house.

Like I mentioned elsewhere, I needed a light because my dome lights were out and I needed to repair my steering wheel assembly off road at night. I made one out of an 1157 bulb, tape, wire, and a coke can (so the light would be directional and not blind me). Why use a pencil when you've got plenty of bulbs to choose from.

Carbon rods for arc gouging are available from welding equipment suppliers. That said, don't mess around with DIY Arc lighting unless you really understand all the hazards. Just a short list to get started: heat/fire, UV (eye damage, sunburn, skin cancer), ozone, carbon particulates, electric shock, etc...

While very cool this will hopefully prove to never be useful to anyone here. Because anyone reading this should have at the very least a flashlight on themselves at all times but more likely 2 on your person and one in the glove box.

Thujone said:

Because anyone reading this should have at the very least a flashlight on themselves at all times but more likely 2 on your person and one in the glove box.

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I think 2 is a good number for EDCing lights:wave:

the glove box is one thing...don't forget some of us keep lights on the doors, the tray beneath the seats, the popout trash can on the console, the cup holder etc...

Some of the other videos made by that same guy are quite frightening....and likely have that dude on the various "watch lists."

This is a great find tho. Even if many knew, I think just as many did'nt.
If you use it or not, it's up to you, but nice to even try it as an
experiment.

(p.s. I wonder how many Amps it's pullen and if it could run from 3 or 4x Li-Lion ?)

Great find. Some of his other videos are real eye openers(Binary Explosive)...Now someone please explain why the TSA is allowing lighters on flights again?

bombelman said:

This is a great find tho. Even if many knew, I think just as many did'nt.
If you use it or not, it's up to you, but nice to even try it as an
experiment.

(p.s. I wonder how many Amps it's pullen and if it could run from 3 or 4x Li-Lion ?)

Click to expand...

I wonder if the experiment proves detrimental to the battery:green:

That's very neat! It would be cool to impress your friends or just have fun with. I don't think it would be of any real world use though. A lot of the people were commenting how it's a great way to make light in emergency situations; one guy actually said "I'll make sure to keep a pencil in the car at all times." :laughing: Shoot, as if splitting the pencil open wasn't hard enough, might as well just grab the dome light and hook that up to the battery.

BTW, how many amps do you guys think that pencil lead draws?

That was sure interesting, and today I learned something new. . .Guess I'm not too old to learn eh?

Enjoy!