a large pendulum with a laserpointer as the bob swinging above a sheet of glow in the dark material. bob is on a ridgid arm attached hung by means of 2 metal jump rings. essentially the same as pendulum sand art, but since there is no resistance from the sand, the pendulum will take longer to come to rest, and the patterns formed will be more intricate. turn off the lights and set into motion, use camera without flash to record interesting patterns.
-- bleh, Aug 21 2006

sand pendulum art http://www.earthquakerose.com/
best picture i could find of pendulum sand tracing, no earthquake required. [bleh, Aug 21 2006, last modified Aug 22 2006]

Lissajous Figures http://perso.orange.../lisajou/simul.html
Make your own. [ldischler, Aug 21 2006]

Virtual harmonograph http://www.pcug.org...h/harmonograph.html
[ldischler, Aug 21 2006]

Glow in the dark sheets http://www.orgonelab.org/yglowtape.htm
[ldischler, Aug 22 2006]

nice link [idis], but no damping for the cool spirals and whatnot
-- bleh, Aug 21 2006


A laser harmonograph. I like it, but I wonder if the laserpointer will have enough power.
-- ldischler, Aug 21 2006


Ah, Mister Bond, would you like a tattoo?
-- Dub, Aug 22 2006


[+] for that anno, [Dub]. Chortle.
-- m_Al_com, Aug 22 2006


//if a laserpointer will have enough power// a common laserpointer will cause glow in the dark tape (and those stick on stars and such) to "charge" quickly. Im not sure how long the charge will last though, as i havent done this recently.
-- bleh, Aug 22 2006


I love this idea! I think that it could easily be baked and we ([bleh], you ARE a genrerous fellow, no?) could all retire on the profits. Please place my order today MasterCard 5467 8164 4134 3800 exp 07/07

[+]
-- Klaatu, Aug 22 2006


I do plan on baking this, but havent the time now. I just built a 3 foot sand pendulum that works beautifully. tweaking the depth of said pendulum into the sand is what inspired this idea. could very easily be done with about $20 worth of materials for the pendulum itself, and another $20 or so for the glow stuff (thanks again [idis] for the link). so $40 overhead, i figure $120 retail... anyone else feel like posting a credit card number? thanks for the votes!
-- bleh, Aug 22 2006



random, halfbakery