johnridley | even in OUR microwave

Despite the objections of the elder child ("But this isn't SOMEONE ELSE'S MICROWAVE!") I decided to try a little experiment yesterday.

We're finishing up Tom's pinewood derby car for the year. The only lubricant allowed is graphite powder. Problem is, graphite powder tends to just fall out of the wheels.

So I'm thinkin', if I fill the hole with powder, then microwave it for just enough seconds, it should get very hot, some sparking and other good fun will ensue, and maybe we'll get a bunch of graphite bonded to the inside of the wheel.

Well, it worked, kinda. The problem is that it goes from warm to plasma in about 1/2 second, somewhere between 12 and 13 seconds. So at one point yesterday we got a very pretty 8 inch high guttering plasma torch erupting from the top of a 1/2" high plastic wheel on an upturned ceramic plate.

It was pretty. But it did melt the plastic a bit. I'm not sure if we'll use the wheel or not.