Fractal Wood Burning Injuries: 33+ Deaths Since 2017 — Know the Real Risk

Fractal wood burning — also called Lichtenberg burning — has killed at least 33 people in the United States since 2017. This isn’t a “be careful or you might get burned” hobby risk. It is a documented electrocution hazard, and the DIY version of it (a homemade high-voltage transformer wired to wet wood) has no safe way to do it yourself. This page explains exactly why, what actually happens to a body when it goes wrong, and what to use instead if you want the same branching, lightning-like look without the risk.

What “Fractal” Wood Burning Actually Is

The technique gets its name from the branching, tree-root-like patterns it burns into wood — visually similar to a fractal, or to the scarring lightning leaves on skin or sand (a real, documented phenomenon called a Lichtenberg figure). The DIY version works by soaking wood in a conductive solution (usually baking soda and water), then running a high-voltage current through it from a step-up transformer — frequently salvaged from a microwave oven or a neon sign. The current finds the path of least resistance through the wet wood, scorching a branching trail as it goes.

We are deliberately not detailing how that setup is wired. That information is easy to find elsewhere, and publishing it isn’t worth contributing to a technique that has a documented body count. If you want to understand what makes this specific setup so much more dangerous than ordinary shop electrical work, keep reading — and if you came here after searching how the wiring itself works, our page on that exact question explains why we won’t walk through it either.

Why This Isn’t an “Be Careful With Electricity” Risk

Most shop electrical mishaps — a dropped drill, a frayed extension cord — are survivable because household circuits are limited in voltage and protected by breakers and GFCIs. A DIY fractal-burning rig defeats both of the safeguards people instinctively rely on:

• A GFCI outlet doesn’t protect you. A ground-fault circuit interrupter watches the wall-side (primary) wiring for a leak to ground. The transformer’s output (secondary) side is galvanically isolated from that primary circuit, so a fault or a shock happening on the high-voltage output — where your hands actually are — is invisible to the GFCI. It has nothing to trip on.
• The capacitor stays lethal after it’s unplugged. These transformers are commonly paired with a high-voltage capacitor that stores a charge and can discharge it through a person well after the unit is disconnected from the wall. “I already unplugged it” doesn’t mean the circuit is dead.
• The wood itself is the conductor. Soaking wood in a baking-soda solution is what makes it conductive enough to arc. That same wet, salted wood — and any puddle it drips into — carries current to anything touching it, including a hand, a knee, or bare feet on a damp garage floor.

There is no widely-agreed “safe” DIY voltage for this technique, no consumer safety standard that covers a homemade version, and no amount of insulated gloves or careful technique that changes the fact that a stray hand, a slipped probe, or a puddle in the wrong place puts mains-lethal current through a body.

The Documented Death Toll

The American Association of Woodturners (AAW) banned demonstrating fractal burning or selling equipment for it at AAW-sponsored events and in AAW publications in 2017, after a woodworker in Walla Walla, Washington was electrocuted attempting the technique. Since that policy was adopted, at least 33 deaths in the US have been directly attributed to fractal burning, along with an unknown number of additional serious injuries and close calls that weren’t fatal — most from accidental contact with the electrodes, the conductive solution, or a live wire.

This isn’t a single old news story. Peer-reviewed case reports on this exact injury pattern have continued to be published in the medical literature, including a case review describing the mortality rate of the technique as “significant” and “exceedingly high,” and a more recent case report on a high-voltage electrical burn from fractal wood burning. NBC News also reported on a Wisconsin couple who were electrocuted attempting the technique after seeing it go viral online, and the Electrical Safety Foundation International has separately issued a public warning specifically about the trend spreading through social media. This keeps happening because the visual result is genuinely striking and keeps recirculating — not because anyone found a way to make it safe.

What Actually Happens When It Goes Wrong

The real hazard is electrocution, not a burn. Mains-lethal current passing through the chest can throw the heart into a fatal arrhythmia in seconds — the fatal cases documented above are almost all cardiac, not thermal. When someone survives contact, the injuries are still severe: current entry and exit wounds where it crossed the skin (often the hands, since that’s where people are holding the electrodes or touching the wet wood), deep tissue and nerve damage along the current’s path through the body, and burns from the electrical arc itself if skin was in direct contact with an electrode. These are electrical injuries, not the kind of surface scorch you’d get from a wood-burning pen tip — they routinely require hospitalization, and case reports describe lasting nerve and tissue damage even in survivors.

Myths That Keep Getting People Hurt

A few specific misconceptions show up repeatedly in DIY forum threads and social videos about this technique, and each one is a real reason someone got hurt:

• “It’s plugged into a GFCI, so it’s protected.” Covered above — the GFCI can’t see a fault on the isolated high-voltage output side. This is probably the single most common false-safety assumption with this setup.
• “I unplugged it, so it’s off now.” The capacitor can still be holding a lethal charge. Treating “unplugged” as “de-energized” has been a documented cause of injury.
• “I’m only touching it for a second.” Duration doesn’t need to be long at mains-lethal voltage and current — brief, incidental contact with the wood, the electrodes, or even a puddle the solution spread into has been enough in documented fatalities.
• “Rubber gloves make it safe.” Ordinary work or dish gloves are not rated for electrical insulation and can be wet, torn, or thin enough to not meaningfully help at the voltages involved.

The Safe Way to Get the Same Look

If what actually appeals to you is the branching, lightning-like visual — not specifically the high-voltage process — there are real ways to get it without any shock risk:

• A standard pyrography pen (see our pick above): a low-voltage, soldering-iron-style tool built for wood burning. Experienced pyrographers can draw convincing branching, root-like patterns freehand with practice — the entire circuit is sealed inside the pen and its power adapter, so there’s nothing for you to wire.
• A CNC laser engraver can burn controlled, repeatable branching patterns into wood with zero current passing through the workpiece or the operator at any point — it’s a different physical process (focused light, not electricity through the wood) that happens to produce a visually similar result.
• Purpose-built commercial Lichtenberg machines exist for people who specifically want the real high-voltage process rather than a look-alike. Legitimate units are professionally engineered with enclosed high-voltage compartments, interlock switches that cut power if the enclosure is opened, and foot-pedal activation to keep hands away from the live circuit while it’s energized. They still carry real risk and require training — they are meaningfully safer engineering than a bare transformer on a workbench, not a “safe” hobby tool in the way a pyrography pen is.

For a closer look at the difference between the two things people mean by “wood burning transformer,” see our pyrography pen vs. DIY rig breakdown.

If Someone Has Been Shocked

This is general electrical-shock emergency guidance, not specific to this technique — but it applies here too. Do not touch the person if they may still be in contact with the live circuit; you can become a second victim. If it’s safe to do so, cut power at the breaker or unplug the source without touching the person or the wet wood yourself. Call 911 immediately — electrical injury can cause a cardiac arrhythmia that isn’t obvious from the outside. If you’re trained in CPR and the person isn’t breathing normally once the power is confirmed off, begin CPR and continue until emergency responders arrive. Don’t assume someone is fine just because there’s no visible burn — the cardiac effects of electrical shock are frequently the dangerous part, not the skin injury.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many people have died from fractal wood burning?

At least 33 documented deaths have occurred in the US since 2017, the year the American Association of Woodturners banned demonstrating the technique at its events. That figure doesn’t include an unknown additional number of serious, non-fatal injuries and close calls.

Does a GFCI outlet make DIY fractal burning safe?

No. A GFCI monitors the wall-side circuit for a ground fault, but the transformer’s high-voltage output is galvanically isolated from that circuit, so a shock on the output side — where your hands are — is invisible to the GFCI. This is one of the most common and most dangerous misconceptions about the technique.

Is it just a burn risk, or something more serious?

It’s more serious. The primary hazard is electrocution — mains-lethal current through the chest can trigger a fatal cardiac arrhythmia in seconds. Survivors can have serious electrical entry/exit wounds and nerve or tissue damage, not just surface burns.

What’s a safe way to get the same branching pattern?

A standard low-voltage pyrography pen can create similar branching, root-like patterns freehand with practice, and a CNC laser engraver can burn a controlled branching design with zero current passing through the workpiece or operator. Both avoid the electrocution risk entirely. Purpose-built commercial Lichtenberg machines with enclosed compartments and interlocks are a meaningfully safer option than a homemade rig for anyone set on the real high-voltage process.

Why do people keep doing this if it’s this dangerous?

The visual result is genuinely striking, and videos of it keep going viral, which is exactly what prompted the Electrical Safety Foundation International to issue a public warning about the trend. The danger isn’t obvious from a video — you can’t see galvanic isolation or a charged capacitor on screen, which is part of why the death toll has kept climbing since 2017.

The Bottom Line

Thirty-three confirmed deaths since 2017 is not a “some people get hurt if they’re careless” statistic — it’s a technique with a documented, ongoing body count, banned from demonstration by the largest woodturning association in the country. If you want the branching, lightning-like look, a pyrography pen or a laser engraver gets you there with no electrical risk at all. If you’re genuinely set on the real high-voltage process, that’s a job for professionally engineered equipment with real interlocks and training — not a transformer pulled from a microwave and wired on a workbench.