Oznog
Active Member
There was a guy who blogged about taking an old (huge) satellite dish, gluing on hundreds of mirrors, and showing off all the things he could burn or melt at the focal point.I was watching "Bang Goes The Theory" last night (similar to Mythbusters), and one of them went to the French solar furnace.
As a demonstration they used an old German serchlight reflector (only 2.5m). and this focused only about 0.5m in front (shown by a water spray). The programme presenter flicked a piece of wood through the focus point, which instantly burst into flames. The French engineer with him said that this small dish will melt anything, and proceeded to melt a large steel bolt, and then a piece of granite!.
It was incredibly impressive!.
I don't know what purpose it served, but it sure was cool.