Metal Prep for Aluminum Endplates

Every fusor and fusion system seems to need a vacuum. This area is for detailed discussion of vacuum systems, materials, gauging, etc. related to fusor or fusion research.
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Joe Mayer
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Metal Prep for Aluminum Endplates

Post by Joe Mayer »

I'm getting ready to put my vacuum chamber together which consists of an acrylic tube, with o-rings inserted in both ends, and an aluminum endplate on each side (I know this is far from optimal but it's a school club and i'm making do with what I have). I was talking to a professor about the system and he recommended that I polish the endplates to get a better seal with the o-rings. Does anyone have any experience in polishing aluminum for a vacuum chamber? Any recommendations as to what kind of polish I should use, car polish, wet sand, some special vacuum grade polish? Thanks for your help!
Rex Allers
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Re: Metal Prep for Aluminum Endplates

Post by Rex Allers »

I'm very confused. I looked back through your few recent posts and I find a diff pump, then a turbo, then there was an aluminum chamber with conflat fittings (which seems an odd combination to me). Some mention of valves doing something.

Now there's an acrylic tube, o-rings inserted (inserted? into what?) and an aluminum plate. I can make some pictures in my mind but they all seem strange or bad. I'd say suggestions about polishing might be wasted without better descriptions of what is really going on.

For starters, acrylic isn't good material for a chamber unless it is for some low vacuum experiment.

And, maybe these cryptic questions would go better in the New User Chat section.
Rex Allers
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Dennis P Brown
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Re: Metal Prep for Aluminum Endplates

Post by Dennis P Brown »

In general for any metal surface in vacuum; yes, clean and oxide free is best but what is critical is flat and scratch free when one is dealing with surfaces for sealing. Standard aluminum cleaners (non-abrasive) will remove the oxide.
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Richard Hull
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Re: Metal Prep for Aluminum Endplates

Post by Richard Hull »

In short, you will never fuse in an acrylic chambered fusor. You deuterium will be over powered, pressure wise, by plastic vapor if you can even reach a fusor vacuum level.

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
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