Real Life Reports from the Vacuum

[Richard Hull]

I am so glad to see folks like Tom Dressel and others contributing actively. In the recent posts of his reply to the needle valve issue, he comments on the history of the chamber being a factor.

This shows not so much that he has been there, but was there over and over again and took notes either mental or in a notebook. This is the "firing line"!

To glibly quote pressures and voltages of operation for a fusor leaves out so very much of the craft and art needed to get there, especially at the amateur level with less than ideal equipment.

What is lacked by the amateur vacuumist in material or sophistication can only be made up by craft and artifice. These are only gained with experience.

Vacuum work is such a key factor in our work in fusion, that if a fusor is planned, even a demo one, vacuum should be the first hurdle conquered.

Again, I am much heartened by the recent flurry of superb postings sharing the craft secrets and artifices needed to work through the mysteries of this near black art.

Richard Hull