Greetings from Michigan!

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Peter Howey
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2016 12:06 pm
Real name: Pete Howey

Greetings from Michigan!

Post by Peter Howey »

Hello. I'm in the Frankenmuth, MI area and am very happy to have found this resource. I spent the majority of my childhood helping my pops rebuild Varian/Alcatel high-vacuum pumps and mass specs. Software engineer by trade (healthcare). My dad recently passed away, leaving behind a legacy of pioneering leak testing in automation for Advanced Technologies (now Future Technologies) here in Michigan. He did the pop can tops, GM transmissions, liquid rocket fuel containment for the space shuttle, etc in addition to designing automated friction welders and early embedded PC controls on early automated lines. Some of the stuff he brought me home to play with was just INSANE.

I have ALWAYS wanted to build a fusor, but my dad was very practical and didn't have much time to waste on stuff that didn't sell (or detect helium). I still have a storage facility full of V70 turbos to rebuild.....

Anyway, I'm glad to be here. I just started wandering around the shop, looking for surplus stuff - have a nice chamber with feed-throughs, pumps and gauges. Basically just need to fab the ball and locate a suitable power supply. Will post pix as I progress.

Thanks again!

Pete Howey
(Charlie's Kid)
John Futter
Posts: 1848
Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2004 10:29 pm
Real name: John Futter
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Re: Greetings from Michigan!

Post by John Futter »

Welome Peter (Pete)
You have the ideal start with that motherload your father has left
I know you will read the FAQ's as these are where most of the good info is
Peter Howey
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2016 12:06 pm
Real name: Pete Howey

Re: Greetings from Michigan!

Post by Peter Howey »

Oh yeah, the FAQs are why I registered. Originally motivated by Stephen Hansen's Bell Jar articles. I have digested "The First Five Years" and was looking at the contents of the second set, which includes fusors. My pops purchased the first five, which I'm lucky to have (with his annotations), and am wondering if the second set is worth it?
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Richard Hull
Moderator
Posts: 14992
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2001 9:44 am
Real name: Richard Hull

Re: Greetings from Michigan!

Post by Richard Hull »

Steve Hansen's bell jar was the finest amateur vacuum publication that has ever existed. I have a complete collection of the original, as issued, paper copies. I highly recommend the entire collection to any serious "vacuum head".

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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