In this space, visitors are invited to post any comments, questions, or skeptical observations about Philo T. Farnsworth's contributions to the field of Nuclear Fusion research.Subject: Past the "procurement" phase at Guilford...
Date: Oct 12, 10:35 pm
Poster: Carl WillisOn Oct 12, 10:35 pm, Carl Willis wrote:
I might as well mention that I have finished collecting parts for the Fusor here at Guilford College and am ready to enter the building phase.
The fusor is based on two 8" stainless hemispheres from R&B Wagner. There is a 2.75" CF half-nipple with matching viewport for looking into the thing. We have KF fittings for the outer grid feedthrough and vacuum line, and a massive power feedthru for the inner grid that is nearly 3" wide and should handle at least 150 kV and 100 or more amps (!) Deuterium is here. I just got a sweet x-ray supply from Dr. Cox in wisconsin (I hope the mailroom knows what to do with a 400 lb object...heh!).
So now I just need to put it all together, and that's where any suggestions would be well taken. I plan to silver solder where it may be more effective, such as on the KF fittings. I still don't see why I shouldn't silver-solder the conflats. Some information has said that it heats up the parts too much and can warp that oh-so-expensive knife edge. But I would think that TIG could heat it up just as much. (We have a hot oxypropane torch that has a narrow flame and maybe I can avoid warpage if I solder with that.) I'm not going to take unnecessary chances though and if I can get a friendly machinist to do the TIG jobs or show me how we have no problem at all.
Clearly I've done much babbling tonight, and the reason is that if you see any flaws in my judgement in how to proceed, or have any suggestions, I'd like to know!
Thanks- CW