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• New vacuum chamber progress

  Koji Tokura • 08/22/2022 at 10:38 • 0 comments

  Today's progress.
  I drilled a Φ18 hole in the SUS tray and attached an gas supply/exhaust fitting.
  

  It just like designed. ;)
  

• New chamber design

  Koji Tokura • 08/21/2022 at 12:11 • 0 comments

  I've finished arranging the parts for the new chamber, and some items have arrived, so I tried to make a rough model.
  The 2mm thick base plate and deep tray, the M6 legs are SUS304 (stainless steel), silicon rubber packing and 5mm heat resistant glass are on top.
  Brass parts are vacuum exhaust and argon gas supply port.
  The point here is the small circle visible in the center of the bottom of the tray.
  Spot weld to the base plate only at this point.
  The actual thickness of the tray is 0.7mm, so it is expected that the bottom will dent when vacuumed. The motive is to disperse the base plate and deformation stress with this spot welding and endure it.
  The flat part of the bottom is roughly 177 x 116 mm, so I wonder if 2 mm of SUS304 will work. (You calculate the strength lol).
  The concern is whether the 5mm thick heat-resistant glass will hold up. That being said, I don't want to use quartz glass. . . Please don't break it (You calculate the strength lol).

• New chamber parts

  Koji Tokura • 08/20/2022 at 08:12 • 0 comments

  I am considering a vacuum chamber in a new configuration.

• Foreline trap issue

  Koji Tokura • 08/17/2022 at 05:53 • 0 comments

  I'm currently struggling with a foreline trap on a rotary vane pump.
  Since I have not received any formal education about vacuum equipment, it did not come to my mind at first that oil mist would diffuse backwards into the vacuum chamber.
  After many failures, I realized this by observing the phenomenon, and tried to make my own foreline trap using activated carbon or silica gel, but the plasma quality deteriorated due to the pressure loss.
  Currently, I use a trap with a general paper filter, and although I'm getting some improvement, it's still not good enough.

  Professional equipment seems to use liquid nitrogen to chill the upstream of the pump to trap the mist, but it is impossible to introduce such a device at home.
  This part will be an important theme in the future improvement of the device.

• Cameras I use to shoot daguerreotypes

  Koji Tokura • 08/16/2022 at 15:54 • 0 comments

  Hey, you probably don't know what kind of camera I expose a 90x120mm plate.
  This is the pretty cameras that I usually use.
  The first black one is a Voigtlander Bergheil from the 1920s.
  The next is a pre-WW2 Japanese wooden camera.
  Taking slow shots with these cameras, like 5 minute shutter speeds, feels great.

• New chambers!

  Koji Tokura • 08/15/2022 at 14:01 • 0 comments

  A damaged chamber and two brand new chambers.
  When I asked my wife, "Buy me one because it broke," an extra one grew.
  I feel her love (or resignation).

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