Prometheus Fusion Perfection

Time to try assembling the reactor. Deez polished the core to remove flux and oxidation:

Here we are assembling the whole thing. This took several attempts adjusting the core depth:

The view through the window:

Looks like it holds a vacuum!

Here is a rough sketch of the sled. These dimensions will change, this sketch is for a welding estimate.

Received the 2″ tubular steel from mcmaster. I cut the tubing on a horizontal bandsaw. Next I need to line up some MIG welding resources.

Deez has returned from a trip to the Dominican Republic for a wedding and solo hike. Sounds like he had an amazing time.  Parts arrived and we made progress today. We cut the ceramic tube on a neighbor’s wet saw:

We tested out the collar clamp. Seems to work. Feels mechanically solid and tightly clamped metal should have good electrical conductivity.

Here is the assembled core connected to feedthrough. Really amazing how many tiny and challenging steps this takes:

The cable for the power supply arrived. I had to cut it down by 5 inches to make it fit mechanically with this unit. Then you stick a brass tack into the conductor. It pushes against a spring loaded contact in the Glassman unit. This cable is essentially a high voltage co-axle cable. The exterior shielding of the cable is grounded to the chassis, and forms a Faraday Cage around the inner high voltage. It appears the cable is long enough to go right into the fusor. 

We poked into the RGA unit again, and found we bought the wrong swageloc end cap. We still haven’t found the correct swagelock yet. A separate post on this topic later.

Deez and I were in the lab yesterday. We got new tanks for our oxyacetylene rig, and thinner bronze brazing rod.  We completed brazing the outer grid, and attached a lead to the inner grid. I’ve got ceramic insulating tube on order at Mcmaster. Next step is attaching the inner grid to the high voltage feedthrough – this presents some mechanical and electrical challenges.

Made progress today on fabricating the outer grid: