A friend of Stuart’s recently introduced me to knolling.
ALWAYS BE KNOLLING (ABK)
It’s a more deliberate version of “cleaning up”.
Today I’m taking some small steps toward building hot cathode electron gun v2.
Here is a physical diagram and schematic:
This is the hot cathode intended for an electron beam welder. It has 34 mΩ resistance:
The parts of the electron gun will be arranged like this:
This is more simple than most electron guns. I don’t need a carefully focused beam, I just want to shoot a crude beam of electrons into the Polywell.
The next step is to design and build a simple armature to hold the pieces together.
The hot cathode electron gun has been a real pain in the ass.
Based on comments we may have one or more of these problems:
1) The hot cathode has been fouled by operation in normal atmosphere. I tried to avoid this, but who knows.
2) When I removed the CRTs glass casing, I may have removed a high voltage anode.
3) The phosphor screen may not be grounded well enough, causing deflection of the electron beam by charge accumulation.
4) The vacuum pressure is too high, scattering the electrons.
5) Something else.
My plan is to set aside the CRT based electron gun, and try to build a simplified electron gun from scratch.
Previously I purchased a fresh hot cathode designed for electron beam welding.
The gun will consist of a hot cathode floating at -100V and a copper tube segment at +2000V for acceleration. A grounded phosphor screen will reveal any beam that forms.
Hi everybody, I’m Domenick Bauer, and in about a month, I will begin a full-time internship at Prometheus Fusion Perfection.
Let me say a little about how I came to find Prometheus. I’ve done some fusor work in the past, and a few years ago, I built a Farnsworth-Hirsch fusor capable of star mode. Unfortunately I had to return to school before I could make a real attempt at fusion. Since then, I have been an avid follower of the fusion effort. Earlier this year, I came upon this blog, and found it very exciting.
I wanted to be a part of it, but knew that money was tight at Prometheus, so I applied for the Hodson Trust Internship Program, a fellowship offered by my school in which an applicant creates a proposal on something interesting he wants to do, and finds an organization where he can do it. If the Hodson committee likes the proposal and the organization, the applicant is awarded a stipend on which he can live while he does his internship.
Yesterday, I learned that I was awarded the internship!
It feels great to be here at Prometheus and I can’t wait to get started.
My shop-mate Stuart just launched a kickerstart for quite possibly the best bike light ever made.
The light is made from aluminum milled right here in the shop we share.
The light is practically impossible to steal without removing the seat post. It senses your motion and turns on/off automatically. And the battery lasts longer than your typical bike light. It’s a tiny marvel of engineering.
Stuart is a master craftsman. I’ve seen him design and ship stunning robotics and dynamic sculptures over the years.
Stuart is a HUGE contributor to my fusion research. He taught me everything I know about prototyping.
So do yourself a favor and buy the last bike light you’ll ever buy.
My talk at the LIFT conference in Geneva has been posted online!
Prometheus Fusion Perfection 