Originally Posted by mkeller234 (Post 15559922)

We spent a few nights in Hocking Hills State Park for my 30th birthday. I love it, it's probably been 13+ years since I was last there. I couldn't talk my wife into sleeping in a tent, but the cabin was really nice. It was a great birthday, one that I will measure all others against.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8395/8...cc3c8b50_c.jpg

Originally Posted by -holiday76 (Post 15570073)

My new toy. Its a 90 bmw 325i. Buying it thursday from the original owner who had every maintenence record going back to 1991. Nw tranny and clutch, new top, perfect interior with cold a/c and heated leather seats. Original wheels included in the sale which will go back on as soon as i get it. Those ghetto rims will be sold.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-k...99DCC378F5.JPG

Originally Posted by Chris_in_Miami (Post 15566618)

He's pining for the fjords!

Originally Posted by IthaDan (Post 15573438)

This is what tedium looks like in the last two days, I have installed EVERY bolt on this thing:

http://i.imgur.com/OzgEjHGl.jpg

I spent the day monday putting the covers on, and torquing them, by hand.

http://i.imgur.com/jUMgvzKl.jpg

Then tuesday came around, and I brought this guy from home:

http://i.imgur.com/mDzLF1ol.jpg

Awesome little doodad.

Artsy and/or fartsy:

http://i.imgur.com/9cKFtOmm.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/SriOwUtm.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/68K27ePm.jpg

Thought it was too cool looking not to share.

Originally Posted by mkeller234 (Post 15573607)

What is that? It does look really cool.

Originally Posted by DiegoFrogs (Post 15573647)

Leak checking a chamber that complex must be a horrible pain in the behind! Is it some kind of deposition tool?

Originally Posted by IthaDan (Post 15573657)

Oh yeah, ha. Sorry.

It's a vacuum chamber for a pulse plasma experiment in the lab I work in. Should be sealed up tight enough to achieve pressures of 10^10 torr (for reference: a torr is 1/760th of an atmosphere). The seals are those copper rings in the picture with the quarter, the covers are torqued so the knife edge deforms the copper and creates a seal. The chamber is a salvaged unit (with ports upon ports with some extra ports thrown in for good measure), but the hardware and the covers (the large covers are about $200 a pop) are all brand spanking new.

I believe the thinking is that inside the vacuum, a plasma will be submitted to an electromagnetic field with the hopes that the field creates a point of compression and, ideally, thermonuclear fusion

Or, it's a time machine. Who knows- I'm just paid to turn wrenches.



That comes tomorrow, should be a party. Thankfully leaks into a vacuum aren't that difficult to find with an active pump and a pressure gauge- squirting just about any liquid on the flanges of a port will, if there's a leak, draw the liquid in, and then the liquid will expand rapidly, increasing the pressure by a power of 10 or more. It's pretty obvious. That doesn't mean it won't be tedious though.

As a total aside, when I worked fixing cars, one of the most tried and true ways to find a vacuum leak was to wave an unlit propane torch around the vacuum lines of an idling engine and listen for the increase in idle speed.

SCIENCE!

Originally Posted by Velognome (Post 15576029)

Every home should have a plasma chamber

Originally Posted by Velognome (Post 15576029)

Every home should have a plasma chamber

Originally Posted by Sixty Fiver (Post 15582169)