The Farnsworth Fusor

A long time ago, when the pyramids were still young...

(2013)

I started a project called a fusor, a type of proof of concept fusion reactor that you could actually build at home for cheap. Don't believe me? Check out the original blog I made about the project (originally made before this blog existed) - http://myfusorproject.blogspot.com/

Long story short, I never finished it because the vacuum pump was not powerful enough and I didn't really have the funding to buy a bigger one after I had just invested in one already. Only now, 5 years later did I have the time, money and facilities of the lab to finally finish it.

There is a lot of information regarding this project that I'm not going to repeat. To get it, firstly read the old blog posted above, there are only about 6 posts in it. Then watch the video I have made showcasing it:

The video above will explain what a Farnsworth-Hirsch-Meeks Fusor is, how it works and tons of footage of it in operation. It produces an amazing blue/purple visual effect, similar to a tesla coil so its worth a watch just for that.

Here are some construction pictures that I have taken over the past few months as I've overhauled and finally finished the project.

The first job was replacing the rubber sheet under the chamber with a metal plate that I machined and filed to prevent it damaging the air hose from the pump.

Here is an early attempt at making an air tight seal. Needless to say it would take many many more iterations before I found a method that worked!

Here are a bunch of pictures showing all the pieces coming together. I modified the pump so it could be secured to the top of the fusor, built the diodes array, mounted the high voltage microwave over transformer into the box and soldered everything to the control and monitoring circuits.

And here is the finished product complete with the new and powerful vacuum pump. Its great to see it finally finished after 5 years!

                            

And of course, here are some shots of it running. Keep in mind the pictures turned out REALLY BAD, it looks much better on video so go check out the video which I linked in the paragraph above!!

 

In the next post, I will be showcasing a smoke machine I built for my MIDI laser project which you will see in the post after that.