Re: [ATM] Bronze reflectivity

[Dominic-Luc Webb <dlwebb@canit.se>]

On Fri, 9 Jun 2006, Anthony Stillman wrote:

> container.  Keep a little hand pump with it to suck
> the air out when I put the mirror away. (yea right)

Vacuum seal machines used for home food processing that
displaces with, say, nitrogen, etc, might be enough. At
this "preliminary" phase, many permutations can be tested.

> One thing I've done is looked closely at the grain
> structure of the alloys I?ve made.  In the process
> I?ve learned a little metallurgy, which is totally way
> cool by the way.  There is uniformity and there isn't,
> it depends.  Scale, thermal history, the way you
> define uniform.  Here's a another slide from the talk
> <http://www.atmlist.net/contrib/atmer-at-flash-dot-net/active.jpg>
> .  The long side is about 300um.
>
> Another plan is to fidutialize a polished sample, take
> reflectivity measurements in many different places,
> then etch the sample and associate the measurements to
> the grain structure.
>
> Yet another plan is to...
>
> Thanks for taking an interest.  Do you know where I
> can buy oxygen absorbing packets like the ones found
> in beef jerky packages?
>
> Anthony


I have plenty of access to chemical catalogs if you have a
specific preference. If you are not sure, I can look into
some possibilities. Most immediately, I would ask if humidity
is a major parameter in the oxidation, in which case maybe a
hygroscopic agent (usually very cheap) could be sufficient.
Another thought: iron powder. Maybe this could oxidize more
readily than your speculum, acting as a "sponge" in a sealed
container. I think you might think carefully on this oxygen
issue. I am quite sure I read long ago that some such oxygen
sponges make nice fuses for explosives by being able to
rapidly release the oxygen content.

Dominic

_______________________________________________
ATM mailing list http://www.atmlist.net/