LH Spring 2014

Winter Intersession (Jan 1-Jan 21)
I worked on production. I have continued straightening, polishing and fusing. Still no bending and therefore no painting. Besides production, I also had to figure out how to modfiy the shipping boxes to pass through a single door. Ann Marie and I also created a cloth divider for the dark box to shield the electronics from the light.

Polishing: As discussed in a meeting, we no longer have to polish the second side of SciFis when the black grit gets beneath the cladding. The polishing for all the SciFis were completed on Jan 15th.

Straightening: On January 13th we started using an aluminum rod to straighten fibers. The straightening 5x6 collars were all sanded/wire brushed and the entire set up was put into the PVC. This is in hopes that the rust will no longer be an issue in straightening.

Fusing: Fusing has been going well. There was an issue with the fuser one day where the pressures were not high enough but luckily Brendan was in the lab to fix it. It has since run as it was before. Strength tests have proven that most fuses withstand up to 1000g. Alex did a preliminary test for light transmission and said it was an acceptable amount. On the rare occasion that a fuse goes wrong, we take a spare light guide, cut it to length, polish, and fuse.

Ann Marie also looked up how to drain the air compressor of water. We are now going to be draining the compressor regularly to keep the fusing unit working properly.

Shipping: The boxed ordered from Uline were too big to fit through a single door. If a 6" cut is made around the top of each box, they can fit about 10 bundles and fit through a door.

Spring Semester 2014 (After Jan 21)
Jan 21 - Today I fused half of Bundle 15. I performed one strength test and it broke at 1000g.

Jan 27 - Today I finished fusing the last third of Bundle 17 and began fusing Bundle 18. I also spent a few minutes helping Ann Marie measure the lengths of Bundles 19 and 20 and also polished a few single light guides of Bundle 21. (4 hours)

Jan 28 - Today I finished fusing Bundle 18 (1.5 hours)

Jan 30 - Today I measured the SciFi's for Bundle 19 and began fusing. I made the extra effort of keeping track of the orientation of the fuse site measurements I took, so that the first fuse site width is side A and the second is side B. This should help Ann Marie in organizing the fibers by size and creating bundles with a consistent average. (1.5 hours) I also came back at the end of the day to attend the end of the weekly meeting.

Note about fusing: We have recently been emptying the air compressor each night of the condensation. In order to do this, just open the valve on the bottom of the compressor each night- this will make a large sound as the air pressure is released and the condensed water will be released. Before fusing, make sure this valve is closed and continue the procedure as normal.

February 2014
Feb 3 - Today I finished fusing Bundle 19. Afterwards I measured the SciFi's and some of the light guides for Bundle 20. (4 hours)

Feb 4 - Today I helped Ann Marie put Bundle 9 in the bending unit and began fusing Bundle 20. I completed 11 fuses and performed 1 strength test. (2.25 hours)

Feb 6 - Today I worked on fusing Bundle 20. I have only 6 fibers left in 20. I also conducted a strength test - the test fuse broke at 1,250 g. Then I started measuring the SciFi's for Bundle 21 because the bending of Bundle 9 was going on. (1.75 hours) Also I attended the end of the weekly meeting.

Feb 10 - Today I worked with Ann Marie to prepare Bundle 8 for bending which included putting the fibers in the collar, offsetting them by an inch, placing them in the chimneys as well as cleaning the tank and filling it with water to place the bending unit. I also learned the most current painting procedure with Kenny and Ann Marie and cleaned up the lab at the end of the day. (4 hours)

Feb 11- Today I cut some styrofoam for the storage unit. We've bought 1"x96"x36" boards and so if we cut 40"x30", we can get 3 slides per board which will fit into the boxes and we'll have 21 total from the 7 boards purchased. They will be spaced by blocks of 2" styrofoam and placed into the boxes for storage and shipment. (1.5 hours)

Feb 13- Didn't work because of the snow storm.

Feb 17- Prepared Bundle E(5) for bending (same procedure as Feb 10) I also spent about an hour mixing paint and painting a few fibers. I erroneously put the fibers in Bundle 5 in the wrong matrix for the bending procedure, but the measurements were checked and the positioning I had put them in was still in spec. I'll have to work on how to properly put the fibers in the right matrix.(4 hours)

Feb 18 - Didn't work because of a snow storm.

Feb 20 - (2 hours) Today I mixed paint and painted fibers. I could only get about 8 done. They take a while.

Feb 24  - (3 hours) Today I prepared a bundle for bending. I also painted epoxied all the styrofoam boards that Jim had previously cut.

Feb 25 - (2.5 hours) Today I cut 9 more styrofoam boards but did not epoxy 6 of them because we need to check that we have enough glue.

Feb 27 - Today I cleaned and dried Bundle 8 and helped Alex remove a bundle from the tank. (1.5 hours)

March 2014
Mar 3 - Today I helped Ann Marie prepare in modifying the Bending Unit. I used a wire brush to remove any hard water stains or rust from the pipes before they're to be epoxied. I also cleaned the Bending tank and painted some of Bundle 8. (3.75 hours)

Mar 4 - Today I measured the fuse sites for bundles L, M, and N and entered the data into the Bundle Names Google doc. (2.25 hours)

Mar 6 - I prepared bundle G for bending and attended the weekly meeting. (2 hours)

Mar 10 - I started today painting a few fibers and then I transitioned into measuring fibers for the Bundle Names Google Doc. I measured bundles O, Q, R, and S. Bundle P (16) has yet to be fused still. There were a few fibers that were exceptionally large and some bundles definitely need to be arranged differently in order to make a matrix with the proper specs. After Kenny left I also cleaned up the painting station. I left for half an hour today because of an academic advising appointment. (3.5 hours)

Mar 11 - Today I painted a few fibers before Kenny came in, and afterwards I measured bundle T and U. This means that all of the fibers' fuse widths are input into the Bundle Names Google doc and they can be moved around from bundle to bundle to make each Bundle's fuse site widths within spec. (2.5 hours)

Mar 13 - Today I finished fusing Bundle 20 and started fusing Bundle 21. I measured a lot of the fibers so that next time I can fuse faster next time. Kenny and I are usually working at the same time and I can't paint while he fuses because we only have one air compressor so prepping for fusing is definitely worth it. (1.5 hours)

Mar 19 - I decided to come in for a half day as it is Spring Break. I prepared a Bundle 11/K for bending and moved around some fibers in the Bundle Names doc so that future bundles will fit in the collars. (4 hours)

Mar 24 - Prepared a bundle for bending, cleaned the tank, and sorted the next bundle for bending. (4 hours)

Mar 25 - Finished fusing Bundle 21/S. (2 hours)

Mar 27 - Didn't come in for the morning - wasn't feeling well. Stopped by for the weekly meeting in the afternoon but it was already complete.

Mar 31 - Today I adjusted the matrix for Bundle 21/S in the Bundle Names Google Doc. Then I removed Bundle M from the bending unit with Ann Marie and cleaned the fibers. I find having a wet cloth and a dry cloth is the best way to clean them. Aftwerwards, I prepared Bundle Q for bending. We decided to go out of order because the other bundles were smaller and if Bundle 16/P is large, we'll need the smaller bundles to mix with. Ann Marie emptied, cleaned, and filled the bendng tank and we placed Bundle Q in the water.

Ann Marie also showed me how to upload files to the GlueX portal. I'll be uploading photos from the Wiki to that site tomorrow.(4 hours).

April 2014
Apr 1 - Today I polished Bundle 16/P light guides, placed labels on them (1-15,A-O) and measured their cross sections. I finished measuring everything that way next time I can fuse them all within an hour or so. (2.5 hours)

Apr 2 - Today I didn't come in because there was a university-wide emergency. I did come in for the end of the weekly meeting though. (.5 hours)

Apr 7 - I fused Bundle 16/P. This completes the fusing process. I measured the fuse site widths and input them into both the Fusing Statistics Google Doc and the Bundle Names Google Doc. I also finished gluing together the styrofoam bundle holders. They are all completely constructed now too. (3.75 hours)

Apr 8 - Prepared Bundle N for bending (2 hours)

Apr 10 - Removed Bundle N from the bending unit and cleaned each fiber with a cloth. I also cleaned the bending unit and emptied the tank so we can bend tomorrow hopefully. I also attended the weekly meeting (2.5 hours)

Apr 14 - Today I worked with Jon to remove Bundle O/15 from the bending unit. I cleaned the fibers as he cleaned the bending unit. We emptied the tank and also created an orientation for the next bundle- Bundle P. After Jon left, I worked with Ann Marie to complete the preparation for Bundle P to be bent. Once Bundle P was ready, I started working on a Bending Procedure. We have to take photos of the Bending process for the wiki before we're out of bundles to bend!(4 hours)

Apr 15- Today I started painting. However, I had an extremely difficult time with the paint guns. I tried two different ones and couldn't get a constant spray. After a little less than an hour, I gave up and cleaned all the paint guns. Afterwards, I continued to work on the Bending Procedure. (1.5 hours)