BW August 2018

8/1: Since the 1000 grit sandpaper finally arrived today, I resumed polishing a sci-fi bundle. I did one end with 1 micron grit and I have to polish the other end with that grit tomorrow.

8/2: Tomorrow I should make sure the bag of sci-fis I just polished is labeled. It should not be mixed up with other sci-fis that we will not use.

8/7: I swept the lab and got coffee stirrers from Up N Atom today. I cut one stirrer to put at the top of the fiber bundles for testing. It should hold down the middle fiber.

In the meeting today, Dr. Jones and I agreed that I will identify the thickest fuses in every bundle and try removing wings. Then I will test the fibers with wings removed.

I will collect the thick fibers and use a unique colored strap to identify them. I think I will use a white strap.

8/16: This week Jim pointed out that pressing too hard on a fiber to force it through a chimney might damage the backplane or other parts of the dark box. I should hold the bracket to balance the force as I push on the fiber.

If a fiber is too thick, turning it 90 degrees might get it through the chimney.

We should not sand fibers in the dark box because depositing dust there could alter results. I have to hold the fiber outside the dark box, sand it, then wipe it with a lint-free cloth before putting it through a chimney.

8/17: I started work on removing bundle 401 from the bending box too soon, before Jim was ready to take it out. He was going to look at it before loosening anything. I should ask now before doing anything to the bending unit.