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Tagger microscope prototype construction (view source)
Revision as of 19:25, 16 July 2008
, 19:25, 16 July 2008→Using Fly Cutter
==== Using Fly Cutter ====
==== Using Fly Cutter ====
[[Image:Fibersinangleclamp.JPG|thumb|right]]
[[Image:Fibersinangleclamp.JPG|thumb|right]]The Fly Cutter is a milling tool used to shave away layers of a flat surface. For our purposes, the fly cutter is used to cut several fibers at the same time leaving the fiber's ends with a flat and even surface. We designed a "angle clamp" to bundle the fibers together so that we can cut a 5x5 set of fibers with the fly cutter. In the picture to the right, we see the fibers bundled in the angle clamp, the angle clamp itself is attached to a metal piece used to mount the angle clamp in the fly cutter machine. With the fibers secured in the angle clamp, we set the bundle through a few test runs with the fly cutter to determine how fast the blade needs to spin the cut the fibers properly. A rotation speed of 1500 rpms was deemed to produce the best results. In the picture below, we see the fibers after being cut by the fly cutter. Notice the fiber's ends have many small scratches in them but I am confident that those scratches will easily be removed with just a quick polish.
The Fly Cutter is a milling tool used to shave away layers of a flat surface. For our purposes, the fly cutter is used to cut several fibers at the same time leaving the fiber's ends with a flat and even surface. We designed a "angle clamp" to bundle the fibers together so that we can cut a 5x5 set of fibers with the fly cutter. In the picture to the right, we see the fibers bundled in the angle clamp, the angle clamp itself is attached to a metal piece used to mount the angle clamp in the fly cutter machine. With the fibers secured in the angle clamp, we set the bundle through a few test runs with the fly cutter to determine how fast the blade needs to spin the cut the fibers properly. A rotation speed of 1500 rpms was deemed to produce the best results. In the picture below, we see the fibers after being cut by the fly cutter. Notice the fiber's ends have many small scratches in them but I am confident that those scratches will easily be removed with just a quick polish.
[[Image:Scratches_afterflycut.jpg|center|400 px]]
[[Image:Scratches_afterflycut.jpg|center|400 px]]
Something that was expected to happen was flaying or stripping of the outer most fiber's cladding. The picture below shows a close up view of the outer fibers. All though there was noticeable damage to the cladding, I was surprised to see how well the cladding faired. [[Image:Fiberbundle_stripped.jpg|center|400 px]]
Something that was expected to happen was flaying or stripping of the outer most fiber's cladding. The picture on the right shows a close up view of the outer fibers, on the left a zoomed out view of the same fibers. The cladding is not damaged on all the outer fibers but it is stripped on the majority. All though there was noticeable damage to the cladding, I was surprised to see how well the cladding faired.
{| cellpadding="3" style="text-align:center; margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|-
| [[Image:Fiberbundle_stripped.jpg|left|300 px]] || || [[Image:Fiberbundle_stripped_zoomout.jpg|right|300 px]]
|-
|}
A minor consequence of using the fly cutter is that the inner fibers become slightly recessed. The machinists who use the fly cutter gave warning about this effect. The amount of which the inner fibers sank is barely noticeable to the naked eye, so I do not believe that it will cause any problems of unevenness. The only problem that this effect causes is that before polishing you must level the fibers by simply loosening the angle clamp a bit and push the fibers against a flat surface. The picture below helps to illustrate this effect.
[[Image:Recessed_inner_afterflycut.jpg|center|400 px]]
=== Transmission Testing ===
=== Transmission Testing ===