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Nadine - Our Vacuum Coater

Nadine is a home-made vacuum coater that was built and used for many years at Chroma Technologies, an optical filter manufacturer in Bellows Falls, VT.  When it was time for Nadine to retire from Chroma, they asked us if we would like her, and of course we said "Yes" and "Thank You!". We didn't feel we had a good place to keep Nadine at Stellafane, so we sent her home with member Wayne Hilliard, who adopted her and has brought her back to life.

Nadine Retires from Chroma Technologies

Photos by Ken Slater, 2009-Mar-26

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Chroma Technology in Bellows Falls, Vermont. Stellafane appreciates Chroma's generosity in donating Nadine to us.
Chroma Technology
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Nadine in the Chroma lab area, being disconnected from utilities.
Nadine in the Lab
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Wayne Hilliard gets some basic training on how to run Nadine.
Wayne gets Basic Training
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After a bit of work maneuvering through narrow doors, Nadine made it out to the sidewalk.
Nadine on the Sidewalk
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Here Nadine has been lifted slightly above the trailer bed, and preparations are being made to gently get her off the jack and onto the bed.
Lifting onto a Trailer
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Wrapped. strapped and ready to roll!
Wrapped and Ready to Go!

Nadine Comes Back to Life

Photos by Wayne Hilliard

These are photos Wayne took to share with club members as he brought Nadine back to working condition in April and May 2009 (Shown in date taken order).

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With the carousel removed from machine it will open up substantial space in chamber.
Carousel Removed from Vacuum Chamber
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First of four trials with diffusion pump on and ion gauge on.
First Diffusion Pump Trial
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Second trial of diffusion pump.
Second Diffusion Pump Trial
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Open chamber with tungsten electrode attached to low voltage.
Open Chamber with
Tungsten Electrode.
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Photo through porthole glass. Tungsten heated up to red. Black band unmelted aluminum foil on electrode.
Tungsten Glows Red
through Porthole.
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First shot of aluminum on test piece.
First Aluminum
on Test Piece!
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Glowing negative feed through.
Glowing Negative
Feed Through
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High-voltage feed through.
High-Voltage
Feed Through
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Test setup with glow electrode. My initial setup with crude Pyrex stand for test slide.
Test setup with
Glow Electrode
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The test slide is resting against the screen of my laptop showing the shadow of the test stand. One small area about the size of a pinhead came off with the scotch tape. The graph is the record I made to measure the length of time the voltage was on to the tungsten.
Test Slide illuminated by
laptop screen (lower left)
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Test slide before scotch tape first glow (Before scotch tape test).
Test Slide before
Scotch Tape Adhesion Test
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Coated 3-inch mirror on wire stand in open chamber.
Coated 3-inch Mirror
on Wire Stand
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Coated 3-inch oblique.
Coated 3-inch Oblique
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Coated 3-inch showing coating thickness.
Coated 3-inch showing
Coating Thickness
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Filament after shot.
Filament after Shot
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Support stand for 3-inch in chamber.
Support Stand for 3-inch
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I have a web cam on the upper view port in the chamber. I will use this to monitor the filament to tell when to turn of power to the evaporation filaments.
Web Cam Filament Monitor
through Upper Porthole
 

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