Progress Update 2, 9/14/13

After spending Thursday night doing more research and planning for my drilling points, Friday night I spent a good 2 1/2 hours putting most of the remaining parts on the proton pack.  I didn't take pictures as I went along, but did take some from a few different angles after I was done for the night.

First I attached the vac line tube, then I drilled out the holes for the gun mount and the hose fittings next to the Clippard valve.  I drilled out holes for the tubes that run from the injector tubes into the bottom left side of the cyclotron.  I mounted the beam line and filler tubes, which are the ones that haven't been painted yet.  I had to get new ones since my first set was the wrong size.  I attached the crank knob, which will be able to turn when it's all done.  I also drilled out a hole in the PPD and mounted it just above the beam line.

The hardest parts I had to deal with were the bumper, the ion knob that fits on the bumper, and the booster tube assembly.  When I drilled out the hole in the bumper for the ion knob, it was slightly off center, so I had to adjust it and keep drilling until I got it right.  Then when I mounted the bumper to the shell, it was too wide to just slip over the sides, so I had to tighten it on both sides evenly so it pinched just right and lined up correctly in the middle.  Once I got that all set, I drilled the hole through the bumper all the way through the cyclotron so that the screw that holds the ion knob in place would mount correctly in the inside of the shell.  Getting this all straight was a challenge, and it might be off just a hair as I see the picture again, but I think if I twist it a bit it'll look right.

The angle that the booster tube assembly fits on is not quite flush, so I had to measure and guess a bit to know where to drill to mount it.  I did pretty good and it fit better than I thought it would.  I'll still need to seal it around the edges that don't quite line up eventually, but you have to be looking for it to notice it.

I think that about covers all the work I did.  I have a couple of other holes I need to finalize, test fit the hoses, and run to the hardware store to get some washers and nuts to keep the screws I have holding some parts in place, but other than that I'm just about ready to get to the painting stage.  Now that the temperature is hopefully coming out of the 100s and 90s, it'll be more realistic to get this thing primed and painted in the next week or so.

I'm happy with how this is working out so far.  I'm glad I've had two previous builds before this one, which have taught me a lot that I don't have to figure out this time.  I'm excited to see how it turns out.

Thanks again for taking the time to look.

-Matt