[TheForge] atomic forges?

Fri Nov 1 08:19:01 2002

Read the article.  The Japanese were destroying concrete years ago with
an old 800 MHz magnetron.  I have an old picture somewhere with that
caption.  Modern ones are 2450 MHz.

Problems:
1.	A magnetron is generally only about 25% efficient.  So, to get 1
kW of energy, you have to put in 4 kW of energy.
2.	Shielding oneself from the energy is somewhat difficult if the
beast isn't in a metal box<G>.  However, the energy will dissipate in
most solids, so if no one is standing directly below it, and you have a
sufficiently large shield, you should be ok.  But it depends upon many
factors, which are somewhat difficult to control and/or predict.
3.	When the magnetron sees a "load" that is not the proper
impedance, the power is reflected back to the magnetron.  This is
greatly offensive to the magnetron and causes it to die an early death.
Putting a metal spoon in a microwave oven is a good example. 

	It is a good idea, but the commercial application is somewhat
limited<large grin>.
	Personally, I would think that a plasma cutter would be more
efficient, safer, and easier to control<G>.  Hook it up like an EDM
machine.

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Shannell Sugrue
Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2002 6:44 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [TheForge] atomic forges?

http://zzz.com.ru/149.html

The article at the top of this page is interesting, using microwaves to
heat and cut with, sounds like it was very low buck too. They said that
it only works on nonconductive material but then say - it is amazing "
to see how the microwave drill melts hard metals"

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