Microwave furnace

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This is a page to document my proposal to build a massive microwave furnace at Noisebridge. I have already acquired all of the parts and supplies, but assembling everything, testing, safety checks, and coordinating on training new users will be quite a process. Please message me on Discord if you're interested in getting involved! You can also check out my website project page covering this effort. MAINTAINER: Lucy (@autopoieesis)

What's involved in building a 10kW microwave furnace

An insane magnetron, a 10kW DC sputtering PSU, a high power chiller for the cooling loop, and an assortment of tubing and fittings just to drive the magnetron (all of which have already been acquired). We will need to build an enclosure which incorporates the waveguide/heating chamber, work area to unload the crucible, and various control and safety systems. The 2kV out of the sputtering PSU will need to be stepped up to the 9kV 1.6A required by the magnetron head, which we will do with a beefy full bridge LLC step up converter (WIP). Making sure everything is safe to operate in a community space is going to be quite a bit of work. We are gonna need to sort out HV isolation, interlock systems, overtemp protections, ground fault and rf leakage detection, etc.