Resin 5 partsBeeswax 1 partRed ochre or Venetian red,finely powdered and sifted 1 part
Resin 5 parts
Beeswax 1 part
Red ochre or Venetian red,
finely powdered and sifted 1 part
I believe this to be substantially the same as Regnault's mastic, though I have never analysed the latter.
For chemical work the possibility of evolution of gas from such a cement must be taken into account, and I should certainly not trust it for this reason in vacuum tube work, where the purity of the confined gas could come in question. Otherwise it is an excellent cement, and does not in my experience tend to crack away from glass to the same extent as paraffin or pure shellac.
This cracking away from glass, by the way, is probably an effect of difference in rate of expansion between the glass and cement which probably always exists, and, if the cement be not sufficiently viscous, must, beyond certain temperature limits, either produce cracks or cause separation. Professor Wright of Yale has used a hard mineral pitch as a cement in vacuum work with success.
My attention has been directed to a fusible metal cement containing mercury, and made according to the following receipt, given by Mr. S. G. Rawson, Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, vol. ix. (1890), P. 150:—
Bismuth 40 per centLead 25 per centTin 10 per centCadmium 10 per centMercury 15 per cent
Bismuth 40 per cent
Lead 25 per cent
Tin 10 per cent
Cadmium 10 per cent
Mercury 15 per cent
This is practically one form of Rose's fusible metal with 15 per cent mercury added. It takes nearly an hour to set completely, and the apparatus must be clean and warm before it is applied.
As the result of several trials by myself and friends, I am afraid I must dissent from the claim of the author that such a cement will make a really air-tight joint between glass tubes. Indeed, the appearance of the surface as viewed through the glass is not such as to give any confidence, no matter what care may have been exercised in performing all the operations and cleaning the glass; besides which the cement is rigid when cold, and the expansion difficulty comes in.
On the other hand, if extreme air-tightness is not an object, the cement is strong and easily applied, and has many uses. I have an idea that if the joints were covered with a layer of soft wax, the result would be satisfactory in so far as air-tightness is concerned.
This anticipation has since been verified.
In many cases one can resort to the device already mentioned of enclosing a rubber or tape-wrapped joint between two tubes in a bath of mercury, but in this case the glass must be clean and hot and the mercury also warm, dry, and pure when the joint is put together, otherwise an appreciable air film is left against the glass, and this may creep into the joint.
Perhaps the easiest way of making such a joint is to use an outer tube of thin clean glass, and bore a narrow hole into it from one side to admit the mercury; if the mercury is to be heated in vacuo, it is better to seal on a side joint. It is always better, if possible, to boil the mercury in situ, which involves making the wrapping of asbestos, but, after all, we come back to the position I began by taking up, viz. that the easiest and most reliable method is by fusion of the glass — all the rest are unsuitable for work of real precision.
I should be ungrateful, however, were I not to devote a few lines to the great convenience and merit of so-called "centering cement." This substance has two or three very valuable properties. It is very tough and strong in itself, and it remains plastic on cooling for some time before it really sets. If for any reason a small tube has to be cemented into a larger one, which is a good deal larger, so that an appreciable mass of cement is necessary, and particularly if the joint requires to have great mechanical strength, this cement is invaluable. I have even used a plug of it instead of a cork for making the joint between a gas delivery tube and a calcium chloride tower. (Why are these affairs made with such abominable tubulures?)
The joint in question has never allowed the tube to sag though it projects horizontally to a distance of 6 inches, and has had to withstand nearly two years of Sydney temperature. The cement consists of a mixture of shellac and 10 per cent of oil of cassia.
The shellac is first melted in an iron ladle, and the oil of cassia quickly added and stirred in, to an extent of about 10 per cent, but the exact proportions are not of importance. Great care must be taken not to overheat the shellac.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER I
ON THE PREPARATION OF VACUUM TUBES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF PROFESSOR ROENTGEN'S RADIATION
[Footnote:Written in May 1896.]
WHEN Professor Roentgen's discovery was first announced at the end of 1895 much difficulty was experienced in obtaining radiation of the requisite intensity for the repetition of his experiments. The following notes on the production of vacuum tubes of the required quality may therefore be of use to those who desire to prepare their own apparatus. It appears that flint glass is much more opaque to Roentgen's radiation than soda glass, and consequently the vacuum tubes require to be prepared from the latter material.
Fig.images/Image63.gif39.
A form of vacuum tube which has proved very successful in the author's hands is sketched in Fig. 38. It is most easily constructed as follows. A bit of tubing about 2 centimetres diameter, 15 centimetres long, and 1.5 millimetre wall thickness, is drawn down to a point. The larger bulb, about 5 centimetres in diameter, is blown at one end of this tube. The thinner the bulb the better, provided that it does not collapse under atmospheric pressure. A very good idea of a proper thickness may be obtained from the statement that about 4 centimetres length of the tubing should be blown out to form the bulb. This would give a bulb of about the thickness of an ordinary fractionating bulb. Before going any further it is as well to test the bulb by tapping on the table and by exhausting it by means of an ordinary water-velocity pump.
The side tube is next prepared out of narrower tubing, and is provided with a smaller bulb, a blowing-out tube, and a terminal, to be made as will be described. This side tube is next fused on to the main tube, special care being taken about the annealing, and the cathode terminal is then sealed into the main tube. After using clean glass it is in general only necessary to rinse the tube out with clean alcohol, after which it may be dried and exhausted.
The success of the operation will depend primarily on the attention given to the preparation and sealing-in of the electrode facing the large bulb.
Preparation of Terminals. — Some platinum wire of about No. 26 B.W.G. — the exact size is unimportant — must be provided, also some sheet aluminium about 1 millimetre thick, some white enamel cement glass, and a "cane" of flint-glass tube of a few millimetres bore.
The electrodes are prepared by cutting discs of aluminium of from 1 to 1.5 centimetres diameter. The discs of aluminium are bored in the centre, so as to admit the "stems" which are made of aluminium wire of about 1 millimetre diameter. The stems are then riveted into the discs. The "stems" are about I centimetre long, and are drilled to a depth of about 3 millimetres, the drill used being about double the diameter of the platinum wire to be used for making the connections. The faces of the electrodes — i.e. the free surfaces of the aluminium discs — are then hammered flat and brought to a burnished surface by being placed on a bit of highly polished steel and struck by a "set" provided with a hole to allow of the "stem" escaping damage. The operation will be obvious after a reference to Figs. 39 and 40; it is referred to again on page 96.
The platinum wires may be most conveniently attached by melting one end of the piece of platinum wire in the oxygas blow-pipe till it forms a bead just large enough to pass into the hole drilled up the stem of the electrode. The junction between the stein and the platinum wire is then made permanent by squeezing the aluminium down upon the platinum wire with the help of a pair of pliers. It is also possible to fuse the aluminium round the platinum, but as I have had several breakages of such joints, I prefer the mechanical connection described.
images/Image64.gifFig. 39. — Sets for striking aluminium electrodes
Fig.images/Image65.gif40.-
The stem and platinum wire may now be protected by covering them with a little flint glass. For this purpose the flint-glass tube is pulled down till it will just slip over the stem and wire, and is cut off so as to leave about half a centimetre of platinum wire projecting. The flint-glass tube is then fused down upon the platinum wire, care being taken to avoid the presence of air bubbles. At the close of the operation a single drop of white enamel glass is fused round the platinum wire at a high temperature, so as to make a good joint with the protecting flint-glass tube.
The negative electrode being nearly as large as the main tube, it must be introduced before the latter is drawn down for sealing. After drawing down the main tube in the usual manner, taking care not to make it less than a millimetre in wall-thickness, it is cut off so as to leave a hole not quite big enough for the enamel drop to pass through. By heating and opening, the aperture is got just large enough to allow the enamel drop to pass into it, and when this is the case the joint is sealed, pulled, and blown out until the electrode occupies the right position — viz. in the centre of the tube and with its face normal to the axis of the tube.
The glass walls near the negative electrode must not be less than a millimetre thick, and may be rather more with advantage, the glass must be even, and the joint between the flint glass and the soda glass, or between the wire and the soda glass, must be wholly through the enamel. The "seal" must be well annealed. It will be found that the sealing-in process is much easier when the stem of the electrode is short and when the glass coating is not too heavy. Half a millimetre of glass thickness round the stein is quite sufficient.
The diagram, of the tube shows that the main tube has been expanded round the edges of the cathode. This is to reduce the heating consequent on the projection of cathode rays from the edges of the disc against the glass tube.
The anode is inserted into its bulb in a quite similar manner. If desired it may be made considerably smaller, and does not need the careful adjustment requisite in sealing-in the cathode, nor does the glass near the entry wire require to be so thick.
More intense effects are often got by making the cathode slightly concave, but in this case the risk of melting the thin glass is considerably increased. No doubt, Bohemian glass might be used throughout instead of soft soda glass, and this would not melt so easily; the difficulties of manipulating the glass are, however, more pronounced.
It will be shown directly that the best Roentgen effects are got with a high vacuum, and it is for this reason that the glass near the cathode seal requires to be strong. The potential right up to the cathode is strongly positive inside the tube, and this causes the glass to be exposed to a strong electric stress in the neighbourhood of the seal.
Although the GLASS-BLOWING involved in the making of a so-called focus tube is rather more difficult than in the case just described, there is no reason why such a difficulty should not be overcome; I will therefore explain how a focus tube may be made.
Fig.images/Image66.gif41.
A bulb about 3 inches in diameter is blown from a bit of tube of a little more than 1 inch diameter. Unless the walls of the tube are about one-eighth of an inch in thickness, this will involve a preliminary thickening up of the glass. This is not difficult if care be taken to avoid making the glass too hot. The larger gas jet described in connection with the soda-GLASS-BLOWING table must be employed. In blowing a bulb of this size it must not be forgotten that draughts exercise a very injurious influence by causing the glass to cool unequally; this leads to bulbs of irregular shape.
In the method of construction shown in Fig. 41, the anode is put in first. This anode simply consists of a square bit of platinum or platinum-iridium foil, measuring about 0.75 inch by 1 inch, and riveted on to a bent aluminium wire stem.
As soon as the anode is fused in, and while the glass is still hot, the side tube is put on. The whole of the anode end is then carefully annealed. When the annealing is finished the side tube is bent as shown to serve as a handle when the time comes to mount the cathode. Before placing the cathode in position, and while the main tube is still wide open, the anode is adjusted by means of a tool thrust in through this open end. This is necessary in view of the fact that the platinum foil is occasionally bent during the operation of forcing the anode into the bulb.
The cathode is a portion of a spherical surface of polished aluminium, a mode of preparing which will be given directly. The cathode having been placed inside the bulb, the wide glass tube is carefully drawn down and cut off at such a point that when the cathode is in position its centre of curvature will lie slightly in front of the anode plate. For instance, if the radius of curvature of the cathode be 1.5 inches, the centre of curvature may lie something like an eighth of an inch or less in front of the anode.
The cathode as shown in Fig. 41 is rather smaller than is advantageous. To make it much larger than is shown, however, the opening into the bulb would require to be considerably widened, and though this is not really a difficult operation, still it requires more practice than my readers are likely to have had. The difficulty is not so much in widening out the entry as in closing it down again neatly.
Now as to making the anode. A disc of aluminium is cut from a sheet which must not be too thick — one twenty-fifth of an inch is quite thick enough. This disc is bored at the centre to allow of the stem being riveted in position. The disc is then annealed in the Bunsen flame and the stem riveted on.
The curvature is best got by striking between steel dies (see Figs. 39 and 40). Two bits of tool steel are softened and turned on the lathe, one convex and the other concave. The concave die has a small hole drilled up the centre to admit the stem. The desired radius of curvature is easily attained by cutting out templates from sheet zinc and using them to gauge the turning. The two dies are slightly ground together on the lathe with emery and oil and are then polished, or rather the convex die is polished — the other one does not matter. The polishing is most easily done by using graded emery and oil and polishing with a rag. The method of grading emery will be described in the chapter on glass-grinding.
The aluminium disc is now struck between the dies by means of a hammer. If the radius of curvature is anything more than one inch and the disc not more than one inch in diameter the cathode can be struck at once from the flat as described. For very deep curves no doubt it will be better to make an intermediate pair of dies and to re-anneal the aluminium after the first striking.
When the tube is successfully prepared so far as the glassblowing goes it may be rinsed with strong pure alcohol both inside and out, and dried. The straight part of the side tube is then constricted ready for fusing off and the whole affair is placed on the vacuum pump.
In spite of the great improvements made during recent years in the construction of so-called Geissler vacuum pumps — i.e. pumps in which a Torricellian vacuum is continually reproduced — I am of opinion that Sprengel pumps are, on the whole, more convenient for exhausting Crooke's tubes. A full discussion of the subject of vacuum pumps will be found in a work by Mr. G. S. Ram (The Incandescent Lamp and its Manufacture), published by the Electrician Publishing Company, and it is not my intention to deal with the matter here; the simplest kind of Sprengel pump will be found quite adequate for our purpose, provided that it is well made.
Fig. 42 is intended to represent a modification of a pump based on the model manufactured by Hicks of Hatton Garden, and arranged to suit the amateur glass-blower. The only point of importance is the construction of the head of the fall tube, of which a separate and enlarged diagram is given. The fall tubes may have an internal diameter up to 2 mm. (two millimetres) and an effective length of 120 cm.
Free use is made of rubber tube connections in the part of the pump exposed to the passage of mercury. The rubber employed should be black and of the highest quality, having the walls strengthened by a layer of canvas. If such tube cannot be easily obtained, a very good substitute may be made by placing a bit of ordinary black tube inside another and rather larger bit and binding the outer tube with tape or ribbon. In any case the tubing which comes in contact with the mercury should be boiled in strong caustic potash or soda solution for at least ten minutes to get rid of free sulphur, which fouls the mercury directly it comes in contact with it. The tubing is well washed, rinsed with alcohol, and carefully dried.
images/Image67.gifFig. 42.
The diagram represents what is practically a system of three Sprengel pumps, though they are all fed from the same mercury reservoir and run down into the same mercury receiver. It is much easier to make three pumps, each with separate pinch cocks to regulate the mercury supply, than it is to make three jets, each delivering exactly the proper stream of mercury to three fall tubes.
Sprengel pumps only work at their highest efficiency when the mercury supply is carefully regulated to suit the peculiarities of each fall tube, and this is quite easily done in the model figured. Since on starting the pump the rubber connections have to stand a considerable pressure, the ends of the tubes must be somewhat corrugated to enable the rubber to be firmly wired on to them. The best binding wire is the purest Swedish iron wire, previously annealed in a Bunsen gas flame.
The wire must never be twisted down on the bare rubber, but must always be separated from it by a tape binding. By taking this precaution the wire maybe twisted very much more tightly than is otherwise possible without cutting the rubber.
The only difficulty in making such a pump as is described lies in the bending of the heads of the fall tubes. This bending must be done with perfect regularity and neatness, otherwise the drops of mercury will not break regularly, or will break just inside the top of the fall tube, and so obstruct its entrance that at high vacua no air can get into the tube at all.
The connections at the head of the fall tubes must also be well put on and the joints blown out so that the mercury in dropping over the head is not interfered with by the upper surface of the tube. However, a glance at the enlarged diagram will show what is to be aimed at better than any amount of description. In preparing the fall tubes it is generally necessary to join at least two "canes" together. The joint must be arranged to occur either in the tube leading the mercury to the head of the fall, or in that part of the fall tube which remains full of mercury when the highest vacuum is attained. On no account must the joint be made at the fall itself (at least not by an amateur), nor in that part of the fall tube where the mercury falls freely, particularly at its lower end, where the drops fall on the head of the column of mercury.
When a high vacuum is attained the efficacy of the pump depends chiefly on the way in which the drops fall on the head of the column. If the fall is too long the drops are apt to break up and allow the small bubble of air to escape up the tube, also any irregularity or dirt in the tube at this point makes it more easy for the bubbles of air to escape to the surface of the mercury.
Any pump in which the supply of mercury to the fall tube can be regulated nicely will pump well until the lowest available pressures are being attained; a good pump will then continue to hold the air bubbles, while a bad one will allow them to slip back[Footnote:For special methods of avoiding this difficulty see Mr. Ram's book.]…
Though three fall tubes are recommended, it must not be supposed that the pump will produce a Crooke's vacuum three times more rapidly than one fall tube. Until the mercury commences to hammer in the pump the three tubes will pump approximately three times faster than one tube, but as soon as the major portion of the air collected begins to come from the layer condensed on the glass surface of the tube to be exhausted and from the electrodes, the rate at which exhaustion will go on no longer depends entirely on the pump.
In order that bubbles of air may not slip back up the fall tube it is generally desirable to allow the mercury to fall pretty briskly, and in this case the capacity of the pump to take air is generally far in excess of the air supply. One advantage of having more than one fall tube is that it often happens that a fall tube gets soiled during the process of exhaustion and no longer works up to its best performance. Out of three fall tubes, however, one is pretty sure to be working well, and as soon as the mercury begins to hammer in the tubes the supply may be shut off from the two falls which are working least satisfactorily.
Thus we are enabled to pump rapidly till a high degree of exhaustion is attained, having practically three pumps instead of one, whereas when the final stages are reached, and three pumps are only a drawback in that they increase the mercury flow, the apparatus is capable of instant modification to meet the new conditions.
The thistle funnels at the head of the fall tubes are made simply by blowing bulbs and then blowing the heads of the bulbs into wider ones, and finally blowing the heads of the wider bulbs off by vigorous blowing. The stoppers are ground in on the lathe before the tubes are attached to the fall tubes. The stoppers require to be at least half an inch long where they fit the necks, and must be really well ground in. The stoppers must first be turned up nicely and the necks ground out by a copper or iron cone and emery. The stoppers are rotated on a lathe at quite a slow speed, say 30 or 40 feet per minute, and the necks are held against them, as described in the section dealing with this art. The stoppers must in this case be finished with "two seconds" emery, and lastly with pumice dust and water (see chapter on glass-grinding).
Unless the stoppers fit exceedingly well trouble will arise from the mercury (which is poured into the thistle heads to form a seal) being forced downwards into the pump by atmospheric pressure.
The joints between the three fall tubes and the single exhaust main are easily made when the tubes are finally mounted, the hooked nozzle of the oxygas blow-pipe being expressly made for such work.
It is, on the whole, advisable to make the pump of flint glass, or at all events the air-trap tube and the fall tubes. A brush flame from the larger gas tube of the single blowpipe table is most suitable for the work of bending the tubes. The jointing of the long, narrow bore fall tubes is best accomplished by the oxygas flame, for in this way the minimum of irregularity is produced; the blowing tubes will of course be required for the job, and the narrow tubes must be well cleaned to begin with.
The air trap is an important though simple part of the pump. Its shoulder or fall should stand rather higher than the shoulders of the fall tubes, so that the mercury may run in a thin stream through a good Torricellian vacuum before it passes down to the fall tubes. This is easily attained by regulating the main mercury supply at the pinch cock situated between the tube from the upper reservoir and the air-trap tube, the other cocks being almost wide open.
It might be thought that the mercury would tend to pick up air in passing through the rubber connections to the fall tubes, but I have not found this to be the case in practice. There is, of course, no difficulty in eliminating the rubber connections between the fall tubes and the mercury supply from the air trap, but it impresses a greater rigidity on the structure and, as I say, is not in general necessary. It must not be forgotten that the mercury always exercises considerable pressure on the rubber joints, and so there is little tendency for gas to come out of the rubber.
The thistle funnels at the head of the fall tubes provide a simple and excellent means of cleaning the fall tubes. For this purpose some "pure" sulphuric acid which has been boiled with pure ammonium sulphate is placed in each thistle funnel, and when the fall tube is dirty the connection to the mercury supply is cut off at the pinch cock so as to leave the tube between this entry and the head of the fall tube quite full of mercury, and the sulphuric acid is allowed to run down the fall tube by raising the stopper. The fall tube should be allowed to stand full of acid for an hour or so, after which it will be found to be fairly clean.
Of course the mercury reservoir thus obtains a layer of acid above the mercury, and as it is better not to run the risk of any acid getting into the pump except in the fall tubes, the reservoir is best emptied from the bottom, by a syphon, if a suitable vessel cannot be procured, so that clean mercury only is withdrawn.
The phosphorus pentoxide tube is best made as shown simply from a bit of wide tube, with two side connections fused to the rest of the pump. It is no more trouble to cut the tube and fuse it up again when the drying material is renewed than to adjust the drying tube to two fixed stoppers, which is the alternative. The practice here recommended is rendered possible only by the oxygas blow-pipe with hooked nozzle. The connection between the pump and tube to be exhausted is made simply by a short bit of rubber tube immersed in mercury.
The phosphorus pentoxide should be pure, or rather free from phosphorus and lower oxides; unless this be the case, the vapour arising from it is apt to soil the mercury in the pump. The phosphorus pentoxide is purified by distilling with oxygen over red-hot platinum black; if this cannot be done, the pentoxide should at least be strongly heated in a tube, in a current of dry air or oxygen, before it is placed in the drying tube.
The mercury used for the pump must be scrupulously clean. It does not, however, require to have been distilled in vacuo. It is sufficient to purify it by allowing it to fall in a fine spray into a large or rather tall jar of 25 per cent nitric acid and 75 per cent water. The mercury is then to be washed and dried by heating to, say, 110° C. in a porcelain dish.
Exhausting a Roentgen Tube.—
With a pump such as has been described there is seldom any advantage in fusing an extra connection to the vacuum tube so as to allow of a preliminary exhaustion by means of a water pump. About half an hour's pumping may possibly be saved by making use of a water pump.
The tube to be exhausted is washed and dried by careful heating over a Bunsen burner and by the passage of a current of air. The exhausting tube is then drawn down preparatory to sealing off, and the apparatus placed upon the pump. It is best held in position by a wooden clamp supported by a long retort stand.
Exhaustion may proceed till the mercury in the fall tubes commences to hammer. At this point the tube must be carefully heated by a Bunsen flame, the temperature being brought up to, say, 400° C. The heating may be continued intermittently till little or no effect due to the heating is discernible at the pump. When this stage is reached, or even before, the electrodes may be connected up to the coil and a discharge sent through the tube.
Care must be taken to stop the discharge as soon as a purple glow begins to appear, because when this happens, the resistance of the tube is very low, the electrodes get very hot, and may easily get damaged by a powerful discharge, and the platinum of the anode (if a focus tube is in question) begins to be distilled on to the glass. The heating and sparking are to be continued till the resistance of the tube sharply increases. This is tested by always having a spark gap, conveniently formed by the coil terminals, in parallel with the tube. If the terminals are points, it is convenient to set them at about one quarter of an inch distance apart.
As soon as sparks begin to pass between the terminals of the spark gap it becomes necessary to watch the process of exhaustion very carefully. In the first place, stop the pump, but let the coil run, and note whether the sparks continue to flow over the terminals. If the glass and electrodes are getting gas free, the discharge will continue to pass by the spark gap, but if gas is still being freely given off, then in perhaps three minutes the discharge will return to the tube, and pumping must be recommenced. The Roentgen effect only begins to appear when the tube has got to so high a state of exhaustion that the resistance increases rapidly.
By pumping and sparking, the resistance of the tube may be gradually raised till the spark would rather jump over 2 inches of air than go through the tube. When this state is attained the Roentgen effect as tested by a screen of calcium tungstate should be very brilliant. No conclusion as to the equivalent resistance of the tube can be arrived at so long as the discharge is kept going continually. When the spark would rather go over an inch of air in the spark gap than through the tube the pumping and sparking may be interrupted and the tube allowed to rest for, say, five minutes. It will generally be found that the equivalent resistance of the tube will be largely increased by this period of quiescence. It may even be found that the spark will now prefer to pass an air gap 3 inches long.
In any case the sparking should now be continued, the pump being at rest, and the variations of tube resistance watched by adjusting the spark gap. If the resistance falls below an equivalent of 2 inches of air in the gap the pump must be brought into action again and continued until the resistance as thus estimated remains fairly constant for, say, ten minutes. When this occurs the narrow neck of the exhaust tube may be strongly heated till the blow-pipe flame begins to show traces of sodium light. The flame must then be withdrawn and the discharge again tested. This is necessary because it occasionally happens that gas is given off during the heating of the neck to the neighbourhood of its fusion temperature.
If all is right the neck may now be fused entirely off and the tube is finished. Tubes of the focus pattern with large platinum anodes are in general (in my experience) much more difficult to exhaust than tubes of the kind first described. This is possibly to be attributed mainly to the gas given off by the platinum, but is also, no doubt, due to the tubes being much larger and exposing a larger glass surface. The type of tube described first generally takes about two hours to exhaust by a pump made as explained, while a "focus" tube has taken as long as nine hours, eight of which have been consumed after the tube was exhausted to the hammering point.
The pressure at which the maximum heating of the anode by the cathode rays occurs is a good deal higher than that at which the maximum Roentgen effect is produced. There is little doubt that the Roentgen radiation changes in nature to some extent as the vacuum improves either as a primary or secondary effect. It is therefore of some importance to test the tube for the purpose for which it is to be used during the actual exhaustion. It has been stated, for instance, that the relative penetrability of bone and flesh to Roentgen radiation attains a maximum difference at a certain pressure; this is very likely the case. Whether this effect is a direct function of the density of the gas in the tube, or whether it is dependent on the voltage or time integral of the current during the discharge, are questions which still await a solution.
The preparation of calcium tungstate for fluorescent screens is very simple.
Commercial sodium tungstate is fused with dried calcium chloride in the proportion of three parts of the former to two parts of the latter, both constituents being in fine powder and well mixed together. The fusion is conducted in a Fletcher's crucible furnace in a clay crucible. The temperature is raised as rapidly as possible to the highest point which the furnace will attain — i.e. a pure white heat. At this temperature the mixture of salts becomes partly fluid, or at least pasty, and the temperature may be kept at its highest point for, say, a quarter of an hour. At the end of this time the mass is poured and scraped on to a brick, and when cold is broken up and boiled with a large excess of water to dissolve out all soluble matter. The insoluble part, which consists of a gray shining powder, is washed several times with hot water, and is finally dried on filter paper in a water oven.
In order to prepare a screen the powder is ground slightly with very dilute shellac varnish, and is then floated over a glass plate so as to get an even covering. Unless the covering be very even the screen is useless, and no pains should be spared to secure evenness. It is not exactly easy to get a regular coat of the fluorescent material, but it may be done with a little care.
CHAPTER II
GLASS-GRINDING AND OPTICIANS' WORK
§ 52. As no instructions of any practical value in this art have, so far as I know, appeared in any book in English, though a great deal of valuable information has been given in theEnglish Mechanicand elsewhere, I shall deal with the matter sufficiently fully for all practical purposes. On the other hand, I do not propose to treat of all the methods which have been proposed, but only those requisite for the production of the results claimed. The student is requested to read through the chapter before commencing any particular operation.
§ 53. The simplest way will be to describe the process of manufacture of some standard optical appliance, from which a general idea of the nature of the operations will be obtained. After this preliminary account special methods may be considered in detail. I will begin with an account of the construction of an achromatic object glass for a telescope, not because a student in a physical laboratory will often require to make one, but because it illustrates the usual processes very well; and requires to be well and accurately made.
A knowledge of the ordinary principles of optics on the part of the reader is assumed, for there are plenty of books on the theory of lenses, and, in any case, it is my intention to treat of the art rather than of the science of the subject. By far the best short statement of the principles involved which I have seen is Lord Rayleigh's article on Optics in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and this is amply sufficient.
The first question that crops up is, of course, the subject of the choice of glass. It is obvious that the glass must be uniform in refractive index throughout, and that it must be free from air bubbles or bits of opaque matter.[Footnote:The complete testing of glass for uniformity of refractive index can only be arrived at by grinding and polishing a sufficient portion of the surfaces to enable an examination to be made of every part. In the case of a small disc it is sufficient to polish two or three facets on the edge, and to examine the glass in a field of uniform illumination through the windows thus formed. Very slight irregularities will cause a "mirage" easily recognised.]
The simplest procedure is to obtain glass of the desired quality from Messrs. Chance of Birmingham, according to the following abbreviated list of names and refractive indices, which may be relied upon:—
Density.
Refractive Index.
C
D
F
G
Hard crown
2.85
1.5146
1.5172
1.5232
1.5280
Soft crown
2.55
1.5119
1.5146
1.5210
1.5263
Light flint
3.21
1.5700
1.5740
1.5839
1.5922
Dense flint
3.66
1 6175
1.6224
1.6348
1.6453
Extra dense flint
3.85
1.6450
1.6504
1.6643
1.6761
Double extra dense flint
4.45
1.7036
1.7103
1.7273
...
The above glasses may be had in sheets from 0.25 to 1 inch thick, and 6 to 12 inches square, at a cost of, say, 7s. 6d. per pound.
Discs can also be obtained of any reasonable size. Discs 2 inches in diameter cost about £1 per dozen, discs 3 inches in diameter about 10s. each. The price of discs increases enormously with the size. A 16-inch disc will cost about £100.
For special purposes, where the desired quality of glass does not appear on the list, an application may be made to the Jena Factory of Herr Schott. In order to give a definite example, I may mention that for ordinary telescopic objectives good results may be obtained by combining the hard crown and dense flint of Chance's list, using the crown to form a double convex, and the flint to form a double concave lens. The convex lens is placed in the more outward position in the telescope, i.e. the light passes first through it.
The conditions to be fulfilled are:
It is impossible to discuss these matters without going into a complete optical discussion. The radii of curvature of the surfaces, beginning with the first, i.e. the external face of the convex lens, are in the ratio of 1, 2, and 3; an allowance of 15 inches focal length per inch of aperture is reasonable (see Optics in Ency. Brit.), and the focal length is the same as the greatest radius of curvature. Thus, for an object glass 2 inches in diameter, the first surface of the convex lens would have a radius of curvature of 10 inches, the surface common to the convex and concave lens would have a radius of curvature of 20 inches, and the last surface a radius of curvature of 30 inches. This would also be about the focal length of the finished lens. The surfaces in contact have, of course, a common curvature, and need not be cemented together unless a slight loss of light is inadmissible.
I will assume that a lens of about 2 inches diameter is to be made by hand, i.e. without the help of a special grinding or polishing machine; this can be accomplished perfectly well, so long as the diameter of the glass is not above about 6 inches, after which the labour is rather too severe. The two glass discs having been obtained from the makers, it will be found that they are slightly larger in diameter than the quoted size, something having been left for the waste of working.
It is difficult to deal with the processes of lens manufacture without entering at every stage into rather tedious details, and, what is worse, without interrupting the main account for the purpose of describing subsidiary instruments or processes. In order that the reader may have some guide in threading the maze, it is necessary that he should commence with a clear idea of the broad principles of construction which are to be carried out. For this purpose it seems desirable to begin by roughly indicating the various steps which are to be taken.
(1) The glass is to be made circular in form and of a given diameter.
(2)Called Rough Grinding. — The surfaces of the glass are to be made roughly convex, plane, or concave, as may be required; the glass is to be equally thick all round the edge. In this process the glass is abraded by the use of sand or emery rubbed over it by properly shaped pieces of iron or lead called "tools."
(3) The glass is ground with emery to the correct spherical figure as given by a spherometer.
(4)Called Fine Grinding. — The state of the surface is gradually improved by grinding with finer and finer grades of emery.
(5) The glass is polished by rouge.
(6) The glass is "figured." This means that it is gradually altered in form by a polishing tool till it gives the best results as found by trial.
In processes 2 to 5 counterpart tool surfaces are required — as a rule two convex and two concave surfaces for each lens surface. These subsidiary surfaces are worked (i.e. ground) on discs of cast iron faced with glass, or on slate discs; and discs thus prepared are called "tools."
Taking these processes in the order named, the mode of manufacture is shortly as follows:—
(1) The disc of glass, obtained in a roughly circular form, is mounted on an ordinary lathe, being conveniently cemented by Regnault's mastic to a small face plate. The lathe is rotated slowly, and the glass is gradually turned down to a circular figure by means (1) of a tool with a diamond point; or (2) an ordinary hand-file moistened with kerosene, as described in § 42; or (3) a mass of brass or iron served with a mixture of emery — or sand — and water fed on to the disc, so that the disc is gradually ground circular.
The operation of making a circular disc of given diameter does not differ in any important particular from the similar operation in the case of brass or iron, and is in fact merely a matter of turning at a slow speed.
(2 and 3) Roughing or bringing the surfaces of the glass roughly to the proper convex or concave shape. — This is accomplished by grinding, generally with sand in large works, or with emery in the laboratory, where the time saved is of more importance than the value of the emery.
Discs of iron or brass are cast and turned so as to have a diameter slightly less than that of the glass to be ground, and are, say, half an inch thick. These discs are turned convex or concave on one face according as they are to be employed in the production of concave or convex glass surfaces. The proper degree of convexity or concavity may be approximated to by turning with ordinary turning tools, using a circular arc cut from zinc or glass (as will be described) as a "template" or pattern. This also is a mere matter of turning.
The first approximation to the desired convex or concave surface of the glass is attained (in the case of small lenses, say up to three inches diameter) by rotating the glass on the lathe as described above (for the purpose of giving it a circular edge) and holding the tool against the rotating glass, a plentiful supply of coarse emery and water, or sand and water, being supplied between the glass and metal surfaces. The tool is held by hand against the surface of the revolving glass, and is constantly moved about, both round its own axis of figure and to and fro across the glass surface. In this way the glass gradually gets convex or concave.
The curvature is tested from time to time by a spherometer, and the tool is increased or decreased in curvature by turning it on a lathe so as to cause it to grind the glass more at the edges or in the middle according to the indications of the spherometer.
This instrument, by the way — so important for lens makers — consists essentially of a kind of three-legged stool, with an additional leg placed at the centre of the circle circumscribing the other three. This central leg is in reality a fine screw with a very large head graduated on the edge, so that it is easy to compute the fractions of a turn given to the screw. The instrument is first placed on a flat plate, and the central screw turned till its end just touches the plate, a state of affairs which is very sharply discernible by the slight rocking which it enables the instrument to undergo when pushed by the hand. See the sketch.
On a convex or concave surface the screw has to be screwed in or out, and from the amount of screwing necessary to bring all four points into equal contact, the curvature may be ascertained.
Let a be the distance between the equidistant feet, and d the distance through which the screw is protruded or retracted from its zero position on a flat surface. Then the radius of curvatureρis given by the formula 2ρ= a2/3d +d.
Fig.images/Image86.gif43.
The process of roughing is not always carried out exactly as described, and will be referred to again.
(4) The glass being approximately of the proper radius of curvature on one side, it is reversed on the chuck and the same process gone through on the other side. After this the glass is usually dismounted from the lathe and mounted by cement on a pedestal, which is merely a wooden stand with a heavy foot, so that the glass may be held conveniently for the workman. Sometimes a pedestal about four feet high is fixed in the floor of the room, so that the workman engaged in grinding the lens may walk round and round it to secure uniformity. For ordinary purposes, however, a short pedestal may be placed on a table and rotated from time to time by hand, the operator sitting down to his work.
Rough iron or brass tools do not succeed for fine grinding — i.e. grinding with fine emery, because particles of emery become embedded in the metal so tightly that they cannot be got out by any ordinary cleaning. If we have been using emery passing say a sieve with 60 threads to the inch, and then go on to some passing say 100 threads to the inch, a few of the coarser particles will adhere to the "tool", and go on cutting and scratching all the time grinding by means of the finer emery is in progress.
To get over this it is usual to use a rather different kind of grinding tool. A very good kind is made by cementing small squares of glass (say up to half an inch on the side), on to a disc of slate slightly smaller than the lens surface to be formed (Fig. 51). The glass-slate tool is then "roughed" just like the lens surface, but, of course, if the lens has been roughed "convex" the tool must be roughed "concave".
The "roughed" tool is then used to gradually improve the fineness of grinding of the glass. For this purpose grinding by hand is resorted to, the tool and lens being supplied continually with finer and finer emery. Fig. 52 gives an idea of the way in which the tool is moved across the glass surface. Very little pressure is required. The tool is carried in small circular sweeps round and round the lens, so that the centre of the tool describes a many-looped curve on the lens surface. The tool must be allowed to rotate about its own axis; and the lens and pedestal must also be rotated from time to time.
Every few minutes the circular strokes are interrupted, and simple, straight, transverse strokes taken. In no case (except to correct a, defect, as will be explained) should the tool overhang the lens surface by more than about one quarter the diameter of the latter. After grinding say for an hour with one size of emery fed in by means of a clean stick say every five minutes, the emery is washed off, and everything carefully cleaned. The process is then repeated with finer emery, and so on.
The different grades of emery are prepared by taking advantage of the fact that the smaller the particles the longer do they remain suspended in water. Some emery mud from a "roughing" operation is stirred up with plenty of water and left a few seconds to settle, the liquor is then decanted to a second jug and left say for double the time, say ten seconds; it is decanted again, and so on till four or five grades of emery have been accumulated, each jug containing finer emery than its predecessor in the process.
It is not much use using emery which takes more than half an hour to settle in an ordinary bedroom jug. What remains in the liquid to be decanted is mostly glass mud and not emery at all. The process of fine grinding is continually checked by the spherometer, and the art consists in knowing how to move the grinding tool so as to make the lens surface more or less curved. In general it may be said that if the tool is moved in small sweeps, and not allowed to overhang much, the Centre of the lens will be more abraded, while if bold free strokes are taken with much overhanging, the edges of the lens will be more ground away.
By the exercise of patience and perseverance any one will succeed in gradually fine grinding the lens surface and keeping it to the spherometer, but the skill comes in doing this rapidly by varying the shape of the strokes before any appreciable alteration of curvature has come about.
Polishing. —
The most simple way of polishing is to coat the grinding tool with paper, as will be described, and then to brush some rouge into the paper. The polisher is moved over the work in much the same way as the fine grinding tool, until the glass is polished. Many operators prefer to use a tool made by squeezing a disc of slate, armed with squares of warm pitch, against the lens surface (finely ground), and then covering these squares with rouge and water instead of emery and water as in the fine grinding process.
The final process is called "figuring." It will in general be unnecessary with a small lens. With large lenses or mirrors the final touches have to be given after the optical behaviour of the lens or mirror has been tested with the telescope itself, and this process is called "figuring." A book might easily be written on the optical indications of various imperfections in a mirror or lens. Suffice it to say here that a sufficiently skilled person will be able to decide from an observation of the behaviour of a telescope whether a lens will be improved by altering the curvature of one or all of the surfaces.
A very small alteration will make a large difference in the optical properties, so that in general "figuring" is done merely by using the rouge polishing tool as an abrading tool, and causing it to alter the curves in the manner already suggested for grinding. There are other methods based on knocking squares out of the pitch-polisher so that some parts of the glass may be more abraded than others.
The "figuring" and polishing may be done by hand just like the grinding. There are machines, however, which can be made to execute the proper motions, and a polisher is set in such a machine, and the mechanical work done is by no means inconsiderable. In fact for surfaces above six inches in diameter few people are strong enough to work a polisher by hand owing to the intense adhesion between it and the exactly fitting glass surface.
Such is a general outline of the processes required to produce a lens or mirror. These processes will now be dealt with in much greater detail, and a certain amount of repetition of the above will unfortunately be necessary: the reader is asked to pardon this. It will also be advisable for the reader to begin by reading the whole account before he commences any particular operation. The reason for this is that it has been desirable to keep to the main account as far as possible without inserting special instructions for subsidiary operations, however important they may be; consequently it may not always be quite clear how the steps described are to be performed. It will be found, however, that all necessary information is really given, though perhaps not always exactly in the place the reader might at first expect.
§ 54. All the discs that I have seen, come from the makers already roughly ground on the edges to a circular figure--but occasionally the figure is very rough indeed — and in some cases, especially if small lenses have to be made, it is convenient to begin by cutting the glass discs out of glass sheet, which also may be purchased of suit-able glass. To do this, the simplest way is to begin by cutting squares and then cutting off the corners with the diamond, the approximate circular figure being obtained by grinding the edges on an ordinary grindstone.
If the pieces are larger, time and material may be saved by using a diamond compass, i.e. an ordinary drawing compass armed with a diamond to cut circles on the glass, and breaking the superfluous glass away by means of a pair of spectacle-maker's shanks (Fig. 44), or what does equally well, a pair of pliers with soft iron jaws. With these instruments glass can be chipped gradually up to any line, whether diamond-cut or not, the jaws of the pincers being worked against the edge of the glass, so as to gradually crush it away.
Fig.images/Image87.gif44.
Assuming that the glass has been bought or made roughly circular, it must be finished on the lathe. For this purpose it is necessary to chuck it on an iron or hardwood chuck, as shown in Fig. 46. For a lens below say an inch in diameter, the centering cement may be used; but for a lens of a diameter greater than this, sufficient adhesion is easily obtained with Regnault's mastic, and its low melting point gives it a decided advantage over the shellac composition.
The glass may be heated gradually by placing it on the water bath, or actually in the water, and gradually bringing the water up to the boiling-point. The glass, being taken out, is rapidly wiped, and rubbed with a bit of waste moistened, not wet, with a little turpentine: its surface is then rubbed with a stick of mastic previously warmed so as to melt easily. The surface of the chuck being also warm, and covered with a layer of melted cement, it is applied to the glass. The lathe is turned slowly by hand, and the glass pushed gradually into the most central position; it is then pressed tight against the chuck by the back rest, a bit of wood being interposed for obvious reasons.
When all is cold the turning may be proceeded with. The quickest way is to use the method already described (i.e. actual turning by a file tool); but if the student prefers (time being no object), he may accomplish the reduction to a circular form very easily by grinding.
images/Image88.gifFig. 45.
images/Image89.gifFig. 46.
For this purpose he will require to make the following arrangements (Fig. 45). If the lathe has a slide rest, a piece of stout iron may be bent and cut so as to fit the tool rest, and project beneath the glass. The iron must be fairly rigid, for if it springs appreciably beneath the pressure of the glass, it will not grind the latter really round. The lathe may run rather faster than for turning cast iron of the same size. Coarse emery, passing through a sieve of 80 threads to the inch (run), may be fed in between the glass and iron, and the latter screwed up till the disc just grinds slightly as it goes round.
A beginner will generally (in this as in all cases of grinding processes) tend to feed too fast — no grinding process can be hurried. If a slide rest is not available, a hinged board, carrying a bit of iron, may (see Fig. 45) be arranged so as to turn about its hinge at the back of the lathe; and it may be screwed up readily enough by passing a long set-screw through the front edge, so that the point of the screw bears upon the lathe bed. I may add that emery behaves as if it were greasy, and it is difficult to wet it with clean water. This is easily got over by adding a little soap or alcohol to the water, or exercising a little patience.
A good supply of emery and water should be kept between the disc and the iron; a little putty may be arranged round the point of contact on the iron to form a temporary trough. In any case the resulting emery mud should on no account be thrown away, but should be carefully kept for further use. The process is complete when the glass is perfectly round and of the required diameter as tested by callipers.
§ 55. The next step is to rough out the lens, and this may easily be done by rotating it more slowly, i.e. with a surface speed of ten feet per minute, and turning the glass with a hard file, as explained in § 42. If it is desired to employ the slide rest, it is quicker and better to use a diamond tool — an instrument quite readily made, and of great service for turning emery wheels and the like, — a thing, in fact, which no workshop should be without. A bit of diamond bort, or even a clear though off-colour stone, may be employed.
An ordinary lathe tool is prepared by drawing down the tool steel to a long cone, resembling the ordinary practice in preparing a boring tool. The apex of the cone must be cut off till it is only slightly larger than the greatest transverse diameter of the diamond splinter. The latter may have almost any shape — a triangular point, one side of a three-sided prism is very convenient. A hole is drilled in the steel (which must have been well softened), only just large enough to allow the diamond to enter — if the splinter is thicker in the middle than at either end, so much the better — the diamond is fastened in position by squeezing the soft steel walls tightly down upon it. Personally I prefer to use a tool holder, and in this case generally mount the diamond in a bit of brass rod of the proper diameter; and instead of pinching in the sides of the cavity, I tin them, and set the diamond in position with a drop of soft solder.
images/Image90.gifFig. 47.
In purchasing diamond bort, a good plan is to buy fragments that have been employed in diamond drilling, and have become too small to reset; in this case some idea as to the hardness of the bits may be obtained. Full details as to diamond tool-making are given in books on watch-making, and in Holtzapffell's great work on Mechanical Manipulation; but the above notes are all that are really necessary — it is, in fact, a very simple matter. The only advantage of using a diamond tool for glass turning is that one does not need to be always taking it out of the rest to sharpen it, which generally happens with hard steel, especially if the work is turned a little too fast.
I recommend, therefore, that the student should boldly go to work "free hand" with a hard file; but if he prefer the more formal method, or distrust his skill (which he should not do), then let him use a diamond point, even if he has the trouble of making it. When using a diamond it is not necessary to employ a lubricant, but there is some advantage in doing so.
The surface of the lens can be roughly shaped by turning to a template or pattern made by cutting a circular arc (of the same radius as the required surface) out of a bit of sheet zinc. Another very handy way of making templates of great accuracy is to use a beam compass (constructed from a light wooden bar) with a glazier's diamond instead of a pencil. A bit of thin sheet glass is cut across with this compass to the proper curvature--which can be done with considerable accuracy and the two halves of the plate, after breaking along the cut, are ground together with a view to avoiding slight local irregularities, by means of a little fine emery and water laid between the edges. In this process the glass is conveniently supported on a clean board or slate, and the bits are rubbed backwards and forwards against each other.
§ 56. It is not very easy for a beginner to turn a bit of anything — iron, wood, or glass - with great accuracy to fit a template, and consequently time may be saved by the following procedure, applied as soon as the figure of the template is roughly obtained. A disc of lead or iron, of the same diameter as the glass, and of approximately the proper curvature, is prepared by turning, and is armed with a handle projecting coaxially from the back of the disc. The glass revolving with moderate speed on the lathe, the lead tool, supplied with coarse emery and water, is held against it, care being taken to rotate the tool by the handle, and also to move it backwards and forwards across the disc, through a distance, say, up to half an inch; if it is allowed to overhang too much the edges of the glass disc will be overground. By the use of such a tool the glass can readily be brought up to the template.
The only thing that remains, so far as the description of this part of the process goes, is to give a note or two as to the best way of making the lead tools, and for this purpose the main narrative of processes must be interrupted. The easiest way is to make a set of discs to begin with. For this purpose take the mandrel out of the lathe, and place it nose downwards in the centre of an iron ring of proper diameter on a flat and level iron plate.
The discs are made by pouring lead round the screw-nose of the mandrel. This method, of course, leaves them with a hole in the centre; but this can be stopped up by placing the hot disc (from which the mandrel has been unscrewed) on a hot plate, and pouring in a sufficiency of very hot lead; or, better still, the mandrel can be supported vertically at any desired distance above the plate while the casting is being poured. Lead discs prepared in this way are easily turned so as to form very convenient chucks for brass work, and for use in the case now being treated, they are easily turned to a template, using woodturners' tools, which work better if oiled, and must be set to cut, not scrape.
If the operator does not mind the trouble of cutting a screw, or if he has a jaw chuck, the lead may be replaced by iron with some advantage.
The following is a neat way of making concave tools. It is an application of the principle of having the cutting tool as long as the radius of curvature, and allowing it to move about the centre of curvature. Place the disc of iron or lead on the lathe mandrel or in the chuck, and set the slide rest so that it is free to slide up or down the lathe bed. Take a bar of tool steel and cut it a little longer than the radius of curvature required. Forge and finish one end of the bar into a pointed turning tool of the ordinary kind. Measure the radius of curvature from the point of the tool along the bar, and bore a hole, whose centre is at this point, through the bar from the upper to the lower face. I regard the upper face as the one whose horizontal plane contains the cutting point when the tool is in use. Clamp a temporary back centre to the lathe bed, and let it carry a pin in the vertical plane through the lathe centres, and let this pin exactly fit the hole in the bar.
images/Image91.gifFig. 48.
Place the "radius" tool in position for cutting, and let it be lightly held in the slide rest nearly at the cutting point, the centre of rotation of the pedestal (or its equivalent) passing through the central line of the bar. Then adjust the temporary back rest, so that the tool will take a cut. In the sketch the tool is shown swinging about the back centre instead of about a pin — there is little to choose between the methods unless economy of tool steel is an object. The tool must now be fed across the work. The pedestal must of course be free to rotate, and the slide rest to slip up and down the bed. In this way a better concave grinding tool can be made than would be made by a beginner by turning to a template — though an expert turner would probably carry out the latter operation so as to obtain an' accuracy of the same order, and would certainly do it in much less time than would be required in setting up the special arrangements here described.
On the other hand, if several surfaces have to be prepared, as in the making of an achromatic lens, the quickest way would be by the use of the radius tool, bored of course to work at the several radii required. I have tried both methods, and my choice would depend partly on the lathe at my disposal, and partly on the number of grinding tools that had to be prepared.
Having obtained a concave tool of any given radius, it is easily copied — negatively, so as to make a convex tool in the following manner. Adjust the concave tool already made on the back rest, so that if it rotated about the line of centres, it would rotate about its axis of figure.
Arrangements for this can easily be made, but of course they will depend on the detailed structure of the lathe. Use the slide rest as before, i.e. let it grasp an ordinary turning tool lightly, the pedestal being fixed, but the rest free to slide up or down the lathe bed. Push the back rest up till the butt of the turning tool (ground to a rounded point) rests against the concave grinding tool. If the diameter of the convex tool required be very small compared with the radius of curvature of the surface (the most usual case), it is only necessary to feed the cutting tool across to "copy" the concave surface sufficiently nearly.
Fig.images/Image92.gif49.
There seems no reason, however, why these methods should not be applied at once to the glass disc by means of a diamond point, and the rough grinding thus entirely avoided. I am informed that this has been done by Sir Henry Bessemer, but that the method was found to present no great advantage in practice. A reader with a taste for mechanical experimenting might try radius bar tools with small carborundum wheels rapidly driven instead of a diamond.
Enough has now been said to enable any one to prepare rough convex or concave grinding tools of iron or lead, and of the same diameter as the glass to be ground.
The general effect of the process of roughing the rotating lens surface is to alter the radius of curvature of both tool and glass; hence it is necessary to have for each grinding tool another to fit it, and enable it to be kept (by working the two together) at a constant figure. After a little practice it will be found possible to bring the glass exactly up to the required curvature as tested by template or spherometer. The art of the process consists in altering the shape of the grinding tool so as to take off the glass where required, as described in § 53, and from this point of view lead has some advantages; (opinions vary as to the relative advantages of lead and iron tools for this purpose, however). The subsidiary grinding tool is not actually needed for this preliminary operation, but it has to be made some time with a view to further procedure, and occasionally is of service here.