Heating Box

The next project that I worked on was a box; however this box was special in the fact that it needed to hold and heat a radioactive source while also holding thermocouples to analyze the properties of the source. This box was made out of a 7″ x 7″ x 2.5″ block of aluminum, the insides of which were taken out so that the source could sit in the pocket and be heated. The lid of this box was placed on a ridge in which an o-ring was held. It was sealed and secured to the box by several screws. The entire box was then placed on a hot plate and attached to the upright rod using a small block with a thumbscrew that could be tightened down to the rod. This box, while appearing to be simple, required several machines and tools in order to remove large amounts of material, drill varying sizes of holes, and tap the holes for screws. This project allowed me to understand that while the end goal may be a known factor, there are many paths to get there and none of them should be discounted.