Building A Silicon Analysis Toolkit
summary
Makes fuming nitric acid from KNO3 + H2SO4 using a home distillation flask, condenser and aquarium pump, then stores it in a dual-container system with sodium bicarbonate and a Viton gasket; uses focused decap methods — taped masks, punched Viton gaskets and a milled brass holder with PVC cups — to cut neat openings in minutes rather than spray-and-pray. Images with a top‑down metallurgical scope (20x, 18MP), a DIY delta stage controlled by an ESP32/FluidNC and Pi‑Microscope, 13‑stack focus and a 27×25 tile scan (~8,000 photos → ~675 stitched). Viton O-ring PVC cup jig
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chapters (11)
- 0:00Introduction to decapping
- 2:30Safety and acid production
- 5:58Distillation setup
- 9:26Storing nitric acid
- 11:54Decapping techniques
- 17:12Custom decapping tools
- 20:27Repeatable decapping
- 23:00Microscopy setup
- 25:04Automated stage design
- 28:10Imaging and focus stacking
- 30:40Stitching and results
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