D IFFUSER S TATUS : MICO M EETING, 16 TH N OV V. Blackmore
T ESTING Brass irises opened/closed ~10k times without trouble. But tungsten... 2/5
T UNGSTEN P ETALS Complicated shape. Tungsten is hard and brittle. One thin tungsten petal broke at its weakest point after 8k actuations. Breaks easily. * * These are actually stainless steel, but the shape is still the same! 3/5
T HE S OLUTION : Brass is easy to machine and has proven it works. Do the fiddly bits in brass, not tungsten. Eliminates a weak point where the tungsten can break. Fasten tungsten to brass “backing plate”. So far so good. Ordered more (machinable!) tungsten Existing tungsten petal retrofitted onto a 2mm brass backing plate. 4/5
S TATUS 6/5