On 10 Mar 2004 20:40:18 -0800, (Andres) wrote:

I'm trying to rebuild a thermal evaporator. We need a power supply to
heat the boats (only precious metals and aluminum). I've seen very
high prices for power supplies at some vendors, and I read that a
VARIAC can be a good, and cheap choice. Now, what is a variac? Can it
be used to evaporate gold, silver, aluminum? Can I have a variac to
control 3 boats? Not at the same time but one after the other? Any
help is appreciated.

A confused undergrad
A variac is nothing more or less than a variable autotransformer. I
leave it up to you to determine appplicability.