Irradiating a solid with short‐range particle often induces a net volume change in the range zone which results in a shallow layer of stressed material. Micron‐depth volume dilatations in the part‐per‐million range can be studied using cantilever mounting of a long, thin, metallized specimen, whose stress‐induced bending perturbs the capacitance between the cantilever and a small counterelectrode mounted close to the unirradiated face. This approach has been used successfully by many workers for more than 20 yrs. Elsewhere we have reported the construction of a highly sensitive caltilever/capacitor apparatus and its application in the first accurate measurements of ionization dilatation phenomena in fused silica and grown SiO2at low‐electron energies. In this paper we outline key details of apparatus design and experimental technique for successful cantilever/capacitor work. Many contrasts with the work of Primak and Monahan [Rev. Sci. Instrum.54, 544 (1983) (preceding paper)] are pointed out. We also highlight previous short‐term annealing results which make it clear that the compaction of silica will appear to be significantly less in optical measurements made hours after irradiation than in our cantilever/capacitor measurements made minutes after irradiation.