/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>1033199

>>1033199

>>1033199
OK. So after a tiny bit more investigation it turns out that you can very well use quartz tubing for neon signs, it's just that people more often use soda lime or pyrex (borosilicate) glass tubes because of the lower melting point. Basically you don't need to have an oxy-natural gas or acetelyne torch to work it.

But the good news is that I have a lot of quartz tubes. And i have a oxy nat gas crossfire burner. Not to mention a shitload of Argon. So I think now I will just look into buying some electrodes for the ends? Can't be that hard to fucking bend some hot glass, eh?

I'll let you know how bad it fucks up

>>1033199
i always wanted to try making neon signs, and also glassblowing in general. But here Neon, Krypton and other gasses are expensive as fuck.
Also those skills require a lot of practice.

It takes years to get the skill right. Good luck!

>>1033199
Oi m8 whatchu doing with quartz tubes? You do scientific glasswork?

Neon tubemaking sounds fun, good luck op

>>1033199
ok i have a neon beer sign and some of the glass tubing is broke. How can I fix it ? I'm good with just removing some tubing and cutting it short or whatever. Anyone ever fixed one?

>>1033364
>good man, saved me (some) typing.

further to above anon - could I use something other than glass (eg Heatshrink/whatever), just to fill a small bust section - and, /diy/ guide to refilling, for idiots? ta.

>>1033374
>patch glass with heatshrink
no.

>>1033364
>cutting it short
not really.

"repair" of neon usually means replacing entire segments of tube, from electrode to electrode. Old glass tubes that have already been damaged are not something to put the effort into repairing unless absolutely required because you will be chasing flaws through the whole thing.

Check your local area for a studio that does classes/labs for neon tubing. Taking a class might be more help than Youtube vids and you have a better chance of getting help/borrowed tools/supplies for your small project.

>>1033357
yaya I do some glasswork, mainly just sealing reactives and eaters though. We use argon cuz it's cheapish

>>1033364
In my limited experience with pressurized glassware, the glass is like a chain: only as strong as it's weakest link or section. So even if you successfully "patch" a section that's blown, the tube has already lost most of it's strength and cracks will just propagate through the rest of the tube from that one crack.

Also you'd have to get a perfect seal which'd mean you dripping a hot piece of molten glass over the break and it'd probably just either refuse to seal or fall in. Anyway you do it, it will look like dadgum bird shit.

>>1033282
Ayy baybee! I just bent this tube a few minutes ago. Still warm at the joints.

The first bend was great, no problem getting it hot and turning it gently. Second bend I decided to try tighter, and it was going OK but as I continued to bend it, the tube started to get very narrow and sorta flatten out.

pic of the tube, 12mm bout 8 inches long

>>1033559
and heres tje tube after I evacuated it and held a coil up to it. looks pretty promising.

>>1033562
I wont post the argon backfill (I did 20in Hg) because it basically just a paler harder to see version of the vacuum filled. what I noticed is that as I added teeny amounts of argon to the tube, the flouresence really went down but there was a very brief flash of light blue as the argon entered.

I think that the sparks are brightest in vacuum because as I add argon gas the argon molecules absorb some of the electric spark, but there isn't enough voltage or emf to get them to excite and they basically just suck up all the electrons like a slut at the whorehouse on nickel night

Bigger coil... or microwave transformer? I think I need at least 3000 Volts

more sign porn.

I dont even want to think about making all those bends.

Just be careful with that transformer op. My buddy came accross a 110v 50,000 watt. You can touch it on an egg and it glows like a light bulb. We cooked and ate a lot of hot dogs with it. Lol. Then i set the leads on a metal table like an idiot. Dont die op.

>>1033199

Hey op, I'm a light enthusiast/autist. I've done some research into it and it seems that there is specialized equipment that is very expensive and cumbersome when it comes to neon/argon sign making. Not to let that deter you, but if you want a good quality neon sign you're going to need to get some very expensive equipment.

If you want some cheaper alternatives there's side emitting fiber optic, and EL wire. Those are cheap, and much easier to work with. They're not as bright as neon and can't be seen in direct sunlight, but at night they are very bright. Just thought I would throw in my $.02

>>1033684
I've seen 'em and to be honest they just don't really do it for me. Maybe it's the feeling that any fucker with a staple gun and hotglue could wire up an EL wire, or maybe it's just that I've only seen meh tier EL wire and led lights.

Also for the first part money really isn't an issue for me because I have access to almost all of the equipment you need for it sans electrodes, transformer, and the tubes. And I have a really good electrical eng friend who I'm willing to bet can help me figure out the transformer. And the electrodes n tubes you can buy online.

>>1033684
that looks like shit, man

>>1033740

You realize you also need a really high voltage transformer to purge the tubes of contaminants right? Watch a video of someone making some neon, it's not an easy process.

>>1033757

>that looks like shit

So where is yours that's better? To me it looks like a normal neon sign. Are you just like every other /diy/er who just criticizes but never makes anything?

>>1033780
done that amigo, the transformer isnt really a big deal rn. Also couldnt I just pull a really high vacuum on it for like a few hours to remove contaminants??

also u sound like u got a high voltage transformer stuck up your ass buddy, dont take yourself so seriously, yeah?

>>1033783

https://youtu.be/XAQ-pktuOuU?t=8m55s

You got this high transformer? Also, no you can't just vacuum it. Watch the video to see what I'm talking about.

>>1033783

Oh, I forgot to mention but with some special neon tubing coating you apparently don't have to do the high voltage cleanout.

this guy[0] hand-makes vacuum tubes/light bulbs--should be a similar process (difference lies in what gas you fill it with)

even better, i looked at his site--he has a helium discharge tube, too[1]

0 - http://simplifier.neocities.org/
1 - http://simplifier.neocities.org/discharge.html

>>1033796
so I see that he leaves the transformer on for awhile to let all the water vapor and gases and other shit evaporate. I do a similar process by preheating the tubes to be melted in a 1000C oven for ya'know a couple of minutes usually 15-20. All the shit gets evaporated off and then I take the hot tube right to the vacuum. So there's probably not too much crap in there.

What's the transformer do in this case other than evaporate the shit in the tube?

>>1033900

That may work I'm not 100% sure. The transformer's only job that I'm aware of is getting rid of contaminants. Like I said though if you stick with strictly neon there are coated tubes where you can skip this step I do believe.

>>1033985

http://brillite.com/resources/tubing_info.php

Here. From what I have read the phosphor coating not only changes the color but prevents contaminants from adhering to the inside of the glass.

>>1033992
Hmm O.K. well I think I'll stick with quartz and argon for now. Might see if I can get some Neon next week

>>1034012

Also, with argon you will probably have to use a little bit of liquid mercury to get proper excitation depending on the length of the tube. Just throwing that out there.