Glass and metal absorb air into the outer few layers of molecules. This absorbed air is at atmospheric pressure and will bleed out of the surface over time. (weeks) This will add air to the gas mixture. The getter reacts with air thus removing it. The getter doesn't react with the noble gasses like neon, argon, and helium, which are the gasses used in the nixie tube. Just flushing the tube will not remove water vapor or gasses absorbed in the glass so the getter is necessary.
The getter is an alloy of barium, strontium, calcium, magnesium, and aluminum. It is extremely reactive and will literally smoke if exposed to atmospheric air.
Hello! Everyone thinks I'm a crazy scientist! Oh well, I have a LOT of fun! I have two beautiful cats, one found me and the other I rescued from the pound when she was about to be put to sleep!
This guys made me laugh, hes funny while listening to him, Great educational video, NO videos from the old days to learn from, the failure in the process gives you an idea how serious those old tubes the way made, they can consume a lot of time to make them with a lot of physics and skills involved, we just have them in our hands play them and enjoy the the way they perform electronically, modern chip and transistor replaced these tubes but no fun, they are just a solid objects, I have a lot of appreciation for the old electronics components and thanks to the first electronic fathers who started the electronic world and to those workers who build them, and thanks for your efforts in your video explaining how hard to make these tubes, Nixies are just fun to play with....
It would be a possibility but would take some research to develop a workable scheme. The mica is quite hard to form without using a punch that is machined to be an exact pattern of what you need. I haven't figured out yet how to do the forming of the mica in an amateur shop. It shatters and splits when knives or scissors are used.
Thank you very much for posting all of these videos. The knowledge, techniques and experience you offer in each of these is so valuable and difficult to find, that I've been trying to carefully save them on my computer so they're not left solely to the unpredictability of the Internet and TH-cam's future policies. The engineering solutions are definitely first rate.
Wow...never heard of one...how interesting is THIS. Im reslly glad you did this. I also learned today just why nails were so presious this morning too. Had no idea just finding the right type of metals was so hard...not just thst a large nsil would take about 70 blows by a blacksmith to shape...thst alone would deter me.
Hello! Things like varnish and epoxy are ok for a temporary fix but they will leak over a few days. The only permanent seal is to use the glass itself. ron
Yes! Another try at the epoxy joint, this time using all soft glass. Then if that doesn't work, make a whole tube from scratch using all pyrex. I really think the epoxy should work. It has a total bond to glass so that is one reason the glass frit pulled apart instead of the epoxy pulling away from the glass.
I've long had an interest in making, not nixie tubes, but simple glow tubes, with a wire bent into a name or shape that glows. Can you post any information you've learned through subsequent tests pertinent simply to what type of wire I have to use to get a glow, assuming I evacuate and backfill with neon, and about how much pressure I need with the neon? I'd be using modified neon sign electrodes (cut off the base of the glass tube, cut off the metal shell, then weld my decorative wire to that and assemble like a neon tube).
I really hope youll make a working nixie eventually. I know that there is a problem with the wires going through glass, i once bought a few leaked nixies that had tiny cracks around the pins. I think that the problem there was that somebody tried to push them into a socket that was just a tiny bit bigger, therefore cracking the glass.
using PCBs on top and bottom of the numbers for spacing, combined with using etched numbers, making the internals would be pretty easy. The hardest part would be the frit (though the electronics part can be handled by the PCB, so just the seal part would be difficult).
Good idea! That was my first attempt at a nixie so I am totally green on it. The way I'm doing it in this video is totally not practical. There has to be some way to mechanically hold the numerals so they can't touch.
Heck, you could use a circle PCB with traces from the outside circular holes to the line of holes inside. You'd just solder the numbers to the pcb, then solder the PCB right to the pins in the frit. Not to bad at all.
What about using sodium silicate (liquid glass) to seal it instead of epoxy? From what I understand when sodium silicate is exposed to carbon dioxide it hardens and becomes solid glass. It is not borosilicate glass and so I have no idea if it’s final state would be strong enough to withstand the vacuum. I understand Nixie tubes do not have a vacuum but are filled with specific Nobel gasses and a vacuum only need to be pulled during the filling process. So the Sodium Silicate would not need to be able to resist the vacuum for a very long time since once it’s filled it would be at normal atmospheric pressure. I could be totally off base here but it sounds good on paper.
Good intentions but a lot of problems! The nixie is always under vacuum, not high vacuum like a TV tube but still FAR below atmospheric pressure. (actually, about the same pressure as the atmosphere on Mars!) The problem with the silicate is it doesn't bond to glass with a vacuum tight seal.
This was a test to see if epoxy would work. It is an industrial epoxy used for vacuum sealing. It was no good for long term use. The tube lasted about a month before signs of air developed.
Couldn't you have sealed the crack with varnish or something similar? It seems like such a shame to just throw it away after all this work. But great work anyway!
Actually pyrex, it is a high temperature glass that has a particularly low coefficient of heat expansion. It has very low tendency to crack when cooling like soft glass has.
@@glasslinger When I was working with high vacuum. There was a 2 part epoxy that works very good for metal to other seals, just can't remember the name of it. Dunnway might have been where I bought it, but can't remember.
Glass and metal absorb air into the outer few layers of molecules. This absorbed air is at atmospheric pressure and will bleed out of the surface over time. (weeks) This will add air to the gas mixture. The getter reacts with air thus removing it. The getter doesn't react with the noble gasses like neon, argon, and helium, which are the gasses used in the nixie tube. Just flushing the tube will not remove water vapor or gasses absorbed in the glass so the getter is necessary.
I've come back often to check whats the latest on this experiment. Even seven years after!
Wonderful 👌👌👌
The getter is an alloy of barium, strontium, calcium, magnesium, and aluminum. It is extremely reactive and will literally smoke if exposed to atmospheric air.
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." - Thomas A. Edison
no one likes him much because of his business practices but this line is great
pink Fungi what's funny is Edison didn't even say that.. it was tesla.. Edison bought all his ideas and claimed he found them out
You are a badass for even attempting this.
indeed
Even though it is gassy, I still love what you tried to do here and what an awesome job you did.
Hello!
Everyone thinks I'm a crazy scientist! Oh well, I have a LOT of fun! I have two beautiful cats, one found me and the other I rescued from the pound when she was about to be put to sleep!
This guys made me laugh, hes funny while listening to him, Great educational video, NO videos from the old days to learn from, the failure in the process gives you an idea how serious those old tubes the way made, they can consume a lot of time to make them with a lot of physics and skills involved, we just have them in our hands play them and enjoy the the way they perform electronically, modern chip and transistor replaced these tubes but no fun, they are just a solid objects, I have a lot of appreciation for the old electronics components and thanks to the first electronic fathers who started the electronic world and to those workers who build them, and thanks for your efforts in your video explaining how hard to make these tubes, Nixies are just fun to play with....
Great experiment. Isn't that what prototyping is all about - learning from faults.
It would be a possibility but would take some research to develop a workable scheme. The mica is quite hard to form without using a punch that is machined to be an exact pattern of what you need. I haven't figured out yet how to do the forming of the mica in an amateur shop. It shatters and splits when knives or scissors are used.
This is too cool. Thank you for having the confidence and generosity to share a failure. You’re a true creator/academic.
That is quite an extensive detailed project to perform at home. Thanks for showing!
Thank you very much for posting all of these videos. The knowledge, techniques and experience you offer in each of these is so valuable and difficult to find, that I've been trying to carefully save them on my computer so they're not left solely to the unpredictability of the Internet and TH-cam's future policies. The engineering solutions are definitely first rate.
Wow...never heard of one...how interesting is THIS. Im reslly glad you did this.
I also learned today just why nails were so presious this morning too. Had no idea just finding the right type of metals was so hard...not just thst a large nsil would take about 70 blows by a blacksmith to shape...thst alone would deter me.
Such a joy to watch. The Bob Ross of glass
Hello! Things like varnish and epoxy are ok for a temporary fix but they will leak over a few days. The only permanent seal is to use the glass itself.
ron
as a radio builder i find this fascinating .especially considering the cost of nixies .this just might be the way to go..ur awsome ill sub.
This is a true art that needs preserving 👍👏👏
Roni, I have watched a lot of your vids, this one somehow shows to me why you are the Glasslinger!
Yes! Another try at the epoxy joint, this time using all soft glass. Then if that doesn't work, make a whole tube from scratch using all pyrex. I really think the epoxy should work. It has a total bond to glass so that is one reason the glass frit pulled apart instead of the epoxy pulling away from the glass.
You are my hero, I would never have that much patience!
I've long had an interest in making, not nixie tubes, but simple glow tubes, with a wire bent into a name or shape that glows. Can you post any information you've learned through subsequent tests pertinent simply to what type of wire I have to use to get a glow, assuming I evacuate and backfill with neon, and about how much pressure I need with the neon? I'd be using modified neon sign electrodes (cut off the base of the glass tube, cut off the metal shell, then weld my decorative wire to that and assemble like a neon tube).
Jonas Clark I'm pretty sure he has some videos on that.. the guys a genius with making tubes and shit
i really do love these videos, keep up the great work :)
I really hope youll make a working nixie eventually. I know that there is a problem with the wires going through glass, i once bought a few leaked nixies that had tiny cracks around the pins. I think that the problem there was that somebody tried to push them into a socket that was just a tiny bit bigger, therefore cracking the glass.
using PCBs on top and bottom of the numbers for spacing, combined with using etched numbers, making the internals would be pretty easy. The hardest part would be the frit (though the electronics part can be handled by the PCB, so just the seal part would be difficult).
Good idea! That was my first attempt at a nixie so I am totally green on it. The way I'm doing it in this video is totally not practical. There has to be some way to mechanically hold the numerals so they can't touch.
seriously genius Ron.
Heck, you could use a circle PCB with traces from the outside circular holes to the line of holes inside. You'd just solder the numbers to the pcb, then solder the PCB right to the pins in the frit. Not to bad at all.
my hero! i totally love this guy :)
Looks pretty Simple to make when ya got all the resources!!!
You should do the "5" as an upside down "2"! :)
Прикольный дедушка - чмокает как Леонид Ильич :)
i want you to be my grandpa and teach me all the things my professor sucks at haha.
jake jeffys. Apuesto a que Chupar todos...lol
he would have to be interested in women to be a grandpa
Great video! Shame it didn't work out. Perhaps cast the entire base in epoxy with the pins sticking out? (I'm no expert by the way.)
What about using sodium silicate (liquid glass) to seal it instead of epoxy? From what I understand when sodium silicate is exposed to carbon dioxide it hardens and becomes solid glass. It is not borosilicate glass and so I have no idea if it’s final state would be strong enough to withstand the vacuum. I understand Nixie tubes do not have a vacuum but are filled with specific Nobel gasses and a vacuum only need to be pulled during the filling process. So the Sodium Silicate would not need to be able to resist the vacuum for a very long time since once it’s filled it would be at normal atmospheric pressure. I could be totally off base here but it sounds good on paper.
Good intentions but a lot of problems! The nixie is always under vacuum, not high vacuum like a TV tube but still FAR below atmospheric pressure. (actually, about the same pressure as the atmosphere on Mars!) The problem with the silicate is it doesn't bond to glass with a vacuum tight seal.
Ron, I'd probably pay you a visit if I was living in your country.
1:53 - I was about to say "F*CK" until you came up with the logical pinch solution lol. Try making your own frit using pinching method.
سلام.بادیدن کارهای شما دریوتیوپ .خیلی خیلی به وجد می ایم ودوست داشتم مثل. شما میبودم.تابتوانم هم ابرازوجودوهم احساس وجودکنم.برای شماارزوی سعادت وتوفیق روزافزون سلامتی آزخدای متعال میکنم......همیشه سرافرازباشید.....
Great work
Wow, I knew epoxy shrunk during curing, but I didn't know it could do that.
your the man, fantasic attempt.
This kinda stuff is waaayyyy beyond me, but great attempt.
Amazing technique,but you should fill Ne&Hg gas into the tube to made it glow,no just make the tube vacuum
The gas mix was Argon 1% Neon 99%. The high vacuum first done was to outgas the residual atmosphere from the tube parts.
Please email me with the details of what you need. These glow modulators can be made but I have no info on the size of them right now.
ron
Im really glad you tried this out, even tough it didnt go as planend on the first attempt. Are you going to give nixies another shot?
What is the Getter made from? I know it needs to be quite reactive to react with any non-noble gas
Glass clay, and then sinter it in a autoclave.
Just a thought.
I hope my spelling was correct.
Why epoxy? Why not just seal the glass? Or are you using 2 different types?
This was a test to see if epoxy would work. It is an industrial epoxy used for vacuum sealing. It was no good for long term use. The tube lasted about a month before signs of air developed.
Yea. I bet brain surgery is simple too if you have an operating room! (LOL)
brilliant video!
Couldn't you have sealed the crack with varnish or something similar? It seems like such a shame to just throw it away after all this work. But great work anyway!
Great Videos!
Perhaps bondo body filler in place of the epoxy could work?
Pretty neat.
good grief charlie brown how old is that epoxy ??
haha I wanna smoke a doobie with this guy. s/he's awesome.
What is "pirex"?
Actually pyrex, it is a high temperature glass that has a particularly low coefficient of heat expansion. It has very low tendency to crack when cooling like soft glass has.
+glasslinger Its expensive?
Please revisit this!
THAT LOOKS LIKE A 6T10 0R 1 6BF11
Presented in Cinerama
wow man just wow.
Thank you Ron. 73 KI7DYM
who else is here because of Steins;Gate ? :D
***** I don't really get what you're trying to say.
***** how is either of that obvious
+Luca Morgenstern (Lupin) de hecho yo pensé lo mismo
hahah yeah!
@@islarendidejesusochoamarti5381 I'm here
nice try for your project
nixie tubes are filled with neon, they are not vacuum tubes
epoxy is a poor excuse for a vacuum seal, as it will allow air and moisture to get through it.
Fully understood. It was an experiment to see how long the seal would hold vacuum.
@@glasslinger When I was working with high vacuum. There was a 2 part epoxy that works very good for metal to other seals, just can't remember the name of it. Dunnway might have been where I bought it, but can't remember.
The changing focus is confusing me so much, I can hardly watch this
Autofocus :(
И?