Do you love Nixie Tubes? Upset that they aren’t really manufactured anymore, and the cost of old ones is rising? Why not make your own? That’s exactly what [Dalibor] of the Czech Republic is up to, including blowing the glass tubes himself!
He’s chosen the Z568 nixie tubes to copy, as they are his favorite style of nixie. To create the display he has etched the digits and housing out of 0.3mm stainless steel sheet — which potentially means if he gets the hang of making the tubes, he could actually produce them to sell! To perform the glass blowing, he scored a Heathway glassblowing lathe off eBay — but unfortunately he hasn’t documented much of anything on making the glass tubes, which is too bad because we think that would be equally fascinating as the nixie displays themselves. On his first attempt with a properly sealed tube, the nixie worked and he even recorded striking voltage values very similar to industry tubes — not bad for something made in a backyard shed!
He has since then continued refining this art and is entering a glass-art contest called “When Prague Meets Shanghai” with a beautiful entry dubbed the ShanghaiTime Nixie Clock.
If this post seems vaguely familiar, it’s because this isn’t the first time we’ve posted an article about homemade nixie tubes, but we think [Dalibor’s] is by far the most elegant! Stick around after the break to see one of his first test videos — You might even think he’s cheating, the tubes look so professional!
HAD, Please do your homework before writing some Gibberish! – The metal parts are not lasercut! – They are etched out by a company that specialises in that kind of process.
Hello, I am a new manufacturer of nixie, I will produce nixie Rodan CD47 in original size and its double magnification.
http://www.nixieproducer.com
If you want to see a nice video about building tubes, have a look at the website from french amateur radio operator F2FO here: http://paillard.claude.free.fr/ (in french only)
He builds his own triodes.
That was awesome, thanks! (I especially love that the video was available for download as well as streaming!)
Before the glass lathe, it looks like he made his own glass-lathe chuck to fit on his standard metal lathe:
http://dalibor.farny.cz/first-chuck-finally-complete/
I’m just now thinking about gloppy spinning glass – scary stuff (if done wrong). Anyone know what the normal RPM is for a glass lathe like this ? Just curious more than anything else.
RPM for a glass lathe is quite low, around 30 – 180, bigger glass = lower RPM. Hot glass has high viscosity and it would fly off the chuck by centrifugal (?) force.
Is there anywhere that still makes them commercially ?
Last year, i found an ebay auction for a complete nixie tube assembly line , with material for 10.000 unit or something. Was around 30K, straight from ukraine :)
… But a LOT of parts and knowhow was missing, so the lot was useless, so i don’t think it sold.
“…but unfortunately he hasn’t documented much of anything on making the glass tubes…”
That’s because you don’t make precision glass tubes, you buy them.
For example:
http://www.greatglas.com/PyrexCylinders.htm?gclid=CM_Mr4rz0roCFYpxQgodq3MAWg
Beautiful. He’s an artisan and an engineer.
Thanks for nice article!
I definitely plan a “how it’s made” style video soon, I just havent time to document the manufacture enough.. there is plenty interesting steps, I believe You will like it!
Dalibor
Great! We’d love to see the process of sealing the tubes!
Bravo!
I keep thinking there has to be an old tube factory somewhere that could be had at a reasonable price…or maybe even rented.
Tubes are still being made in Russia but the demand for nixies is just for it’s novelty. Not something cheap to make. I wonder how much a nixie would cost new in today’s dollars…
absolutely love this!
all you need now is a time machine to send a D-Mail, an IBN 5100. And hack the gate so you can come to the beta world line.
But you have to turn on the tv downstairs first, reverse the microwave turn table, and wire your phone to it.
This would also be great for making DIY symbolitron tubes.
One with high voltage, radiation warning etc would be hilarious.
What about one with the HAD logo? What time is it? HACKADAY time!
Hi, everyone need some serious help with case building out of stainless steel , for a nixie watch casing that I want to manufacture, its for a 5900M series tube, or if anyone knows of or is making anything smaller, any suggestions or contacts ware useful and appreciated.
Kind Regards
Andre
Old post, but why not? Stainless steel is notoriously difficult to machine. But it’s doable. The techniques are the same as for ordinary steel, except you want to prevent the stainless from heating up too much. Heat treat before, use plenty of lubrication, and use low tool speeds. If your tool blade wears out before you’ve finished machining the steel, you know you let it get too hot.