Wait, plexitube? Is that a typo? Surely we mean Nixie tubes!
For a Christmas project [Kurt] wanted to build some owl-inspired clocks — with bit of a retro feel. Given the complexities of finding and using actual Nixie tubes, he went with an alternative — a Plexitube.
Plexitubes look like futuristic Nixie tubes. They can have different stylized numbers. They’re crisp, they’re bright, and they are completely customizable. They’re made of edgelit acrylic! By laser etching the design onto pieces of acrylic and feeding LED light into the edge, very much like how a light-pipe works, it’s possible to have a neon-light effect — using nothing more than plastic and some LEDs.
He designed custom PCBs for the project, with SMD LEDs for the plexitubes. Making use of a laser cutter, he designed the actual owl to be made out of lightly formed wood cutouts — the entire thing looks absolutely fantastic.
As far as “Nixie tube” clocks this has gotta be one of the most aesthetically pleasing ones we’ve seen in a while, but if you’re looking for an all-out-Nixietube-extravaganza… take a look at this whopping thirteen tube clock.
[Thanks for the tip Lawrence!]
oh this looks nice!
awesome build
All the charm of Nixie tubes and none of the high voltage.
For some info: this awesome project won the community vote over at [/r/DIYElectronics on Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/diyelectronics/).
Hey, I actually have one of these! It’s phenomenal.
Looks great. I love them!
Relevant finished “showcase” video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKnjoZc3bQc
Semiconductor nixies? Great idea.
This could make a really cool commercial product as a part (the plexitube part). You can get large displays from tiny LEDs very cost effectively!
From the author: “The first stack took me 2 hours to assemble. My finger nails were frayed from all the plastic peeling and I had 11 more elements to make.”
Would likely have to refine the “individually laser cut and hand assemble” part of the assembly process though.
All prototypes have issues that need to be refined. It could be molded perhaps.
Yep, and you get the classic look.
When I was a kid in the early 1970’s my father’s lab had a digital voltmeter that used this kind of display, only it used stepping relays, an op-amp voltage comparator, and incandescent light bulbs to edge-light the glass numeral panes.
Reminds me of the technology used in some of the early calculators from the 1960’s such as the Canon 130S.
http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/canon_canola_130s.html
These used a similar technique called ‘light pipes’ which were individual panes lit by incandescent bulbs.
Whoa… That’s flippin’ awesome! Well done! Heathkit should license this (or something similar, doesn’t have to be an owl) from the creator and sell it as a kit!
Nice Nixie tubes! Sorry Brian, complain another day.
But seriously, that is an absolutely beautiful work! Love it, great job on the wood. We just don’t see that kind of aesthetic put to good use enough.
I really like the FlexiTube concept. Congrats.