Re-coating nixies & VFDs...

[Nick]

The reason I was asking about photographing VFDs is that I've recently
been playing with re-coating tubes whose original coating is in poor
condition or is not the wanted colour.

John Smout, as always, was a fount of knowledge on these matters and
suggested FEV (French Enamel Varnish) - much used in the stage &
screen industries - essentially this is French Polish with a ready-
mixed in stain. The solvent for FEV (and French Polish) is methylated
spirits.

I therefore ordered 250ml of Mauve from
http://www.goldleafsupplies.co.uk/acatalog/V_French_Enamel_Varnish.html.

The subject tube was cleaned with methylated spirits and the tube held
upside-down in a suitable socket. I then dipped the tube into the FEV
up to the desired line, then withdrew it and hung it up to dry (about
30 minutes). The coat was blemish-free and completely even with a
uniform colour depth. Granted, the tube I was testing this on had a
nipple which acts as a focus for drips draining off, but I see no
reason why this wouldn't work with smooth-topped tubes.

After a few hours the coating is tough and stands a reasonable amount
of man-handling - the colour can be deepened by applying multiple
coats - the whole new coating can of course be removed with the FEV
solvent - methylated spirits again.

FEV is available in a very wide range of colours - it is expensive,
but you don't need much. I had a whole bunch of rather rare VFDs with
damaged coatings - now they are like new.

HTH

Nick

[Quixotic Nixotic]

On 26 Oct 2011, at 09:14, Nick wrote:

> I therefore ordered 250ml of Mauve from
> http://www.goldleafsupplies.co.uk/acatalog/
> V_French_Enamel_Varnish.html.
>

> ...FEV is available in a very wide range of colours - it is expensive,

> but you don't need much. I had a whole bunch of rather rare VFDs with
> damaged coatings - now they are like new.

Nick,

I think it depends where you buy it. If you go to a theatrical place
it will be cheaper, or you will get much larger bottles for your bucks.

http://www.flints.co.uk/acatalog/French_Enamel_Varnish.html

John S

[Nick]

Actually, if you multiply it up, its a bit cheaper to buy it by the
litre (GBP 22 from Flints vs. 4*6.58 = 26.32 from GLS), but 250ml is
probably enough for at least 100+ tubes of any size (except CD47s!),
so a litre would be a waste - Flints only sell by the litre, the
reason I used Gold Leaf Supplies is that they sell in 250ml bottles so
much cheaper in real terms...

I put it in a narrow pyrex lab beaker so you actually need very little
volume of FEV to dip the average tube - maybe 100ml? Pour unused FEV
back into the bottle and clean beaker with meths.

I've done 10 tubes and probably used about 1 to 2 ml so far (I can
barely see the drop in the bottle - as much is wasted on the walls of
the beaker as is used on the tubes and the coating is very thin !).

Nick

On Oct 26, 10:13 am, Quixotic Nixotic <nixot...@blueyonder.co.uk>
wrote:

[Per Jensen]

Pictures !!

I want to see the dipped tubes :-)

// Per

[mike]

what color can the tubes be made to glow

thanks
mike

On Oct 26, 3:56 am, Per Jensen <elektronikbik...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Pictures !!
>
> I want to see the dipped tubes :-)
>
> // Per
>

[MichaelB]

Here are some Pics. I used another French product called Pebeo
Vitrail, Orange #16 color. It's available on line from most higher end
Art supply houses. Applied it using a cheap shot glass. Worked really
well and the end result is really pretty nice!


http://www.badnixie.com/Web_Files/IMG_2275.JPG
http://www.badnixie.com/Web_Files/IMG_2276.JPG
http://www.badnixie.com/Web_Files/IMG_2279.JPG

Here's Jeff's NixiChron with some souped up IN-18's:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVj8MCtPX0s

On Oct 26, 3:56 am, Per Jensen <elektronikbik...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Pictures !!
>
> I want to see the dipped tubes :-)
>
> // Per
>

[Per Jensen]

WOW!

They look factory new :-)

And ouch, it really stains your worktable i can see;-)

Wondering how that coating would look on my IN-8-2 in the bedroom clock....

// Per.

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[MichaelB]

Yup it's kinda messy. It's a good idea to use a throw away piece of
material as a work surface

[Nick]

On Oct 26, 11:56 am, Per Jensen <elektronikbik...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Pictures !!
>
> I want to see the dipped tubes :-)

https://picasaweb.google.com/101626975611011778867/VFDStainY1938

Not great pictures - still playing with how to get rid of the
reflections

Photos are my first attempts - subsequently I've got the rim of the
stain much more even.

Nick

[GastonP]

Hi Mike,
The glass coloring just filter what the tube emits.
If the wavelength that the filters let pass is emitted by the tube
(like green for green-turquoise VFDs, red for Nixies) then the
coloring will enhance the contrast. And look good.
The filters will not change the color of the light emitted, like
making a Nixie to be seen as emitting green light.

Regards