Anybody want to build some nixie tubes?

[Nicholas Stock]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261172534593?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Saw this....probably one of the most interesting listings on eBay I've seen in a while...

Go on, who's got 40K to spend and wants to make some IN-18's? ;-)

Nick

[Jon D.]

Wow, nice find!  And it's all supposedly new and unused with materials for 1,000-10,000 tubes.  The photos are fantastic.

Jon D.

[Nicholas Stock]

Would make a great Kickstarter campaign wouldn't it!

Nick

On Tue, Feb 19, 2013 at 11:14 AM, Jon D. <jond...@gmail.com> wrote:

Wow, nice find!  And it's all supposedly new and unused with materials for 1,000-10,000 tubes.  The photos are fantastic.

Jon D.

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[David Forbes]

This is similar to that Impossible Project to make Polaroid film using an old
factory, but in this case you don't get the factory, just some of the tooling.

Fortunately, making Nixie tubes is easier than instant color film.

BTW, the ebay listing is funny. "Have one to sell? Sell it yourself!"

--
David Forbes, Tucson, AZ

[Shane Ellis]

Who wants to go halfsies?

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[kay486]

It would be so awesome to see it being used. It even comes with the getters i think (those cans labeled ГАЗОПОГЛОТИТЕЛИ) I doubt its going to sell, but im sure, that quite a few people in this group that are trying to make nixie tubes should contact the seller and ask them if they could buy some parts, i imagine they can be super useful.

[Konstantin]

Great! If somebody got it, he must flood market with IN-18 tubes to cover his/her expenses back, so IN-18 price goes down, but if he/she keeps the same price?

Don’t know how many months/years he/she would need…   

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[Instrument Resources of America]

Hundredths,,,,,,,would be more like it!!!   LOL   Ira.

[Jeff Thomas]

 Now, if this had been the tooling and materials to assemble RFT Z568M tubes, then we'd be beating each other to the front of the line..

IN-18's...  there's just too many for sale, and some still in hiding. Just about the time you're ready to go, Oleg "discovers" a few thousand more IN-18's.

Regards, Jeff

[Nick]

...what's more, the auction describes the items as "new" - a lot of it looks distinctly second or worse hand...

Nick

[jb-electronics]

You are right, but I think a person considering buying this lot has enough skill to repair what is broken. After all, these are sturdy factory tools, so I would assume it is not that easy to break them. And for all the components, they are sure new because otherwise they would be built into some nice Nixie tube ;-)

Is anyone seriously considering buying this lot?

You know, if I were not a student but a millionaire, then maybe... ;-)

Jens

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[Quixotic Nixotic]

So a best case scenario is you get 10,000 nixies at the end of the
day. For all the heartache of making them you have paid $4.348 before
adding the cost of the magic smoke, the compressor, hand press etc
etc. If you only get the lowest estimate of 1,000 tubes, you will
have paid $43.48 each, but probably double that.

Does it work for you?

John S

[Michel]

I think they should be a bit more accurate. If you can make 1,000
tubes, you effectively pay $40 for each tube and you still need to
make them, not a very good profit forecast. If it is for 10,000 tubes,
they cost $4 per tube + the expense and time of making them which may
be worth the money. Otherwise you need to source more material
somewhere else so that you can make more than 1,000 tubes but how much
would these materials cost?

Michel

[Nick]

Yup - including the shipping, its not attractive. Note that all that fragile glass packed into rather feeble cardboard boxes has to make it to you in whatever country you are in, without breakage.

Face it - what are you actually buying here? Part of (certainly not all) of a factory line that made IN-18s. Big deal. That's not the problem - the expertise is - neon equipment, spot welders, glass tempering etc. is common and understood. The bags of ceramic beads etc. are useful, but not worth a huge amount. The "special metal" is what exactly? Are the wire-forming machines there? All the digits (and the decimal points)? The anode screen punches? Nowadays the digits etc. would probably be formed by an alternative technique - the Russians were expert at using what they had available to the best effect, but in the 30 or 40 years since this equipment was first commissioned, manufacturing techniques have moved on.

Maybe USD 10,000 including shipping would be almost OK, but 40K? 

Certainly doesn't work for me :)

Nick

[jb-electronics]

Granted, and I would not buy the glass there. At these quantities, you can get it locally for the same amount of money.

But I would not underestimate the point "know how" in their listing. It takes a long time to create a functional manufacturing procedure for Nixie tubes. Especially one, that allows to manufacture them in a large quantity. Think about it - Ron, Alek and soon Dalibor and some others I guess are all able to produce Nixie tubes just like the IN-18. It takes a long time for them. With equipment as in this auction, however, many steps that are painstakingly difficult to handle manually will be shifted to an industrial level. I once read a book about Neon sign making someone from this list here gave to me, and even in this simple scenario there is a lot of know-how as to how to construct the workshop - I think NeonJohn and others will second that.

I have no idea about the market value, though. 40k sounds steep, but I cannot estimate a price. I certainly cannot afford it ;-) but if I were professional in my Nixie tube making attempts it would be something to consider (at least get to the Ukraine and visit the site).

Jens

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[Marcin]

C'mon guys! First the price is negotiable. Second it is like buying an
old blacksmith forge from middle ages. You don't buy it hoping to make
profit shoeing horses. ;)
marcin

[Aleksander A.Zawada]

It isn't such easy. Even having all materials and some devices you are not sure, that you can produce tubes.
I think that it's unprofitable. Let's calculate: equipment ca 30000$. One tube- perhaps 30$.
You should make min 1200-1500 stck of tubes "to be in zero" because of breaking glass and another errors.
One year ago, I obtained big laboratory of incandescent lamps, mercury lamps etc. It was free.
To this day, I started only 5% of all equipment.

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[Frank Bemelman]

I would think the price is negotiable, as I doubt the current
owner paid much more than the equivalent of $50 for the entire lot,
if not being paid for dismantling and removing the machinery from
the factory floor....

Frank

-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
From: Marcin
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 1:05 PM
To: neoni...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [neonixie-l] Re: Anybody want to build some nixie tubes?

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[Tony Adams]

OK I'll jump in with a few points...

1, The price. From my dealings with this seller their idea of an offer
will be $100 less than asking. (OK maybe free shipping).

2. Extra costs. If I could afford to pay that and brought them to the
UK there would be an extra 20% tax to pay - the price is now over
$50k.

3. Quantities. I read it as enough of some parts to make 1,000 tubes
and of others for 10,000. No sign of cathodes so there may not be
enough ot assemble even 1 without extra materials.

4. Knowhow. How long will it take, even with data/manuals (In Russian,
probably added/changed as production improved and written by engineers
for their own use......) to make a tube you could guarantee for 10+
years of life?.

5. Legality. IN-18s have a Mercury pill, in this country at least I
don't see a chance of having their manufacture approved.

There's some interesting bits there but a very long way from a turnkey
nixie plant, which is what you'd need to justify the price.... though
if I had a spare million I'd be tempted ;).

Tony.

[Marcin]

Maybe it would be possible to buy only some bits and pieces? I am sure
our nixie makers would at least use the getter pills, mica sheets,
spacers and the infamous mercury givers. Shipping should be sensible.
Probably I am a renegade but I would get the givers not bothering to
tell The Authorities what they have inside. I got my 866s that way.
marcin

[jb-electronics]

I agree with Alek.

@ Marcin: What would you do? Sell bits and pieces to individuals (no
matter how nice they ask you) in tedious work, or sell the whole batch
once and for all? I think maybe in a few weeks when it is still not sold
(let's wait...) there might be single offerings, but it is probably to
soon for that.

Jens

[Marcin Adamski]

Sure Jens. All I'm saying is it wouldn't hurt to ask the seller about
such a possibility. Of course being a seller I would prefer to sell it
all at once. But finding a buyer for the whole lot, especially at that
price may be really difficult. Especially that potential buyer probably
would need to fly to Russia to check it up and ship themselves.
marcin

[jb-electronics]

Yeah, I know. Let's see, maybe we are lucky and individual listings will
show up.

Jens