Neon Xmas present...

[Nick]

Small present I made for SWMBO using reclaimed items - a neon letter from the front of a theatre (about 6" tall), some offcuts of an oak floor we had laid 9 years ago, bits and pieces from the workshop... some specialised neon bits - the silicone covers for the electrodes and the special latex "blocking paint" to conceal the electrodes themselves, all bolts are M4 hex-headed to prevent curious children opening it (2000V inside) - bolts mate with M4 brass inserts or nylon lock nuts - cable clamp was stolen from an old light fitting. Oak was thicknessed down from 20mm to to 14mm and the joints cut, backing timber was 4mm thick so 4.8mm x 5mm deep groove set round inside of box (176mm x 210mm internal), Forstner bits used to cut 20mm holes for tube electrodes, lots of use of router table, table saw, planer-thicknesser etc.

Mounting/back panel for the neon was very rare timber sourced from Timberline in Tonbridge in the UK - lovely bit of wood - they sell 100s of different rare (legal) woods for turning, musical instrument manufacture & repair etc. Amazing place. Absolutely amazing...

Finished on Xmas Eve... still to do: small uP to PWM-modulate the HV to dim the tube a bit - bearing in mind it was originally an outdoor display sign designed to be read from 50ft away, its a tad bright for the kitchen, so I wil change the standard electronic transformer I'm currently (!) using for a PWM version when it arrives from the USA - a small uP, or even just a PWM 555-based design, will control brightness nicely.

Luckily, SWMBO likes neon and absolutely loved the sign... many thanks (as always) to John Smout who gave me the idea for "a letter in a box"...

[Quixotic Nixotic]

Really lovely Nick. Impressive dovetailing.

I am sure Minnie loves it and you in equal measure. I am not sure she is quite so keen about the Quad electrostatics I dumped in your kitchen. Is there any room left in your kitchen for food or cooking? I'd suggest with all those volts you don't put the neon M on top of the fish tank and anyway that is where the cat sits.

Thanks for all your work behind the scenes in recent years, keeping this group under control,

John S

On 26 Dec 2014, at 14:05, Nick wrote:

Small present I made for SWMBO using reclaimed items - a neon letter from the front of a theatre (about 6" tall), some offcuts of an oak floor we had laid 9 years ago, bits and pieces from the workshop... some specialised neon bits - the silicone covers for the electrodes and the special latex "blocking paint" to conceal the electrodes themselves, all bolts are hex-headed to prevent curious children opening it (2000V inside) - cable clamp was stolen from an old light fitting. Oak was thicknessed down from 20mm to to 14mm and the joints cut, backing timber was 4mm thick so 4.8mm x 5mm deep groove set round inside of box (176mm x 210mm internal), Forstner bits used to cut 20mm holes for tube electrodes, lots of use of router table, table saw, planer-thicknesser etc.

Mounting/back panel for the neon was very rare timber sourced from [url=http://www.exotichardwoods.co.uk/]Timberline in Tonbridge[/url] - lovely bit of wood - they sell 100s of rare (legal) wood for turning, musical instrument manufacture & repair etc. Amazing place. Absolutely amazing...

Finished on Xmas Eve... still to do: small uP to PWM-modulate the HV to dim the tube a bit - bearing in mind it was originally an outdoor display sign designed to be read from 50ft away, its a tad bright for the kitchen, so I wil change the standard electronic transformer I'm currently (!) using for a PWM version when it arrives from the USA - a small uP, or even just a PWM 555-based design, will control brightness nicely.

Luckily, SWMBO likes neon and absolutely loved the sign... many thanks (as always) to John Smout who gave me the idea for "a letter in a box"...

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[Nick]

On Friday, 26 December 2014 14:32:40 UTC, Nixcited delighted wrote:

Really lovely Nick. Impressive dovetailing.

I am sure Minnie loves it and you in equal measure. I am not sure she is quite so keen about the Quad electrostatics I dumped in your kitchen. Is there any room left in your kitchen for food or cooking? I'd suggest with all those volts you don't put the neon M on top of the fish tank and anyway that is where the cat sits.

Thanks for all your work behind the scenes in recent years, keeping this group under control,

It was your idea, John - as you know, I was a bit lost for ideas after coming across the stash of letters... it is a bit BIG and a bit BRIGHT but at least the brightness issue can be easily dealt with. I'm right chuffed as Minnie loves the quirkiness of it...

The cats seem to sense the HV - they stay away - I tried to take a close up photo but the electronic transformer drives phones and cameras completely nuts...

The Quads are lovely and are now out of the kitchen on the first floor - they will get a LOT of TLC in the new year, be assured!

Here's to lots more neon (and other) projects!

[Tidak Ada]

Quad's? You mean those electrostatic speakers? In the kitchen ???! Or do you mean something else?

 

eric

---

From: neoni...@googlegroups.com [mailto:neoni...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Nick
Sent: vrijdag 26 december 2014 15:45
To: neoni...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [neonixie-l] Neon Xmas present...

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[Nick]

Indeed. A pair of ESL-63s once owned by the recently deceased Sir Clive Sinclair...

[Tidak Ada]

Oops, I oversaw John's mail...

 

eric

---

From: neoni...@googlegroups.com [mailto:neoni...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Nick
Sent: vrijdag 26 december 2014 15:45
To: neoni...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [neonixie-l] Neon Xmas present...

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[Tidak Ada]

Making me jealous I only have a set of 55's that need refurbishing...

eric

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From: neoni...@googlegroups.com [mailto:neoni...@googlegroups.com] On
Behalf Of Nick

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[Quixotic Nixotic]

On 26 Dec 2014, at 19:51, Nick wrote:

> Indeed. A pair of ESL-63s once owned by the recently deceased Sir Clive Sinclair...

Accounts of Sir Clive's demise might be greatly exaggerated. Stephen had a Christmas card from him and Clive says he's looking forward to them both meeting up in the New Year.

The Quad hifi gear dates from When Sir Clive moved into his flat in London's Trafalgar Square and didn't have the space or inclination to take it with him, so he gave it to Stephen. Must have been soon after he married Angie, the former Miss England lapdancer he met in Stringfellows.

There is a new crowd-funded Sinclair Spectrum in the pipeline. Relive Jet Set Willy, Chuckie Egg and those other icons of a mis-spent youth. My fave was Alien8. Target price £100 and 1,000 retro games will come already preloaded. The same form factor as the original, with the 'dead flesh' keyboard. The first 1,000 will be made in the UK and any profits will go to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.

John S

[Nick]

Apparently I'm being sent on a neon sign making course as an Xmas present this spring.

I've got several Z568Ms that are out-gassed...

...just wondering :)

Nick

PS. Thank Heaven I didn't trash them!

[NeonJohn]

On 12/31/2014 12:47 PM, Nick wrote:
> Apparently I'm being sent on a neon sign making course as an Xmas present
> this spring.

Cool!!! If you're like me you'll absolutely fall in love with hot glass.

>
> I've got several Z568Ms that are out-gassed...
>
> ...just wondering :)

Yep, if a pin seal isn't leaking you can re-process the tube. I've done
2. The hardest part was getting the gas mixture just right. A lot of
experimenting went into the first one.

During the time it took me to move from my commercial building in
Cleveland, TN to paradise :-), some scrappers broke into the building
and stole everything including my neon plant.

I'm currently designing a compact all-in-one neon plant that will be
contained inside a roll-around cabinet with the bending table on top and
will cost literally hundreds of dollars (instead of the approx $10k I
had in my old shop) to build. I'll be posting a "how to" guide on
neon-john.com as things progress.

John

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http://www.fluxeon.com <-- THE source for induction heaters
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PGP key: wwwkeys.pgp.net: BCB68D77

[MichaelB]

Beautiful dovetails!

On Friday, December 26, 2014 6:05:02 AM UTC-8, Nick wrote:

Small present I made for SWMBO using reclaimed items - a neon letter from the front of a theatre (about 6" tall), some offcuts of an oak floor we had laid 9 years ago, bits and pieces from the workshop... some specialised neon bits - the silicone covers for the electrodes and the special latex "blocking paint" to conceal the electrodes themselves, all bolts are M4 hex-headed to prevent curious children opening it (2000V inside) - bolts mate with M4 brass inserts or nylon lock nuts - cable clamp was stolen from an old light fitting. Oak was thicknessed down from 20mm to to 14mm and the joints cut, backing timber was 4mm thick so 4.8mm x 5mm deep groove set round inside of box (176mm x 210mm internal), Forstner bits used to cut 20mm holes for tube electrodes, lots of use of router table, table saw, planer-thicknesser etc.

Mounting/back panel for the neon was very rare timber sourced from Timberline in Tonbridge in the UK - lovely bit of wood - they sell 100s of different rare (legal) woods for turning, musical instrument manufacture & repair etc. Amazing place. Absolutely amazing...

[Nick]

Two new tubes (about 4 inches tall, made from 8mm glass) - this time, instead of a neon fill, I went with Argon + about 5mg of mercury, which gives the bright blue-white light.... you can just see the aerial of the "exciter" in the background... (that and the pattern of one of our sofas!)