Making a Purple Nixie Tube

[@joelneatrour1945]

You monster...letting oxidative gas into your finely-crafted tubes. This is a slap in the face to the early pioneers of evacuated tubes. You're like Van Gogh cutting off his ear! Yet somehow, I love it!

[@robertpaulson2052]

You usually appear to do everything perfectly the first time around in the videos I've seen so far, seeing some of the hiccups this time was actually informative since I can see what a result of failure of some of the tests you employ to check things looks like.

[@jdflyback]

You caught me. I tend to only show things that work. I always have felt that people would be annoyed watching a 30 minute video of something that does not work at the end. I need to be more comfortable showing mistakes.

[@oldschoolelectronics8573]

An extremely underrated channel! You should get in contact with Ron aka glasslinger. That guy is a wizard when it comes to this stuff.

[@jdflyback]

Thank you! He is my main inspiration along with Simplifier.

[@KeritechElectronics]

@@jdflyback that's a great inspiration :)

[@MrEdwinHubble]

@@jdflyback have you thought about buying damaged nixie tubes and resurrecting them with different gas mixes for fun?

[@moschettiflavio3635]

Indeed! Shamefully underrated channel

[@zombieregime]

Absolutely agree. Happened across this channel with the DIY tube amp video. Was seriously impressed at the DIY-ness of the tools and methods. Like, people these days seem to think you need this one tool thats a few hundred dollars and looks nice on their tool wall on its little outlined hanger, and thats the only way to do that one thing that tool does..... It annoys me. Mostly because Im the MacGyver of my group of friends, Ill bodge something together out of random stuff in my junk pile that blows peoples minds when it does exactly what they need, at lower power, with more over head, quieter, etc. I love this style of 'I need a thing to do this, well that does this and this does that, put it together and bibbidy bobbidy bam! Task done!' Criminally underrated channel! JDflyback needs more love from the algorithm to the maker crowd! This is exactly the kind of videos I look for all the time!

[@chrispycritters123]

Not just demo a Nixie tube, but made the entire thing from scratch. That should win the internet. Great job man!

[@nixietubes]

I forgot to leave a comment! Absolutely wonderful!!! Please make more nixie videos!

[@RGCbaseace]

Your shop takes me back to the days when I worked at ABC TV repair That was a different time I've replaced my share of tubes But never ever made one Fantastic skills their jd

[@matambale]

The coolness level on this one is through the roof.

[@keithmccormick1272]

Your a craftsman . I was a tv repairman and like watching your videos . love and hugs

[@carlosgarcialalicata]

Just found your channel... completely priceless!

[@geraldhaggard1018]

That's astounding what you have done. Nothing short of exciting. Good going!!

[@matthiasmartin1975]

yes, even the gas gets excited, ;-).

[@swinehorde9118]

That clip and random slotted aluminum packaging tool thingy is amazing! The Flatinator.

[@TheGiselaSchumacher]

Absolutely fantastic! Especially since this appears to be your first nixie! I made my first few attempts about ten years ago, and only one out of the four or five attempts actually worked. Two cracked during a big pinch and the remaining one or two had slow leaks, but I still have my terribly made balloon kit helium filled nixie heart :P I've made a few attempts more recently at 5mm diameter 3-character nixies. A couple kinda work, but I'll be working on improving them after I finish my neon sign processing control panel.

[@rndmlogin]

That was really cool. I love the look of nixies. I have a nice little nixie clock my wife got for me and it is awesome, but wow that purple is pretty special! Thanks for posting, it was entertaining to watch this come together.

[@tomterrif8503]

Fascinating! Love the DIY mad scientist vibe in Grandpa's basement!

[@KennethScharf]

Real nixies insulate the wire leads with small diameter glass sleeves so that only the numbers glow. Purple glow is from Nitrogen in the air.

[@freeelectron8261]

Must have been a blast when you fired up the numbers for the firs time! Nice electric blue.

[@jdflyback]

Thank you!

[@getcartercarpark.]

Absolutely amazing how you manage to make thermionic devices from scratch (not just Nixie tubes), and they work, no one can criticize how well they function because they do work, they are not being made on a commercial production line or with professional thermionic manufacturing tools. I only wish there was a way to correspond directly with you to ask questions, not that I have ever made or intend to make, but what you are doing, it is just so interesting to someone who has worked in the electrical engineering industry and in electronics and in retirement spent many 100's of hours restoring old valve (tube) radios. 👍

[@EyeRed789]

wow that looks amazing! great job!

[@jdflyback]

Thank you!

[@everybot-it]

So many high IQ techniques! Impressive!

[@agranero6]

Wow. Low pressure air give a nice glow, but I bet they don't use that because it generates UV.

[@RODALCO2007]

Excellent job, great that you made a Nixie tube yourself and got it working.

[@user-nn4xg8xw7j]

Глядя твои ролики я не перестаю удивляться, и сделал вывод что твоему мастерству нет предела. Я буду крайне удивлен если ты не работаешь в какой-нибудь научной сфере

[@fasrart]

what a beautiful glow! amazing job

[@mspeir]

I love how all your tools are just hacked together from everyday parts. I could go to Home Depot, Walmart and a junkyard and get everything I would need, save for the glass and wire. Most people that post videos such as these use unreasonably expensive, purpose-built tools, making such projects out of reach for 99.9% of their viewers. Great job!

[@LutzSchafer]

Absolutely amazing with how little DIY tools you create amazing results.

[@Time-cc2qb]

These videos are total ASMR

[@ghlscitel6714]

I love the beer can clamp design. It's awesome.

[@ZeedijkMike]

That is an awsome result. Keep up the good and interesting work.

[@Pulverrostmannen]

Very neat trick to basically create a "gassy" vacuum tube and make it do Nixie glow. it is a very nice color actually. I wonder how long it could operate if it would keep the same level of vacuum over time

[@flintmonz]

Well done !

[@Spirit532]

For having only "caveman" tools and no dual spindle glass lathe, I'd call that a pretty good job! Would be curious to see how long it lasts, since it's likely not perfectly sealed. Minor correction: there was no high vacuum. You pumped it down directly with a backing pump, which is acceptable, but you were still in the low(foreline) range. If I had to guess, no lower than 1e-2 mbar with all those stopcocks.

[@dimanazarenko2921]

Looking amazing, I thinking about do like big bulb with a dancing man or something 🤔🤩

[@DeathCapAmplification]

I wish Mr. Wizards World was like this, everyone would be making their own tubes and amps!

[@TecKonstantin]

great!

[@pamperchusqueek8193]

I always thought to open a regular one and puting in a different gas... I like green

[@hellishnickolas6981]

😍 ювелірна робота

[@wyager]

Very cool!

[@davekendall9749]

Great skill , binary 0,1 tubes would be cool for a logic circuit. Maybe 4 in an old short fluorescent tube, lf you could get a good vacuum. But maybe the wrong glass to work with. 👏

[@elektoniktutorial]

sangat bagus , dari indonesia jawatimur mojokerto - mojosari... hadir, dan subcribe

[@Joaomotta01]

Parabéns meu amigo incríve, você é muito criatividade.

[@robinbinder8658]

wooooow how am i only discovering your channel now.... if i ever manage to get of my ass to donate money to a channel, it will be this one

[@ShawnWrona]

It’s beautiful 😍

[@jordanclarke2996]

That was awesome, might have a go at this my self, Subscribed !

[@richb419]

Hi try scoring once without overlap, double scoring usually causes uneven breaks.

[@jozefnovak7750]

Super! Beatiful! Thank you Very much!

[@krzysztofwaleska]

Beautiful color. For me it is eben better than red/orange in regular nixie! How about lifespan of such tube? Better or worse than regular nixie tube?

[@clytle374]

Can you tell us more about your vacuum pump setup? Good video

[@85Studios]

@Jdffyback Why don't you put your evacuation tube on the top of the tube so that you do not have the stem portion sticking out of the side, it would look much better as a finished product.

[@AppliedCryogenics]

That discharge color from air is quite lovely. I think I might even prefer it to Neon. Is it significantly dimmer than a neon bulb would be? That's the only thing I can think of to explain why it didn't show up in commercial products.

[@aaronmurphy5060]

That is soooooooo freaking cool. Great job, fantastic results, I love your videos!! Might have to try that some day. I've molybdenum wire for an element sample, orig used to scrape screens off broken phones. It comes with a gold coating on it and was super cheap. I wonder if that would work for the through wires as I don't have tungsten in wire form. I'll keep watching, you just keep making cool stuff, deal?

[@KeritechElectronics]

Sooooooo lovely, and I adore the color :)

[@redstonecommander5190]

Wow, look at that you made your own prototype nixie tube using not neon, but xenon gas

[@BastiElektronik]

Absolutely amazing channel!

[@fjs1111]

darn good at this

[@vincetaylor6126]

Thanks, you're awesome

[@midnightraiin4035]

You're really inspiring!

[@user-rl9jj6hp3w]

this is awesome 👍

[@MichaelKingsfordGray]

Why don't you use parallel pliers to pinch off the glass seal? (Awesome work, by the way.)

[@redstonecommander5190]

Now I need to do is add them with all 10 numbers 0 to 9 and have the same gas in a much more thicker tube

[@belhakru2351]

Я в детстве тоже радио собирал из лезвия и булавки.

[@85Studios]

@Jdiffyback I would like to see you make a working Clock out of this type of tube. Can you please do that?

[@ziweiwang3881]

you did a really great job! these glowing numbers are so beautiful! but my question is how to solve the problem of chemical reaction between nitrogen and metal?

[@jdflyback]

Thank you! I do not think it is currently a problem. The electrodes are made of nickel and the tube runs at a low temperature so I would think they would be ok. I think the real problem with this tube is sputtering. After running for a short amount of time there is already a small black spot on the side of the glass. This tube will probably have a short life due to that. This can be reduced by rounding of the edges to avoid sharp points on the digits.

[@jskratnyarlathotep8411]

@@jdflyback ah, so THAT's why they encase digits in a metal shielding and a grid on top!

[@basspig]

I wonder if encasing the support rods in glass would prevent them from glowing along with the rest of the numerals?

[@CH_Pechiar]

The magic glow of nixies..

[@richardstumph7833]

Great work,

[@kznsq77]

It is simply amazing!

[@rancillinmontgomery2480]

I’m fucking impressed!

[@hapskie]

That's beautiful. Always wondered how hard it would be to make nixie tubes with different colors. What gasses/colors would be possible?

[@mrmike1972]

Have you ever used burnt out fluorescent tubes cleaned out, then used as envelopes for new tubes?

[@frankowalker4662]

Just out of curiosity, how much power does your spot welder use ? Every time it's activated, all the lights dim. :) So, is that part of the display for your home made Nixie clock ? (I'm thinking the 10's of hours part)

[@wtechboy18]

I'd love to see you redo this with laser-cut digits. Also, how would you prevent the stems from lighting up? I have no idea other than maybe moving the anode grid or something so there's no electrical field past some cutoff point.

[@PlumGurly]

Maybe move/reduce the grid and maybe insulate the stems with glass. Maybe the inner "bulb" needs to extend up that far where it is touching the digits.

[@Thefreakyfreek]

this is the most janky ass nixy tube i have ever seen but it is a nixy tupe and its diy so tere is that .i woud love a mad max style clock whit tese elements and doing it whit just a blow torch is impressive i have worked glas for 2 years lost of fun but a very steap leuring curve and that was whit a fully ajustible oxi propane and compressed air torch seeing you do it whit just a blow torch may just be enough for my to attempt it as well good job

[@alex_mc_arrow]

Wow, cool! Is it any possible to make a clock using these indicators?

[@300poundbassman]

Wicked channel ❤️😎😎

[@radiofun232]

Beautiful, such an interesting project. Where do you find that glass and wire material to make the electrodes? Can you buy it somewhere?

[@jdflyback]

Thanks a lot! The glass is borosilicate glass and can be bought at Mountain Glass or ebay: www.mountainglass.com/boro-glass-33-coe/clear/tubing-and-rod/brand/Chinese,Pyrex/featured/On-Sale/type/Tube/wall/Standard The electrodes consist of nickel wire, tungsten wire, copper wire and thin Nickel sheet. The nickel wire can be bought on ebay from many different sellers: www.ebay.com/itm/281882419537?hash=item41a1806151:g:9woAAOSwMNxXaB7a The tungsten wire for the seals is also from ebay from Prommark: www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_ssn=prommark&_osacat=0&_armrs=1&_odkw=&_from=R40&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313&_nkw=tungsten&_sacat=0 The thin nickel sheet for use during welding copper wire to tungsten is one source I do not have. I currently scavenge it from the plates of dead vacuum tubes, there might be a seller on ebay. Also be sure to check out glasslinger: tubecrafter.com/ , kzbin.info and Simplifer: simplifier.neocities.org/ for more tube making.

[@radiofun232]

@@jdflyback Thanks for your detailed answer, much appreciated.

[@Erhannis]

What kind of torch/gas do you use? It feels like I have a hard time getting the glass up to temperature, and a hard time keeping it there. I'm using a mapp gas canister and blowtorch head, from home depot.

[@endressonmartins8930]

Woou very good brow

[@TMS5100]

Homemade nixie tube, fallout new vegas edition.

[@jdflyback]

LMAO Thanks!

[@bob4analog]

This is brilliant! What was the voltage for the nixie? If you mentioned it, i didn't get it, thanks.

[@Erhannis]

9:34 Is this segment sped up, or real-time? Edit: looks like it's sped up. Please don't speed up the parts where time might matter, or at least add an e.g. "2x" notation in the corner. It's hard to replicate your process when it's not clear what actually happened.

[@Andre_Thomasson]

does the envelope get a hole when heated on one side because of expanding gases inside of it? or is it some weird glass mechanics?

[@luislopez-pf5fi]

Epic!!!, Like!!

[@lunatic-unicorn]

I wonder with so little vacuum will they burn out really quick?

[@georgedeguzman7184]

IM TRYING TO FIGURE WHAT THESE NIXIE TUBES COULD BE USED FOR IN A REAL WORLD ENVIRONMENT AND COULD SOME MULTI COLORED NIXIES BE CREATED FOR 100 WATT GUITAR AMPLIFIERS ?

[@markojuros6533]

Master.

[@sausage5849]

Fantastic and incredible! What sort of drive do you need to light them up like that?

[@jdflyback]

In this case I am using a very ballasted 3kv neon transformer. Later on I used a 500v dc supply with a series resistor

[@burakuda]

fantastic!

[@tentative_flora2690]

You could drive it backwards and get a squiggly.

[@TinkeringNerd]

Nice spot welder! What material jaws do you use to spot weld nickel to copper? If they are copper, don’t they stick to the nickel? Thanks

[@jdflyback]

They are copper. They rely on there own thermal mass to not stick. They do stick sometimes though.

[@janadden8762]

nice Video

[@jskratnyarlathotep8411]

that's so nice color, why don't they make nixies with nitrogen? does it degrade electrods over time?

[@Cheburashka_420]

You sound like an old Michael Cera

[@sl60tv40]

බුදුසරණයි !❤️

[@ShopperPlug]

How long can this nixe tube stay lit for 24/7? Also, how is the air captured inside the tube after vacuum, simply just let air go in right after vacuum due to atmospheric pressure? Can you make a video showing how you made the spot welder? Thanks.

[@NicksStuff]

Is there anything preventing the anode to touch the 2 under slight vibrations? If not, how do real nixie tubes manage that?

[@TheOnedeadguy]

They normally use spacers and make the entire digit assembly as one unit, rather than freefloating ones like shown!

[@NicksStuff]

@@TheOnedeadguy Thank you

[@garyramsey4275]

I just discovered your channel. Excellent work! One question: why do you close off the end of the evacuation stem, only to later cut that closure off again?

[@jdflyback]

It is so that air pressure can be used while attaching the evacuation stem to the envelope. A cork or something could be used but it is easier and more reliable to just seal the tube and cut the end off when done.

[@diamondperformancefab5931]

Where did you learn how to construct glass tubes, seal them, etc? What is the torch you are using?

[@Van-der-Waals-Kraft]

I probably overheard it, but what's the cause of the purple glow, instead of the usual orange?

[@joshjones3227]

Residual gas from the atmosphere, 78% of which is nitrogen, and roughly 20% oxygen. Neon tubes and nixies are evacuated of all air, then backfilled with a small amount of neon. Different gasses glow different colors when excited by an electric field.

[@axzzxa4]

👍

[@timthatshim8037]

👍❤