I would buy that! On Friday, April 21, 2017 at 11:39:29 PM UTC-4, Jens Boos wrote: > > Wow, now we did it. Is that really the message we want to send to a person > who is looking into making Nixie tubes? > > I admire Dalibor for what he has achieved. Perhaps some of you remember > that I tried the same and did not get far, this is my best "Nixie tube" I > ever made: > > > > But all of this aside, I ask you if these comments are really helpful? > Calling somebody a "wannabe" in a disrespectful manner? I, for one, like > people who "want to" achieve something. Don't you? > > Cheers > Jens > > > On 4/21/2017 7:01 PM, Instrument Resources of America wrote: > > There are a LOT of WANNABE's out there that do NOT have the slightest clue > as to what is involved in such a venture!!! Ira. > > > On 4/21/2017 9:41 AM, chuck richards wrote: > > Dalibor, > > Thanks again for all that you do. > > You obviously have devoted your whole life for the past several > years to the manufacturing of high-quality brand new large nixie > tubes. > > There will always be some folks on the side-lines who want to > talk about and to theorize about "better" and "cheaper" methods > of tube production. > > Not bloody likely!! > > What you have accomplished is most remarkable! > > I especially like reading the part where you explain that > computers and automation don't help much. > > That is a fact that people who have never tried any production > methods will argue with. But, as you point out, once one actually > does their experiments and starts learning how to get it done, one > will find that computers and automation just can't cope with the > entire situation very well at all. > > Again, congratulations to you and your entire team of dedicated > people! > > Chuck > > > > > ---- Original Message ---- > From: [email protected] <javascript:> > To: [email protected] <javascript:> > Subject: RE: [neonixie-l] Re: Manufacturing affordable large, new > nixie tubes > Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2017 12:16:33 -0700 (PDT) > > Hello! > > I am sending few notes to this topic, from a perspective of someone > > who > > spent last 5 years exclusively in nixie tubes manufacture ;-) > > IMHO, $25 nixie tube is not possible. Nixie tubes were never so > > cheap, even > > in 60s, the less expensive tube from Burroughs was for $8 (equal to > > today's > > $64) when bought in a quantity of 1000pcs, type B-5016, no mercury. > > Large > > tube (B-7094) were for $30 (today's $240). In this time, the nixie > > tubes > > were cutting edge technology with generous budget, hoard of R&D > > engineers > > and whole tube backing industry. They were produced in large > > quantities for > > lot of equipment, mostly measuring devices - almost never for > > digital > > clocks, they were simply expensive for consumer market. > You can now find small tubes on eBay for around $5, mostly russian > > tubes - > > their price is now determined by market (what are hobbyists willing > > to pay > > for it), not manufacturing costs. They were produced in large > > volumes in > > soviet central planned economy, even when the demand was decreasing > > - this > > is why there are still full stocks of them in former soviet > > countries. > > You mention "current manufacturing methods", we actually dont have > > much new > > technologies which could simplify the nixie tube manufacture. The > > use of > > computers is very limited and doesnt help much. Also new > > technologies like > > laser cutting etc. doesnt help (only for machinery construction, > > jigs..). > > There are tens of operations involved in the > > assembly/sealing/pumping > > procedures - the quantity of machines needed for automated line > > would be > > big and their price very high. As NeonJohn suggested - few $M would > > be > > necessary just for the machinery. You would also soon find that > > automation > > make demands on supplier's tolerances ( e.g. glass thickness, > > diameter) > > which is beyond their standard production capabilities = back to > > hand > > processing.. This is one of the reason why large factories like > > Blackburn > > had own facilities for production of all the raw materials/prefabs. > Last year, I had a meeting with people from german company producing > glassworking machines - simple semiautomated machine just for > > sealing > > operation (stem/envelope) which still needs operator starts at > > $250.000 and > > its production capacity is not so high (my estimation was 30 > > tubes/hour). > > And this is one of very few pieces of equipment you can purchase, > > the rest > > is necessary to develop - according to your specifications and > > process > > description. > > But even if you had a fully equiped factory now, it would take you > > long > > time to get to working nixie tubes. It is not about machines, but > > about the > > operator/R&D - you need to know when the tube is sufficiently > > degassed > > before filling, what purity of the raw material is necessary, purity > > of the > > gases, time for aging etc.. Many factors, each of them can make your > > tube > > prone to failure. Not immediately, but after year of operation for > > instance > > - your backers will not wait years until you come up with working > combination.. > > Some data from our business: > - Our price for a tube is now set to $145. > - We make around 130 tubes per month (+ handful of clocks) with > > monthly > > revenue of around 20.000 USD. > - We are now a team of 5 people and this production volume makes us > > really > > busy (I work 7 days a week, all day long). > - We need 250 square meters (2700sqft) of space for our current > > equipment. > > - As for the "butique price" - my monthly net salary is $384, I get > > paid > > since February 2017 ;-) But my people's salary is above average (for > > a > > given profession and our region). > - I invested around $80.000 from my personal savings on the > > beginning > > I know that if I want to really succeed and earn money, I need to > > cut down > > the production costs. So I am step by step making our manufacture > > efficient > > with the intention to make our nixie tubes less expensive one day. I > > am > > investing our profit back to tooling/equipment, I am for example > > working on > > a high vacuum rotary manifold for carousel pumping machine with > > higher > > production capacity. I recently reverse-engineered Philips vacuum > > locking > > mechanism (tube clamping) for the same machine. But I am not sure if > > it is > > possible to make nixie tubes for below $60-80 even with high level > > of > > automation. > > I hope it doesnt sound too discouraging ;-) just my $0.02 > > best regards, > > Dalibor Farny > > > On Wednesday, 19 April 2017 11:52:06 UTC+2, Aiden Koh wrote: > > I'm a product engineer taking on a new project. > With current manufacturing methods, I'm able to manufacture > > In-18/Z568M > > inspired nixie tubes, at a fraction of their market costs (sub 25 > > USD/pc). > > I don't compromise on quality. hence, it will be built with parts > > mostly > > sourced from the US, and have the quality management system > > ISO-certified. > > However, due to overhead costs, such a price is only available if > > the > > minimum demand for said tubes is reached. Hence I can only > > commence with > > the project when I know that there is enough interest. > > What are your thoughts? Would it interest you if such tubes exist? > > show > > your support, and large, affordable nixie tubes may finally be > > within our > > grasp! > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > > Groups "neonixie-l" group. > > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, > > send an email to [email protected] <javascript:>. > > To post to this group, send an email to [email protected] > <javascript:>. > To view this discussion on the web, visit > > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/7b6b98ca-36c7-42e5-a93f- > 9099a6830ca6%40googlegroups.com. > > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > > $4.95/mo. National Dialup, Anti-Spam, Anti-Virus, 5mb personal web space. > 5x faster dialup for only $9.95/mo. No contracts, No fees, No Kidding! See > http://www.All2Easy.net for more details! > > > >
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