It can be done, but it's very dangerous. Bombarding current is on the order of hundreds of mA, and in the kilovolt range. I've heard of incidents where an arc went thru the manifold and into the evacuation pump; if such a path is possible, there are undoubtedly other paths thru your body, which are fatal at the currents being used. Several people have been killed doing fractal art with a microwave oven transformer, and that's at a lower voltage than bombarding. It only takes 1 small mistake; for me, the reward was nowhere near the risk so I never got into neon art. For others, it's a different story and that's why they jump out of airplanes, URBEX high rooftops and bridges, or spray tags on freeway signs.
On Monday, November 25, 2024 at 5:13:14 PM UTC-8 Miles Thatch wrote: > I'm not sure what is so dramatic about the bombarding process? Sure it's > high voltages, as one would expect with this sort of manufacturing but if > the young lady can do it with confidence, I don't see why full grown men > here can't. > > On Saturday, November 23, 2024 at 12:49:13 PM UTC-5 Instrument Resources > of America wrote: > >> I saw bombarding being done. I sit here now shaking and shuddering from >> the experience. Here is a fairly detailed video of neon sign >> manufacturing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH635AEawGY >> The bombarding process starts at about 12:30. The demonstration that I saw, >> they deliberately drew a two foot arc just for show. It was impressive, and >> S-C-A-R-R-Y. This may not help you with your endeavors, but it is >> interesting, and mentions 'neon' a number of times. >> >> Ira. >> >> >> >> On 11/22/2024 8:27 PM, gregebert wrote: >> >> >> Several years ago I researched neon signage, and you need a high-vacuum, >> around 1 micron (10-3 Torr). The books I have didn't get into specific >> vacuum levels, as there are multiple ways to cleanse the tubes, notably via >> bombarding. They did not cover nixie tubes. >> >> To get micron-level vacuum, you need a mechanical pump to get around 100 >> microns, followed by a diffusion pump. There might be other ways to get the >> required cleanliness without a diffusion pump, but I dont have any details. >> If you just want to do some experimenting, start with a mechanical pump. I >> plan to do that soon, as I have a small pump used for evacuating air >> conditioning equipment. >> >> Some of the reasons I'm not doing neon work are the cost of the >> equipment, the dangers of bombarding, need for mercury to extend tube life, >> and I expect it to be difficult to find getter material. All I want to do >> is get some sort of discharge glow, and play around with easy-to-find gases >> like argon and helium. >> >> I saw a mention in the Weston book of pressures in the 10-2 to 10-4 Torr, >> though it covers theory of operation rather than fabrication details. >> On Friday, November 22, 2024 at 12:33:28 PM UTC-8 Miles Thatch wrote: >> >>> >>> [image: vac.png] >> >> -- >> 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]. >> To view this discussion, visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/7e19cde9-eb07-42fa-bb3b-2ccf0d4b22a6n%40googlegroups.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/7e19cde9-eb07-42fa-bb3b-2ccf0d4b22a6n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> >> -- 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]. To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/0272312f-980f-435c-9f65-9ca68a4772d1n%40googlegroups.com.
