Tube Fab

crgwbr

I know this isn't parallax related, but I couldn't pass up posting this. A guy in france actually built his own vacuum tubes, and video taped the whole thing. It's kind of long (and in French), but still very interesting.

Hack-a-day Post
Direct to Video

-Craig

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QuattroRS4

That's impressive ... talk about a labour of love ... you would want to be seriously dedicated to do that ... what I couldn't help thinking throughout the video was 'how long did it take to perfect each step' ... Looks like he built the majority of his tools as well .. Kudos to that guy !

John Twomey

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'Necessity is the mother of invention'

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Astonishing! He even injection molded his own tube bases! One tool I can see right now I must have is a little spot welder.

Some things from the video that puzzled me, that maybe someone else can shed light on:

1. What was the drum-shaped device that opened like a clamshell? He used it on several pieces of glass. Was it to dry the glass?

2. During the vacuuming-out process, he used an induction heater to heat up the electrodes. I assume this was to outgas them as much as possible before the tube was sealed?

3. Commercially-made tubes use a "getter" to bind the last molecules of gas after the tube is sealed. That's why you see a shiny deposit inside the glass wall near the top of the tube. I didn't see that here. I wonder how the lifetime of the filament is affected.

Craig, thanks for posting this. It made my day!

-Phil

PLJack

That was beautiful.
I really envy the fact that he makes an apparatus for just about everthing.

I'm with Phil about the "little spot welder". Very handy.

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- - - PLJack - - -

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Perfection in design is not achieved when there is nothing left to add.
It is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.

Paul Baker

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) said...
1. What was the drum-shaped device that opened like a clamshell? He used it on several pieces of glass. Was it to dry the glass?

-Phil

This is just a guess, but could the device be used for annealing? He seems to do the step after each time he shapes the glass, so perhaps it's to remove the stresses caused by the uneven heating from the torch.

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Paul Baker
Propeller Applications Engineer

Parallax, Inc.

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Paul,

I hadn't thought of annealing, but I bet that's it! Here's a Wikipedia article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annealing_(glass)

-Phil

pwillard

1. What was the drum-shaped device that opened like a clamshell? He used it on several pieces of glass. Was it to dry the glass?

I've worked with glass. Most certainly that was for the annealing process as mentioned.· Anytime you work with molten glass you need to place it in a kiln with a controlled cooling period.·(In my experience, only a kiln will prevent the·glass from cracking later by annealing the glass.)·· Letting it air cool will certainly make the glass unstable.


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There's nothing like a new idea and a warm soldering iron.

Dgswaner

I couldn't stop watching, He makes it look so easy! I love the end he's in his shop machining in a Suit jacket! might as well have fun in style!

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"A complex design is the sign of an inferior designer." - Jamie Hyneman, Myth Buster

DGSwaner

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

That video has still got me thinking spot welders. On eBay, there's one particular model that's nearly ubiquitous — and cheap. Here's a photo:



'Anybody here have experience with one of these?

-Phil

parsko

Phil,

I thought you knew everything!!!

In general, these things are pretty easy to use. You simply dial in the current and time (I think there are normally two dials on decent ones), and the welder does it by itself (meaning, there is a mechanism that, once the preassure is apply, it will automatically release the current and "pinchers" after the time is up). Pretty straightforward. Location is probably one think one must consider. For instance, if what you are welding is small, you might not be able to get the pinchers (electrodes) into tight spaces. But, I could imagine that the more popular models have tons of differenct attachments to solve said problem. But at what cost???

I think we should start a "stump the guru" thread, just to find out what you guys don't know!!! [noparse]:)[/noparse] [noparse]:)[/noparse]

-Parsko

PLJack

That welder is $80 on ebay. Not a bad price really.

Found a DIY welder here:
The Home-Brew Spot Welder

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- - - PLJack - - -

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Perfection in design is not achieved when there is nothing left to add.
It is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

The transformer in the DIY welder is also partly DIY and is basically just a nicer version of the one shown here!

-Phil

PLJack

The welder you linked to looks like it would work pretty good until you ran out of live people to operate it.

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- - - PLJack - - -

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Perfection in design is not achieved when there is nothing left to add.
It is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

LOL! I wondered about that. Do you think it even has a transformer?

-Phil

James Long

Because I know somethings about spot welding I'll put my input in:

This is not as easy as you think. Spot welding is almost an art. The pressure and time·are extremely critical. Once you have those set.....it works well.

Most people make the transformers from old microwave transformers (low volt/high amp)

I may come with a transformer......I just don't know.

James L

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James L

Partner/Designer
Lil Brother LLC (SMT Assembly Services)

kelvin james

Agreed that spot welding is not as easy at it looks. Lots of trial and error to get it right. If the stress on the joint is not that significant, you can get away with a less than good weld. Destructive testing is the only way to check, like trying to pry it apart and visually checking the burn through. The only thing that concerns me about the ebay welder is no interchangable tips. It is only copper, it wears fast, the tip has to honed frequently for good conductivity. Since there is no cooling for the tips, they will wear fast. Otherwise, for 80 bucks, just welding some thin guage metal and not used in a production enviroment, it would probably be okay. Watch for sparks !



A further look leads me to believe the tips are screw in and interchangeable. Large lack of info available on this thing.

Post Edited (kelvin james) : 1/12/2008 5:42:57 PM GMT