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The Art of Making a Nixie Tube

Dalibor Farný6 HN recommenders · 2017–2026
6.3M views · documentary · evergreen · Uploaded 2016-09-29

Dalibor Farny documents the hand manufacture of a nixie tube, from glassblowing to evacuation, with text notes rather than narration. He revived the lost craft of nixie tube making.

HN commenters call it mesmerizing and a great look at how things are actually made by a dedicated craftsman.

Manufacturing & industrial processesElectronics & circuit designWoodworking, metalworking & workshop skills

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9 comments from Hacker News

@mmagin2017 · in “What the death of the CRT display technology means for classic arcade machines”

CRT production is a much more complex bit of modern manufacturing than making vinyl LPs. This youtube video documents what a rather dedicated individual does to resurrect small-scale Nixie tube manufacturing: [VIDEO] And technologically, color CRTs are way beyond that. [LINK]

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@zxcvgm2018 · in “Hand Made Vacuum Tubes by Claude Paillard (2012) [video]”

if you liked watching this, then maybe you'd also like these videos, which i watched some time ago: making a miniature vacuum tube triode [LINK] The Art of Making a Nixie Tube [VIDEO]

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@dustinmoorenet2018 · in “The Nixie Tube Story: The Neon Display Tech That Engineers Can’t Quit”

The video in the article is just amazing. You don't normally get to see the exact details of how things get made. [VIDEO]

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@CaliforniaKarl2018 · in “The Vacuum Tube’s Many Modern-Day Uses”

And of course, there's the Nixie tube. [VIDEO] (Previously posted in [LINK] , the maker's web site via [LINK] , and covered in an IEEE article via [LINK] )

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@janekm2020 · in “Casio CQ-1 calculator and clock”

Getting a custom VFD made would be a very expensive process indeed. If you need a very small number of segments then Dalibor Farny can make a custom Nixie tube, which is similar technology: [LINK] Also a good introduction to how they are made (making a VFD would be similar but more difficult): [VIDEO] Otherwise Noritake itron still make VFD monitors for industrial applications (seems they have high temp advantages over LCDs): [LINK]

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@brokenmachine2021 · in “List of Special Elevator Modes”

Going even more OT, I watched a mesmerizing and beautiful youtube video about making nixie tubes. I love craftsman videos. [VIDEO]

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@jkingsman2021 · in “IoT Nixie Tubes”

Tangentially, this is a beautiful (with no music or narration; text notes only) high quality video of modern artisanal (i.e. all by hand) nixie tube manufacturing. [VIDEO]

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@dymk2023 · in “One Man’s Quest to Revive the Great American Vacuum Tube”

I came to comment about Dalibor as well - amazing youtube channel. Recommended viewing for anyone who loves home-ish-scale, high-quality manufacturing: [VIDEO] He's got to be one of the world's experts on nixie tube manufacturing, at this point.

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@alnwlsn2026 · in “The Cathode Ray Tube site”

In some ways it's never been easier to get all the equipment you will need. But if you're wanting to make ones even half as good as the ones on this page, you'd probably want to become a skilled glassblower and outfit a lab that looks something like this: [VIDEO]

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