Hi Folks. Some of you may be aware that I use my Forge to prototype cases for various electronic gadgets and clocks that use vintage display technologies. Well, here’s one of the latest ‘creations’. Couldn’t do this kind of stuff as easily as I can now without the GlowForge as I’m sure you’re all aware! It’s a mixture of cutting, engraving and scoring. The screw holes were countersunk with a drill and flame polished…alas, the laser can’t do that (yet?)…The light guides are cut using a table saw.
Happy to answer any questions. These will eventually be for sale but with nice brushed aluminum cases instead of the clear acrylic prototype here.
oooh…how do you set the depth and angle? Does it work well on acrylic? I would have thought there would be a bit of a mess doing it that way…would be interested to try it!
Hi Folks! These are E1T tubes…a very special form of cathode ray tube that were designed by Phillips in the late 1940’s, early 1950’s. It was designed to count from 0 to 9 for use in scientific instruments. For an exceptional write up about how they came to be and their operation I would thoroughly recommend the following website https://www.dos4ever.com/E1T/E1T.html
Anyway, they’re a very rare tube nowadays, and make a pretty attractive timepiece!! You will find a few others on the web if you look for them, but this design is fully Open Source and details on how to make your own (including the case) will be published soon (Fully built clocks will also be for sale, but there won’t be many due to the rarity of the tubes).
They do have heaters inside them like any other cathode ray tube and do get warm, but not overly so. There’s a good air gap around the tubes and the light guides, so no issues there.
@Tom_A - Yes, there’s plenty of nixie tubes in this household, but these are different (but from roughly the same era, pre-date nixies by a couple of years).
