Another exciting thing I did at work was make this 25mm crackle tube!

The folks in the office are talking about selling 8 foot crackle tubes. I had never done one in 25mm, but hey it totally works, especially when you bake out the filling in a kiln! I dont think 8 feet would be too heavy... so long as it was handled carefully.

I learned that the opaque colorful frit is not as nice as the clear-and that it will actually be cheaper to buy crystal f4 "frit" than it will be to pay people to crush glass. That is, unless the office can upsell the recycling- our fill glass is currently recycled tubes.

I was kinda fearing the 8 footer, but now I really DO want to make one. Its slow and meditative- as long as the tube doesn't split open and spill its crushed glass guts everywhere :)

I really should make a peertube video of this so you can see the lightning

#neon #crackletube #plasma #plasma? #glass #specialeffects #fancy #25mm #nyc #workinprogress #work #frit #crush #recycled

A test setup of the crackle tubes I made for Daniel Tepper. These are neat to make and simple in a strange way.

I learned that they should be run on separate transformers when together light this. I left the red and emerald tubes on together like this on one transformer for a few hours and they got hot and eventually the electricity took a shortcut straight through the walls of the glass so I remade them.

Im learning too :)

#lightning #sculpture #glass #fabrication #nyc #crackletube #neon

A little video of the xenon and Blacklight tubes for Daniel Tepper. Forbidden Palestine Colors. The Blacklight crackle is a little brighter than I thought it would be. The xenon is neat. If you shake the tube the powders settle and the paths move when the glass adjusts. The powders brighten it.

These both look kinda dim next to the red and the green.

The xenon sure is fun to have!

#neon #xenon #blacklight #crackletube #glass #plasma #specialeffects #nyc #sculpture #light #lightning #brooklyn

I got to use my cheap-O ZVS driver induction heater today. Been making some crackle tubes for an artist named Daniel Tepper. The crackle tubes are fun, real lighting in a bottle. I heat them with a weak, gentle transformer and use the induction heater help heat the electrodes (Activating a getter and helpful alkali coating).

I think I will make some more of this classic special effect

#neon #induction #zvs #crackletube #glass #sculpture #art #studio #plasma #brooklyn #fabrication #murano

Here is a little video of that crackle tube so you can see the lightning.

After 10 years of neon, this is my first crackle tube. Made exclusively with the crossfire and bombarded. Cheap O side tubulation.

I think I might make another. I wanna make a ruby red one.... I also want different gases. Other colors of glass might be nice.

What should be written in neon lightning?

#lightning #glass #crackletube #neon #plasma ? #brooklyn #nyc #sculpture

After hours of "bombarding" off an on with the aging transformer, holding it over a big puffy flame an a few flushes of #neon gas, the crackle tube fill finally cleaned up!

The lightning arcs tighten up and get more active as the gas pressure increases. Too much pressure and it will run hot with resistance. This one is 24 torr (755 is atmosphere)

Ok I have crackle tube fever now. If I just wasn't so busy with other work now.

Thanks Bill Concannon!

#sculpture #light #crackletube #nyc #glass