This section describes methods for working glass for scientific vacuum devices such as glow tubes, filament lamps and thermionic devices. It is a record of the approaches which I have taken and the problems which I faced. The articles below apply to soda-lime glass and are intended to be read in order, starting at the top.
I am very much a novice and would welcome tips and constructive criticism from more experienced glass blowers.
| Title | Description | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | Why and how I started leaning to work with glass. | January 2004 |
| Getting Started | Simple equipment in order to begin. | January 2004 |
| Cutting Tubes | Cutting small diameter tubes. How to smooth the end of a tube. | January 2004 |
| Bending Tubes | Bending Tubes. | February 2004 |
| Joining / Annealing | Joining and annealing tubes. | February 2004 |
| Blowing Bulbs | How to blow glass bulbs. | February 2004 |
| Glass to Metal Seals | How wires can be sealed into glass envelopes. | February 2004 |
| Pump Unions | How to attach a glass tube to a metal vacuum system. | March 2009 |
| Glow Tube | How a long gas discharge tube can be made. | February 2004 |
| Panel Neon | How a panel neon style gas discharge tube can be made. | February 2004 |
| Lamp Autopsy | Much can be learned by taking things apart. | February 2004 |
| Filament Lamp A | How a simple filament lamp can be made. | February 2004 |
| Filament Lamp B | How a more elegant filament lamp can be made. | January 2004 |
| Cathode Ray Tube | How a simple cathode ray tube can be made. | March 2004 |
| Mg Evaporation | Evaporation of magnesium for use as a getter. | May 2004 |
| Mg Photo-Cell | A photoelectric cell using a magnesium photocathode. | May 2004 |
| Thermionic Diode | First attempts at making a seald-off thermionic device. | January 2006 |
| Glass Tube Cutter | A homemade hot wire glass tube cutting tool. | August 2008 |
| Annealing Oven | An oven for glass annealing and bakeout of vacuum devices. | July 2009 |
| Filament Lamp C | A lamp with a bulb, but a single part envelope. (With movie.) | July 2009 |
| Polariscope | A homemade polariscope for viewing stress in glass. | July 2009 |
| Didymium Glasses | The use of didymium glasses for glass working. | October 2009 |
| Triode 1 | The first attempt at making a homemade triode. | October 2009 |