Well this guy has tried:
http://home.earthlink.net/~lenyr/hm-triode.htm
Have a look around his site for a lot of other interesting experiments.
http://home.earthlink.net/~lenyr/hm-triode.htm
Have a look around his site for a lot of other interesting experiments.
hi prune, nobody here is attacking you. your question is just not apt for DIY. making a tube requires manufacturing process, equipment, skills and materials (which frank called the scratch). such a big endeavor is way out of DIY.
but, i'm not closing my mind about it. heck if somebody can lay out plans to make a 25w triode out of pepsi bottles i'm all ears (and eyes).
but, i'm not closing my mind about it. heck if somebody can lay out plans to make a 25w triode out of pepsi bottles i'm all ears (and eyes).
diy tubes
I recall Scientific American magazine, years (seems like centuries! maybe in the 60s or 70s) ago had some articles in their amateur experimenter section on making tubes. Maybe could check the Science Citation Index at a library to find them. They used a refrigerator compressor (rotary vane type) for a vacuum pump with a dry ice or calcium chloride H2O vapor trap. Nowadays, the heater/filament is no longer necessary, room temperature thermal emitters (50 nM TiO2 film on nickel) are available. So a triode only needs three vacuum feedthru leads now and actually should be fairly straightforward to build, I've been thinking of making some high current tubes (multi-ampere) this way myself. One can also get high hole density, laser microperforated sheet nowadays to cut the grids from. Some sources of info on tube technology and vacuum tech:
http://frank.pocnet.net/other/RCA/VTD_RCA/index.html
http://frank.pocnet.net/other/RCA/ETD62/index.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_2/103-3971273-7783034?v=glance&s=books
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t..._books_1/103-3971273-7783034?v=glance&s=books
You will also want to look up some info on glass blowing. Again, Scientific American had articles on this too, even put out a book on glass blowing for their readers. (I'd give you the title, but I'm on vacation at the moment, so can't pull it off the shelf.)
Don
I recall Scientific American magazine, years (seems like centuries! maybe in the 60s or 70s) ago had some articles in their amateur experimenter section on making tubes. Maybe could check the Science Citation Index at a library to find them. They used a refrigerator compressor (rotary vane type) for a vacuum pump with a dry ice or calcium chloride H2O vapor trap. Nowadays, the heater/filament is no longer necessary, room temperature thermal emitters (50 nM TiO2 film on nickel) are available. So a triode only needs three vacuum feedthru leads now and actually should be fairly straightforward to build, I've been thinking of making some high current tubes (multi-ampere) this way myself. One can also get high hole density, laser microperforated sheet nowadays to cut the grids from. Some sources of info on tube technology and vacuum tech:
http://frank.pocnet.net/other/RCA/VTD_RCA/index.html
http://frank.pocnet.net/other/RCA/ETD62/index.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_2/103-3971273-7783034?v=glance&s=books
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t..._books_1/103-3971273-7783034?v=glance&s=books
You will also want to look up some info on glass blowing. Again, Scientific American had articles on this too, even put out a book on glass blowing for their readers. (I'd give you the title, but I'm on vacation at the moment, so can't pull it off the shelf.)
Don
Fine, then that's an answer I can accept. But that's not how I read fdegrove's answer, especially given the context of another thread.
Speaking of which:
Link deleted by Management
Do not take this out of context. You managed to push my buttons, and, lacking your finesse in insult, I had no choice but to resort to brute force in my response.
I'll DIY most of what I need, or have done so in the past but draw the line at making my own vacuum tubes and also automobile tires. I did make a rear tire for my lawnmower engine powered minibike when I was a kid though 'cause I couldn't afford to buy a storebought tire. It never failed despite repeated use to 40 MPH. Ralph Nader would have had a bird. 
I don't see much need in DIY'ing tubes until there is a shortage. They made trillions of tubes and many survive.
I don't see much need in DIY'ing tubes until there is a shortage. They made trillions of tubes and many survive.
Wrong! You always have a choice in how you respond.
Just because you are intellectually unable to respond in a way that respects the standards and culture of these forums does not entitle you to use such gross and offensive statements.
Don't respond to Frank any more in this thread or it will be moved to Texas and terminated. Frank, lay off a bit while we straighten this out.
DIY Valves -- some photos
If you click the link and scroll down the page, you can see some examples of homemade valves. These are photos of projects in the book Instruments of Amplification.
http://www.mindspring.com/~pfriedr/books/ioa/gallery/gallery.htm
While these probably aren't too practical to use, they show that you can make working valves from readily available parts.
If you click the link and scroll down the page, you can see some examples of homemade valves. These are photos of projects in the book Instruments of Amplification.
http://www.mindspring.com/~pfriedr/books/ioa/gallery/gallery.htm
While these probably aren't too practical to use, they show that you can make working valves from readily available parts.
A store on eBay called Heritage Equipment has some machinery and devices that can be used to make vacuum tubes. Of course the machinery isn't all you need. High purity materials for the elements are essential and not that easy to come by in small batches. I suppose you could disassemble tubes not otherwise suited to audio and make power triodes or whatever from them. I can only imagine the best efforts at home-made tubes would still be sh***ier than the worst Chinese stuff!
John
John
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