As has been pointed out earlier, 3D printing is not a hobby.
If you've got a new car, it has 3D printed parts. Many big manufacturers of all types are using 3D printing. A lot of them call it Additive Manufacturing. Look it up on the interwebs. There are metal 3D printers and all kinds of other materials being used to make everything from rocket ships to automobiles and aircraft. Look up Stratasys 3D printers and EOS. Not many of these machines is priced for hobbyists, nor are they being used by only hobbyists.
There are lots of hobbyist level 3D printers as well, several of my friends have them. I am thinking I might get one eventually and maybe even convert my mini-mill to CNC.
At work we have at least 3 3D printers and we use them to make the housings for prototype products. It's slow but we can make a batch of complex parts in a few hours to overnight depending on size. We can also print in metal alloys. 3D printing is ubiquitous in industry today, and has been around for more than 25 years, when I worked for a large mid-fi company in the 1990s some of our prototypes were 3D printed - in those days a very expensive big deal, not so much today.
At work we have at least 3 3D printers and we use them to make the housings for prototype products. It's slow but we can make a batch of complex parts in a few hours to overnight depending on size. We can also print in metal alloys. 3D printing is ubiquitous in industry today, and has been around for more than 25 years, when I worked for a large mid-fi company in the 1990s some of our prototypes were 3D printed - in those days a very expensive big deal, not so much today.
Hmm, someone must have put a hidden camera in my ham shack 😆
I have only just stumbled over this, it's a good read with an interview at the end with the CEO of WE https://audioxpress.com/article/meeting-supply-for-vacuum-tubes-time-to-save-those-tubes/
Assuming a 300B assembly line and skill set is suited to pushing out 12ax7 production. The audioexpress article above touches on the challenges.
Regardless, gearing up to replicate the design shortcomings and accounting decisions make 70 plus years ago and discarding the progress accomplished since is self defeating. As a simple example, many threads in this forum discuss better-performing alternatives to the venerable 12au7, like the 7119. WE could consider repackaging one in a 12au7 compatible bottle and launching as the 12au7we or whatever with few design lifts.
New, improved and better performing is a better market position than a perfect homage tube.
Canon had 3D printers here for $300 a couple of years back.
I was surprised at the price, but having no experience with them I cannot comment if it was a good deal or a bad one.
I was surprised at the price, but having no experience with them I cannot comment if it was a good deal or a bad one.
I registered. I would love to see them made in the US. More jobs for people in this country, hopefully quality and also hoping for decent cost. I am one of those that cannot JJ tubes.
This reminds me of the expression: 'If wishes were horses, beggars would ride'. Perhaps I'm being pessimistic, but I don't believe WE is going to fill any major void in the tube world. If the Chinese, purveyors of all things in demand, didn't see the market to create a new factory, then that market probably doesn't exist. The talk about how modern machinery and techniques should come to the rescue by make it simpler, and more cost effective, to make tubes is possibly true. But if it is, why haven't the Chinese done it? If you've watched a video on the Chinese plants which make circuit boards, you'd realize they have, or could create, the necessary machinery. I suspect they haven't because, like it or not, us and the guitar players, are a niche market.
If WE were to manufacture dusty old boxes for the tubes, that'd change the economics a bit.
The last incarnation of the real Millard company made a 12AX7 that looked unlike the one we're used to, based on the gun from a CRT.
DiyAudio TechTubes
Does the new tube have to be an antique design? It only needs to exhibit the same characteristics.
The last incarnation of the real Millard company made a 12AX7 that looked unlike the one we're used to, based on the gun from a CRT.
DiyAudio TechTubes
Does the new tube have to be an antique design? It only needs to exhibit the same characteristics.
I did say before that the quantity has to justify the investment in a new factory and people.
Frankly, speculative, given that WE already make a few types, so for them it is just an extension of product range.
If they have not given any signs, it must be in the assessment stage, they are collecting data to decide what to do.
Wait and see.
The Chinese do make tubes, the Russian plant state of production was how much before the current conflict?
BEL stopped making consumer tubes decades ago in India.
It seems a small niche market to me, and declining as people shift to personal equipment like ear buds, and sound bars on TV.
How many of us actually listen to music without pictures, in any form?
Frankly, speculative, given that WE already make a few types, so for them it is just an extension of product range.
If they have not given any signs, it must be in the assessment stage, they are collecting data to decide what to do.
Wait and see.
The Chinese do make tubes, the Russian plant state of production was how much before the current conflict?
BEL stopped making consumer tubes decades ago in India.
It seems a small niche market to me, and declining as people shift to personal equipment like ear buds, and sound bars on TV.
How many of us actually listen to music without pictures, in any form?
Are you trying to say that my attempt to covertly corner the ECH81 market may ultimately be a waste of my kids inheritance?
In some ways what you say is starting to look like the case with old tube radios, the ones that are not collectible for their appearance. There is a lot less broadcasting, and with streaming they are not worth restoring so much, just for listening to radio.
In some ways what you say is starting to look like the case with old tube radios, the ones that are not collectible for their appearance. There is a lot less broadcasting, and with streaming they are not worth restoring so much, just for listening to radio.
Sexy... Where's the triode curves though 😛
Also, they're using the supressor as the screen? G3 at 225V but G2 only 30V?
Also, they're using the supressor as the screen? G3 at 225V but G2 only 30V?
Theres been considerable advancement (even quantum computing optimisation research) into electron guns so not a million miles away from using the same research to improve tube designs.
they can make a better vacuum too if they are going to charge $$$
they can make a better vacuum too if they are going to charge $$$
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My guess is a typo. I don’t see how one could get an amp and a half of cathode current with g2 at 30 volts, even if the heater drew 20 amps.
With that much current at Vg2=225, I seriously doubt that it would like triode mode very much. At least not anywhere near full dissipation rating. It would be a shame to have to dial the b+ down to only 400 or 500 volts. I bet they cost a pretty penny.
There is an extra grid called the "shadow grid" which is in front of the usual screen grid. It is wire aligned with the screen grid and "repels" the electrons away from the screen grid wires to keep screen current low. ( +30V on the "shadow grid" ) The 4th grid is the usual beam forming one. The tube is called a Hexode.
From the equal spacing of the pentode curves at high current, I would guess it is linear in triode mode too. But I haven't seen any triode curves. The tubes are collector items, less than a 1000 were made. A dream tube that has vanished.
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...transmitting-tower.319902/page-2#post-5371231
From the equal spacing of the pentode curves at high current, I would guess it is linear in triode mode too. But I haven't seen any triode curves. The tubes are collector items, less than a 1000 were made. A dream tube that has vanished.
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...transmitting-tower.319902/page-2#post-5371231
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I haven't read this whole thread but there's a recent-ish article in Wired:
https://www.wired.com/story/one-mans-quest-to-revive-the-great-american-vacuum-tube/
https://www.wired.com/story/one-mans-quest-to-revive-the-great-american-vacuum-tube/
" Whitener’s team devised a way to apply an atom-thick layer of graphene to a vacuum tube’s anode to extend its lifespan by improving heat dissipation and reducing contaminating gases. Those enhanced tubes hit the market in 2020. Quality control—Whitener’s former field—became more automated, and he claims more than 90 percent of tubes now pass inspection off the line. "
😳
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