Video: Making a Vacuum Tube By Hand

Here’s a fascinating video of a man who hand-makes all the parts of these triode vacuum tubes set to a becalming piano soundtrack. Wonderful stuff!

FABRICATION D’UNE LAMPE TRIODE [Dailymotion.Alice.it]

1. [dculberson]

   I watched the whole thing in awestruck fascination. Possibly the coolest video I’ve ever seen online, ever.

2. [btb]

   Yeah, but can he make a transistor?

3. [flufnut12]

   That is pure art. I love watching stuff like that

4. [mdhatter]

   pure porn, for makers

5. [Aaron T.]

   You guys might also like the glass blowing projects documented at Teralab.

6. [Dirac]

   The guy is definitely quite old (*), he learnt to do this at a time when you HAD to wind your own filaments – and you were happy about it!
   I guess nobody learns this complete skill set today

   (*) Old = Look at the hands, but also the guy’s homepage, in French, http://paillard.claude.free.fr/, he became ham-operator “F2FO” in 1959, radio geek amongst others re-creating radios from the 1920s

   http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fpaillard.claude.free.fr%2F&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8

7. [Luc]

   Does anyone know what the old-fashioned welding tool he uses is called?

8. [shichae]

   Beautiful, abso-smurfly cool!!! Was I mistaken, or did he inject mercury at the tail end of the video? Nice X-tal set as well. Thanks for the link!

9. [Anonymous]

   The tool I believe you are referring to is a spot welder.

10. [Luc]

    Thanks Anonymous. I found an article in French on his website about the design of the spot welder: http://paillard.claude.free.fr/triodes/soudage/soudage.html . He made it himself using the structural components from what I think is a small 1920′s riveting press (‘nous avons reconverti une petite presse à sertir des années vingt’). It looks rather neat!

11. [Anonymous]

    Coincidentally, that video is Ted Stevens’ notion of an ISP.

12. [Anonymous]

    The most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The genesis of all I hold dear being born before my very eyes.

13. [Anonymous]

    I’d like to think he’s an electrical engineer.