On 3 Apr 2014, at 08:26, petehand wrote: > Does anyone remember these things? > > Brits will deduce the era of this device from the currency. It consisted of > simple neon relaxation oscillators powered from a 90V portable tube radio > battery, the whole potted in solid plastic. I saw much nicer ones a few years > later, with miniature neon bulbs soldered to a wire frame and visible through > clear resin potting - the battery was potted in black underneath and couldn't > be seen. I had a shot at making one myself, but never succeeded in getting > the clear casting resin to set without it heating up and cracking. > > These days I've got plenty of neons - does anyone know where I can find a 90V > battery? :)
I remember seeing these clear blocks for sale in a chic boutique in South London, late 60s or early 70s. I was fascinated. They were just oh so kooky and groovy and I made my own flashy things with caps and neons after seeing them. As for resin, I once had to make an ecological exhibit for London's Natural History Museum. It was a cross-section through a pond, complete with all the flora and fauna, which was all freeze dried and painted up. The pond was cast over the top with a temporary side wall, in solid casting resin. I rang the resin manufacturers for advice. As a result I gave it a whiff of catalyst that was of homeopathic proportions and the clear casting resin took a whole week to set, to the extent I thought it never ever would and it stank something rotten. Not much in the way of exothermic heat at that rate of curing, but nevertheless a week after that, the pond cracked. How I cried. I'd also made a tree and all around it was all the things that lived around the base of a tree. I'd glued in hundreds of blades of brittle dried grass individually - it had taken me days. Then the postman came in and dumped a parcel on top of it. I cried again. Why didn't I ever get a real job, like my parents told me to? John S -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send an email to neonixie-l@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/67645E59-DA35-40F0-A7F8-29561D95A88C%40jsdesign.co.uk. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
