It seems fitting to address this as my first blog post for the Neon Maker’s Guild, some of you may have read a version of this story on my personal blog page (www.novioljourneys.com) or heard it during one of the talks or presentations I have done for various groups. Nonetheless, it is fitting to reiterate some of it here and sum up by explaining why it is relevant to the guild.

I don’t know when I first encountered and became fascinated with neon signs and art. Likely it was during a family vacation as a kid. I have some vague memories of green zig-zag glowing tubes along the eves of some old motel we stayed at. I also vaguely recall the light buzzing of its exposed, and obviously not 100% properly functioning transformer. I can’t say for certain exactly where this was, or when it was… but most likely it was when I was somewhere between 5 and 6 years old… maybe 7. By the time I was in third grade, I ended up with a book that described how to build Tesla coils using neon transformers as the primary source. The photos in the book showed similar art-deco cased transformers to what I recall seeing at that old motel someplace in the past. This is, as far as I can recall, the likely first encounter with the glowing beauty of bent glass… it is also around this time that I moved past the simple electrical projects of my first and second grade years and began to build and tinker with many little high voltage projects such as Van De Graaff generators and Tesla coils… I was, and still am, “THAT” kid.

A decade or more passed and then I was in my freshman year of college. One day I saw a posting on a bulletin board in the commons: “Custom Neon Signs” with a phone number to call. My roommate and I thought it would be incredibly cool to have our own neon sign in the dorm. So I called and asked. Anyway… I naturally inquired about what it would cost to have a polite, lowercase, script writing neon “fuckoff” to hang on the wall. Why not, right? (Naturally you wonder WHY that, right?… well, you see, amongst my friends, this was a common greeting or comment. An odd term of endearment as it were. I still smile when a friend tells me “fuckoff” all run together as one word like that.) The price I was quoted was about $150.00… which, at the time, was a lot of money and completely out of the question. All was not lost in our quest for dormitory neon, however.

I understood how these things worked and correctly assumed that the labor of shaping the glass was the real expense involved, followed by the transformer and other materials. So I asked, “How much would it cost if I bent the glass and had you put in the electrodes and fill it with gas?” The response was that it was not nearly that simple. I said, ok… ”but how much?” After some back and forth, the man told me about 12 bucks, plus a transformer. “OK! Twelve dollars I could do! That’s what I want to do.” Again, I was told it was not so easy or simple but that if I wished, I was welcome to come over for a shop tour and to see a little of how neon signs and art are made. Naturally, I took him up on the offer and my roommate and I showed up within an hour or so.

When we arrived at his house and entered his shop, which was in the old Four-Square style garage building behind the house–whose address was “509”… I was confronted with the closest thing to a real “Frankenstein’s lab” that could exist in modern day. Torches and burners on articulated stands… layout benches… an elaborate high-vacuum manifold made entirely of glass… and a 10KVA power pole transformer mounted prominently … it was and still is, most impressive.

Steve, the owner, then demonstrated a few basic bends and torch techniques and discussed the overall process from start to finish. He also dispelled a common myth by demonstrating that glass was not nearly as fragile as we all believe. (I still perform the same demonstration for others when I make a double-back bend and bang it on the bench… and I often get similar looks of disbelief from others.) I then bought a pound or two of 10mm clear glass (about 8-10 sticks, each four feet in length) and took them back to the dorm with the intent of making something.

I tried a variety of burners and torches, even an altered campstove–all improvised and while functional, not really ideal for the task. I struggled. Steve was correct that this was not nearly as simple as one might be lead to believe. After trial and error… mostly error… I eventually did manage to create something: A simple mountain. Took it back to his shop, and he welded in the electrodes, pumped and processed the unit and filled with Argon and a drop of Mercury. Argon with some Hg added makes a beautiful brilliant blue. There is nothing quite like it. It was amazing and punchy… (on a related note I think part of why I like Van Gogh’s work and old Cibachrome prints is related to my love of neon–the contrasts of color are similar to me.) And it lead to finding an original 1935 edition of Miller & Fink’s “Neon Signs” book (THE how-to book of the era) … and then more creations… including some for others… and this eventually lead to setting up my own shop, careers in the sign business and in other areas where this valuable knowledge could be carried over to other projects.

Those initial visits to his shop and the quick lessons offered and questions answered, I later learned, was a VERY BIG DEAL at the time. Benders of a half century ago often did not want to train others or divulge much information. To this day I do not really know what it was that I said or how I said it, but I got a shop visit and some of my initial lessons, informal as they were, but sufficient to get started. It was, above all else, a kindness.

In subsequent years I have come to realize that I have a talent and passion for this work and for the passing along of the knowledge gained. I especially enjoy building shop setups, solving odd problems, and documenting the history of the technology involved. To that end I have built portable shops for teaching—some using only restored prewar components and tools, advised and consulted for others, and over the last several years been working on amassing a rather large neon related technical library that, while I am far behind on my scanning, now stands at some 14000 files and which I eventually hope to be able to make more widely available.

My hope for the Neon Maker’s Guild is that it will provide a further avenue to pay forward that small kindness afforded me all those years ago and spread good, concise technical and historical knowledge about neon and the related facets that go into it. The days of the secretive neon bender attitude may have seemed like a good idea 50 or more years ago, but in this century, our very survival is dependent upon this knowledge being freely available and properly interpreted for use.

I wanted to post about sample cases.

Usually neon shops will have fliers or posters of neon samples from a variety of brands such as Voltarc, EGL, or Tecnolux. Sometimes they'll even have their own that they made for customers to check out when they stop by the studio. Or you could even order one from said companies back in the day. One reason that it's a good idea to make your own is because, as we know, true color matching gets lost in print when it comes to light. Most of the color charts are close but not an exact match to, say even matching for repairs (especially whites). I have met some benders in the past that were required to make their own sample case as a part of their coursework when neon schools were around before they receive their certificate. Yes, there were certificates for neon benders. 

Here are some from those companies mentioned: 

I believe this is a great way to bring back the neon sales person sample case and really make it your own. Every case is different and every color can be customized and designed however you wish to display it. Whether it's the colors you choose, how many colors, and even the shape of the glass. it also gives the client a WOW factor if you bring it with you to your next meeting. 

You can create a diagram and print it out to keep with the case to show what colors are included or even print labels right on or near the tubes. If you have color charts as well, that can be helpful to keep in the case with your samples because there are far too many colors to fit into one case alone (or are there?)

I used my grandfathers old Samsonite suitecases to make both of mine out of respect to the craftsman in him: 

The restoration of the marquee for The Echo Theater is important to Morgan Crook, co-author of The Neon Engineer’s Notebook, glass bender, and mechanical engineer. After seeing article after article on the progress being made by Rev. David Kennedy in completing his ownership of the historically segregated theater, Morgan spotted its weary neon sign in a newspaper photograph. This spurred him and his team to pick up the phone and call The Echo Project to offer their expert neon services.

'“I thought to myself, this is not way-finding signage. This is fundamentally different. This is a beacon of hope. This is a candle in the window.” Morgan Crook

We thank the entire team who worked so passionately on this project: Alleson Buchanan, Morgan Crook, Danielle James, Katherine Humphries, Bucky Giles, David Wilson/Loretta Forde, and Kayla Kling.

To learn more about this fascinating story of restoration, click here for an interview with the team. 

Video Courtesy: Neon Speaks

As a neon bender and a music lover, my ears have always perked up at the mention of neon in song lyrics. It’s something I started to notice pretty much as soon as I began learning how to bend glass. I started keeping a list and whenever I would hear a neon song on the radio, I would jot it down with the intention that once I had enough, I would make a mix tape of them Yes, I am speaking about a cassette tape :) Well, the list grew but I never seemed to get around to making the tape, and then life happened and here we are 30 years later. But now, with the help of the internet and the advent of digital music, I have FINALLY gotten around to it. Behold the Evening Neon Mixtape!  Since the original intention was to be a cassette tape, I kept this mix about 90 minutes long (which was my tape length of choice back in the day) and it’s nicely bookended with the song Soul Kitchen.

I also made a much longer playlist of songs with neon lyrics, which can be found here. It’s currently almost 7 hours long. This is by no means an exhaustive list, as it is continually growing and a work in progress. The only rule I have is that I have to actually LIKE the song in order to add it (because, you know, I DO want to listen to it) so you won’t find Neon Moon by Brooks and Dunn. :)

 Do you have a favorite “neon” song? Is there one missing from my list that you think I should know about? Let me know in the comments.

Every neon bender should have some sort of bench weight in their toolbox. It comes in handy when you are splicing with your hand torch and you need to hold the piece that you are working on in place. It’s also helpful when you are tipping off mercury traps from processed units. There are all sorts of different things a bender might use for a weight. I have an assortment of metal pieces that I use, and until recently I was using a sandbag weight I made a long time ago using a piece of nonasbestos tied up with rubber band. It’s been leaking sand all over my bench for months now and starting to unravel beyond repair. Time for something new!

I thought it would be fun to make one using one of those heat-resistant gloves, like an Ove Glove (as seen on TV!) I already use an Ove Glove sometimes when I am bending glass, like when I am trying to make a bend that requires my hand be very close to the torch flame, or sometimes I’m just too impatient to wait for something to cool down if I need to hold it in order to keep working on the piece.

Everything I used to make this I already had around my house, the only thing I needed to buy was the glove. I found mine on eBay for 12.99 a pair. I just searched for “cotton, heat resistant oven glove”, and found several options.

There are lots of things you can use to fill your weight. Birdshot and sand are both popular options but I didn’t have either one of those and I wanted to use something I had on hand, so I rummaged through my kitchen cabinets and found some expired popcorn and long-grain white rice.

Using the popcorn, I just began by pouring it into the glove, pausing periodically to push the kernels down into the fingertips using a pencil. Once all the fingers were nicely packed the glove was just about full, I sewed the glove opening closed using a needle and thread. Because the glove material is so thick, you’ll need something heavy-duty. I used embroidery thread and a darning needle.

 That’s it! It is not super heavyweight (around 1 ¼ lbs) but it’s heavy enough for making splices on the bench. I think for tipping off mercury traps I’d prefer something a little heavier, so might use birdshot on the next one.

UPDATE: After using my popcorn-filled helping hand for a few weeks I decided that it really isn't heavy enough and doesn't serve me well. I refilled it using BBs and it's so much better now! I weighed each glove for comparison: popcorn-filled glove = 1.3 lbs vs. BB-filled glove = 4.1 lbs. 

What kind of bending weight to you use? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.