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Neon videos reviewed

Jacob Fishman wrote:

>PS. post that video article on the net!

... So here it is (from the forthcoming Neon News #17):

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Neon instructional videos reviewed

By Ed Biggar

	I came to glasswork through a community college scientific glassblowing
class, but I
came to neon through video.
	When in the late '80s I was bitten by the neon bug, I bought a crossfire
and ribbon burner
and started splicing. Full-time study was impossible, so I bought the Daco
instructional video by
Bill Davis.
	I was so naive that for the longest time I bought a new glass file weekly
because they
didn't work very well after awhile -- then the tape showed me how to sharpen
them. I now have a
great file collection (0 to 5, and extras too). I curently make my own
colored glass tube and
hollow sculptural forms and am devoting my life to illuminating objects and
viewers alike.


Daco's instructional video	
	This three-tape series gives more than ten hours of practical,
down-to-earth instruction.
Bill Davis has a brisk manner and "tells it like it is" from long
experience; When I first got my
tape I'd watch it for a while and then yield to an overwhelming compulsion
to play Tom Waits
tapes while practicing bends.
	The tapes also show how to build shop fixtures and equipment, like tables,
a lead-glass
manifold and a nifty oilcan blockout painter.
	Although this is not a high-tech approach to neon, it is very practical and
covers a broad
range of traditional techniques. These include pattern-making, all fires and
equipment, the basic
bends (90s, doublebacks, drops and welds). Side tubulations and mercury
traps are shown in
ample detail.
	My tape is from 1989 and is well worth watching (I have watched it over and
over). Its
rough production values include blocked shots of demos, loud background
noise (muffle that
ribbon burner), and lots of fades and breaks -- he even shows how to
verbally diffuse a burn in
progress <this means, gentle readers, that he swears on-camera!>. Bill
assures me he has re-
edited the current edition.
	The demos include a block-letter "OPEN", a script "Cafe", and double
outline of a D and
an A. He uses all of the fires except the cannon, which he does show. There
is a sprinkling of
promotion for Daco, but this is periodic and subdued.
	I'd rate this video the most informative for loners -- someone isolated
from neon schools
but with access to equipment. To do all the operations shown you'd have to
practice a lot of
welds and bends, as Bill says in the manifold-building section. The
bombarding section is good
and shows how to flush a repumped mercury unit with natural gas (not for
me!) and safety
awareness includes mention of asbestos and high-voltage risks. (The
mercury-filling sequence
was scary to me.) I built 80% of my neon plant with this tape and found it
invaluable.
	To order, write Bill Davis, 2130 Brookside Drive, Mt Dora, FL 32757, or
call (904) 735-
0353; price $300 postpaid (also available from Daco Neon Equipment). Bill
also offers individual
instruction and answers questions.


An introduction to Neon, by Jacob Fishman

	This 90-minute video is well done and includes a brief history and all the
basic bends,
using a 5-point crossfire, a ribbon burner, and hand torch. It also shows
how to make a basic sign
from start to finish. The skeleton frame technique was really cool. Jacob
covers quite a bit of
safety information, including a first-aid kit by the manifold, a fire
extinguisher, and mercury
handling. Safety awareness is maintained by comments throughout the video.
Jacob's
demonstration is a multi-colored sign that spells "neon" There are good
glass-forming tips and a
section on tube processing using a fairly simple manifold and bombarder. I
would recommend
this tape for anyone interested in learning neon and it also could be used
as a primer for a
hands-on neon class. It is very well edited, has little background noise
(except for the ribbon
burner sequence), and uses an overhead camera to clearly illustrate bending
on the pattern
table.
	To order ($74.95 + $3.00 shipping), write: Lightwriters Neon, P.O. Box
9022, Winnetka,
IL 60093, call (800) 747-9115, or on the Internet: neofish@mcs.net, or
http://www.mcs.net/neofish/home.htm. Jacob also conducts periodic classes in
the Chicago area.


Neon Tube Bending and Processing, by the British School of Neon

	This hour-long tape shows a different method of making neon, one used in
the U.K. The
video is very focused on heating and bending techniques, with detailed
critiques illustrating
bending errors.
	The equipment used is very different from U.S. equipment: small bench
burners and
torches. There are no letter-forming demos and absolutely no safety
emphasis. They blow
directly into phosphor-coated tubes by direct mouth contact.
	On the other hand, the tape is well edited, clearly presented and
organized, with no
background noise to distract viewers. There are some good procedures for
working the
sometimes difficult colored (soda lime) glasses. The bombarding section uses
a high-tech
Masonlite system and illustrates a technique using a helium rinse to
evacuate impurities from the
units. They use metric measurements and Americans will have to mentally
translate measures
and some terms. Basic bends include right-angle, return, drop and some butt
welds for
electroding.
	This is a good tape for hard-core tubeheads but I wouldn't recommend it as
a first choice
tape for beginners.
	Order through ST Publications, 407 Gilbert Ave., Cincinnati OH 45202; (800)
925-1110,
ext 373 or 356.


Victory Neon instruction tapes by Vic Spankowski

	This set covers bending in tape 1 and pumping and bombarding in a second
tape. The
hourlong tapes are $49.95 each, and they are both the cheapest and most
controversial of the
lot.
	Every once in a while I have to step back and remind myself that there are few
absolutes, what works for me won't work for you and so on and vice versa.
However, these
videos are full of information that conflicts with traditional neon
techniques. Vic states, for
example, that nowadays benders don't use the cannon or crossfire except for
splicing, because
the ribbon burner produces superior bends. This doesn't work for me, but I
do know one bender
who learned on a ribbon and uses it for most of his work (90s, doublebacks,
drops, etc.). I had a
bender who teaches look at the video, and he said according to his 50 years
of experience a
person should learn to bend the basics on the cross or cannon fires first,
as it is impossible to do
everything on the ribbon fire (I agree).
	I found a few good tips in this video, like heating and holding electrodes
vertically for
even shrinkage, and looping the handtorch hose around your hand to keep it
from kinking and
going out.
	Vic is selling equipment and giving these two videos in the package. The
second video
on bombarding doesn't work for me at all. As a serious student of vacuum
theory, I found much
of the information presented to be questionable and unfounded by facts, such
as his assertion
that with today's high-efficiency vacuum pumps, buying a diffusion pump is a
waste of money
because a good vacuum pump will get you down just as low as a vacuum pump /
diffusion pump
combination. How about speed? I understand that faster is better for good
evacuation of
impurities; not just degree of vacuum.
	For beginning benders, receiving these tapes with their equipment is a
start, but I would
recommend further exploration, preferably school instruction.
	Demonstrations show how to lay out and bend an OPEN sign. The bending
sequence of
the alphabet is shown using a magic marker on computer paper letters and I
found it hard to
follow; there is typical background noise too. Vic does point out some
safety tips such as wearing
safety glasses, hair restraints around the fires, and how careless
bombarding can be fatal with no
second chances.