Neon
Designing Neon Signage First is the Design. A good neon sign starts with a good design. Our quality neon signs will give your business the extra advertising power needed to grow. Blueprint Concepts have many different creative ways to use neon, many that you probably didn't realise would involve neon. For the cost of a single newspaper ad, your neon sign will continue working for 24 hrs a day, year after year, bringing customers into your business time and time again. Different Uses for Neon Neon is used in many different ways, including simple neon signs, fabricated letters (often called 3D letters) and lighting places that normal lighting may not fit. Blueprint Concepts can manufacture custom neon to suit your business and its environment. We only use the best quality neon making sure that what we supply is of a high quality standard. Your neon sign is sure to standout because of careful design and quality neon tubes. Please contact us to discuss your neon requirements. The Neon Manufacturing Process Straight glass tubes are heated with special torches, and carefully bent into shape. A lot of practice is required in order to be able to accurately bend lettering without strains or weak spots. A lot of people think that neon is an exact representation of your logo or artwork. Neon is manufactured by hand from glass tubing. Please note: Neon can sometimes be difficult to replicate intricate logos exactly.

Once the neon tubes are bent to the desired shape, they are put through a process called bombarding. Bombarding the neon tubes involves connecting the neon to a vacuum pump, and connecting the electrode ends to high voltage leads. The tube is then energized under vacuum with 17,000 to 25,000 volts. As a result, the atmosphere inside the tube, heats up rapidly, and any impurities inside the tube are ignited and removed by the vacuum pump. As the tube cools, the vacuum pump removes everything inside the tube until the pressure reaches at least 1 micron. Next the rare neon or argon gas is added to the tube to the correct pressure for the diameter of tubing used. There are two rare gases that are most commonly used in neon lighting today, argon and neon. These gasses are known as noble gasses, because they are chemically inert, and do not mix with other common elements. It is a combination of the two different types of gas, and the coatings on the inside of the tubing that allow for the different neon colours. Argon gas is glows light blue when it is electrified, and when mercury vapour is present in the tube, a bright bluish white glow is produced. There are different types of phosphor coatings on the inner surface of the neon tubing that glow different colours when the light passes through them. These tubes, depending on their coatings, will give the cooler colours such as blue, green, purple, and yellow. Neon gas, when energised gives off the characteristic intense orange red glow we are all familiar with. As such, when neon is used with the same coated tubes that make the cooler colours with argon gas, you will get a variety of pink, orange and amber shades. Contact us to discuss your neon requirements. Return to the Signage Materials home page.