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Help me remove the bottom metal cap of a broken HeNe without breaking the glass

Cxrazy

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Has anyone tried this?

My idea is to remove the bottom cap/seal while keeping the glass intact in order to slide out the metal interior tube and fit it with some LED's and make a neat lamp out of the laser's glass shell.

I made a lamp with a working HeNe and it turned out really well (http://laserpointerforums.com/f43/hene-creation-check-out-63289.html), lets see what I can do with this. I know its not as fun as a working laser, but I got the tube for cheap and discovered it was broken after removing it from the tube. I would like to do something with it!

Hene Tube Pictures - Imgur Link

I imagine baking the laser and pulling it off or boiling it if the cap is glued in some way.

It looks like the glass might be formed around the metal cap and then i am SOL without a glass cutter.

Any input?
 
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Do ypu have a reflow gun or any similar heat gun capable of high temps? May be able to soften that seal and pull it off.

Another thing I have seen a few times with beer bottles is to take a string and coat it in something flameable and light it. Have it tied around the clasento creat a "hot ring" right above that seal. Then run it under really cold water and it may fracture around that ring and seperate it. No idea how well this actually works though.
 

Cxrazy

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I have seen the flaming alcohol thread to cut a bottle and I have no doubt that it would work tremendously for this. I will attempt to wiggle on it after a copious application of my heat gun and report back before lighting anything on fire.

Hoping someone can chime in that's attempted or completed this before.
 

daguin

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Too bad ab out the tube, but this idea sounds like fun

I have never attempted the action you are contemplating

Peace,
dave
 
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be sure it is adheisive holding it first, some are held with screws, and others just unscrew off. melles griot uses hot glue, which you can melt if you are careful, but it also tends to melt the endcap if you aren't careful. if you intend to keep the aluminum cylinder, then lightly heat it, then take it and clamp it very gently in a padded vice at a few different rotations to crack the glue bond off the aluminum, then clamp the end cap in the padded vice and gently rock the tube back and forth until you hear the glue crackle and give way and you can then just pull the tube off the rear cap (or front cap, just mind the shutter switch if it has one so you don't clamp on it) the front cap is easier to remove. the hardest part is removing the screws and RTV from the inside to slide the tube out. I'm currently disassembling my orange to troubleshoot it. I need to remove the RTV, thinking i'll try piano wire to cut through it.
 
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There have been a couple tubes just like this on eBay that already come apart.

Or, Sam offered me a 14" tube that comes apart, with the bore connected to the mirror still (and also the metal) for $10.

Not sure if that's 100% what you're looking for though.
 
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Oh! Are we talking about the mirror mount here? I have one I just clipped off. Or you can thermal shock the glass to metal seal
 
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I think he's referring to the metal disk.

I saw one on eBay with the disk removed, still had the mirror mount attached, thus also the bore as well. Wish it was an easy item to find on eBay, as I would.
 
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Just get a hot wire around the can cap seal and heat it. Just need to breach the end and it pops off from the pressure difference. It's pretty easy to pop the glass to metal seal. Just mind the bore is heavy, and by opening it you permanently contaminate the tube.
 
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I may actually use that method for reusing a tube for a HVL purpose.

Though that'll be many months, if not a couple years, down the line ;)
 
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I may actually use that method for reusing a tube for a HVL purpose.

Though that'll be many months, if not a couple years, down the line ;)

yes. If you intend to re-use it for hobby purposes, I would lightly breach it from the gas return first, so you don't suck a ton of crap into the tube, especially the bore. then remove the seal, but by opening it you WILL get lots of dust inside, as well as other contaminates from the air, such as moisture, skin oils, and other things. So it will need to be cleaned with HCl and Acetone. also make sure that the cathode is sealed up from the air and not touched by your hands, or the protective layer will be destroyed and you will not be able to use it, as there is no realistic way to regenerate it. it'll instantly become an EOL/dead tube, as it would start sputtering all over the mirrors if you ran it, assuming it lights at all.
 




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