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Many of you might be wondering how the process works here at Neon Creation’s, and we’re keen to share with you how it works and what happens after you put in an initial enquiry into commissioning your own Neon Creation. So, in our latest blog, we’re going to delve behind the scenes a little and show you the timeline of a Neon Creation.
Do you want to keep reading?
Good, let’s go…
At Neon Creations, we fulfil a range of client needs from domestic to business requirements; we generally work on an average lead time of four weeks. However, at this time of year in the run up to Christmas we are even busier than usual. When you have an idea for a personal Neon Creation, it’s a good idea to discuss with us the logistics of how we can bring your design to life, this will all be done in the initial enquiry and any problems will be ironed out!
Once the design has been finalised, it can then be drawn out to scale as a full-size glass drawing, for the neon sign to be crafted from. The design is laid out onto a heatproof mat, to make it a much more efficient process in crafting a Neon Creation, this is always made in reverse so that when the sign is made, any parts that will need to be hidden are at the back of the artwork.
The next step is the bending of the tubes, this will be measured against the drawing and marked in the places that it is required to be bent.
*our tubes come in lengths of 1.5m, with diameters ranging from 8mm to 25mm, the average diameter is 10mm for our work!
Depending on the colour of the Creation, either clear, coloured or powder coated glass is used, this is then placed into a hot flame and bent into the required shape! Our neon experts shape each tube by hand, and without any gloves! Whilst this might seem dangerous, they’re well trained and with years of experience – there’s no burning of hands in our workshop (well, no serious injuries anyway!) gloves cannot be used as the flexibility of the glass needs to be felt to ensure that the shape is retained. The tube is then blown into, to ensure the diameter of the tube is not affected.
The final shape will then be laid on a heatproof mat to allow it to cool down before the gases are added.
(Checking the design of our recent piece for The Lad Bible!)
Electrodes are then placed onto each end of the glass tubes and any air in the tube is vacuumed out, with the tubes then being subject to a very high voltage of electricity, in which the glass gets very hot.
Depending on the colour of the finished sign, the tubes are then filled with either neon or argon gas.
The final step in the timeline of a Neon Creation is to let it age, like anything worth having it needs a process to let it come to life and we do this in our ageing bay. Your sign will be connected to a transformer to allow the gasses to burn through and to ensure it has been completed efficiently.
(Wok and Go Noodles recently commissioned design going through the ageing process)
If there are any sections of the glass that effect the overall design, these will be painted with black out paint to form letters and certain shapes. Our Neon Creations are then assembled, and either encased in acrylic or backed on to acrylic or wood, you can see our range of options for encasing here. Each of our Neon Creations’ are crafted by hand, meaning whether you commission your own design or choose a popular piece from our gallery it will be made specifically for your requirements.
(Image: neon ceiling installed at Solita’s restaurant)
The Neon Creations are then installed, depending on the size and type of the project will depend on how this will be done, this will be discussed in your initial discussion. Are you interested in designing your own neon glass sign? Contact us today!