@DieselNut: How many tubes would you be interested in? What price range would you entertain? I am only interested in the circlarc lamps, no T17s I'm afraid.

@funkybulb: How many tubes would you be interested in? What price range would you entertain? I can't find any listings for these on eBay, so it's difficult to gauge the demand there. Have you ever seen a circlarc lamp traded on eBay? If so, for how much did it sell?

@Ash: The manufacturer's price for hand made items like what you describe is $1200 to $1400 per lamp plus tooling costs. So the answer is no.

@Zarlog: You are correct regarding the costs.

@nicksfans: A 12” round T8 circline would be closest, although I didn't see one when doing a quick google search... Plenty of T9's though. Regardless, it isn't a practical option.

I dont think itd be so much. Do Neon sign shops take that much for a tube ? I think that take the tube from the circline (allready with the Phosphor), cut it nicely, torch the pieces back together shorter and refill, i think its the sort of stuff Neon shops can do..

@Ash: You may not think so, but I know so. That was the exact price I was quoted by the manufacturer. I already consulted a neon sign shop which is known for taking on odd jobs; they said they could not replicate the electronic specs of the lamp, the only thing they could do is make me something which would require a whole new set of guts in my fixture.

How much will the tunes cost each? I might want to buy one or three even though I don't have a fixture just because they are really cool lamps (and I can make a fixture for them myself.

@Zarlog: That isn't easy to answer since that's what I'm trying to determine myself, but I'll give it a try:

I will be laying out several thousand dollars to have these made. I am not doing this for a profit, and I have no expectations of breaking even. My motivation is to get lamps for my own fixture. With that in mind, I would need to at least get a sizable chunk of my investment back.

So let's say, for the purposes of easy math, that I need to get $1,000 back. If you are my only purchaser and you are willing to buy between one and three lamps, that would mean that the price per lamp would be between $1,000 (if you purchase only one) and $333 (if you purchase three). Obviously I intend to sell more than three so the price will be less than that, but you can see that there is significant fluctuation in the per lamp cost depending on how many will sell.

If I can get a group of us together, we can figure out a price and set up a deal to get this going. So let me know if you'd like to be in on this. Tell me how many bulbs you'd consider buying, and if you have a maximum figure let me know... for example you might say that at $100 is all you'd be willing to spend and you'd buy as many as that would get you even if only one, then that would be very helpful to know and would move this process along.

It it just Circlarc and maybe T17 tubes, as you could maybe expand into uncommon tube sizes/phosphors. Maybe a 965 F14T8? Or how about a totally clear (but not germicidal) fluorescent tube?

Where do the small companies source things like 965 Phosphors ?

Where do the small companies source things like 965 Phosphors ?

Make it themselves or buy it from companies that produce them.

I, for one, would also like to see the possibility for F90T17 reproduction (on a small scale) by a neon sign shop, etc. explored. +1 from me for both ideas! 

If there is also enough demand from other members, I would be interested in at least six tubes. I assume since you are making up the tooling to do this, you will be able to provide more tubes in the future?
I have done some measuring and if there were a practical way to "heat up and bend" a F15T8, it would fit perfectly in a Circlarc fixture.

I think the amount I'm going to need to get this done is $2000 in sales, so let's proceed under that assumption. I would like to sell them at $150 or less per tube, and I assume you wouldn't want to spend more than that anyway. What that means is that we need to muster up at least 14 tube sales. We currently have 9 “maybe” tube sales, so we're not too far off. If we can get 20 tubes sold, then the per tube price would be an even $100 a piece. It would be great if we could get more people and an even lower price. Please bear in mind that $2000 wouldn't even get me half of my investment back, so I'm not likely to consider a lower figure.

@ Zarlog & DieselNut: Assuming the price will be $100 - $150 per tube, can you tell me how many you'd order, or whether you'd order any at all at this range? Also if this is out of your range, please let me know what your range would be.

@ DieselNut: I have no plans to offer these in the future, but I suppose it would be possible to do so. These would have to sell incredibly well for me to consider laying out another several thousand dollars, and I doubt that will be the case. I appreciate the measurements, but I have all that information and the engineers have all they need to tool up and get these made.

Feel free to spread the word if you know a member that may be interested... the more people the better; the sooner the better.

I myself have always thought about making my own custom lamps to replace what isn't made anymore. I would probably see about modifying an F15T8 or F15T12 by letting out gas, then putting it in some hot bending jig, maybe stretch it to proper length if needed and then assuming the phosphor is still viable, re-evacuate it with the proper gas fill and mercury. and put caps back.

But thats just my quick thinking on the idea lol

I would take at least 2, probably 3 or 4 if they come to light (no pun intended).  I have a fixture just like dieselnut's (in fact I bought it off him) and 2 original tubes but I don't use the fixture b/c I obviously don't want to use up the original tubes b/c they are so darn scarce. 

Any luck with this yet?

@Zarlog: I don't need luck, I need responses. In my last post I asked how many tubes would you and DieselNut be willing to purchase at an assumed price of $150 per tube. I'm still waiting to hear back.

@refridgedude1841: If the price is $150 per tube, would you be interested in 2, 3, or 4... or none?

If Zarlog is willing to buy 3 tubes, DieselNut 6 tubes, and refridgedude1841 4 tubes, all at $153.85 per tube plus shipping, I will consider arranging the purchase and getting these done. Please let me know if you three want to do this deal. The alternative is to wait and see if more people will join in and lower the price. If you'd like to wait, please also reply indicating as such. Your replies are necessary to move this process along. Thanks.