Real neon tubes look pretty chic and inspire us with their retro look. But getting glass tubes into the right shape, filling them with gas and then connecting high voltage is a job for which even professionals need a lot of experience. A similarly beautiful effect can be achieved with our – less demanding – do-it-yourself solution.

A glowing cactus brings a holiday mood into the apartment.

How convenient that there have been neon flexible tubes for some time, with which one can build signs and decorative pictures – completely without danger and high voltage – that look deceptively real like neon billboards from a distance.

The The LEDs of the Neonflex hoses themselves light up either in color or simply white, the rest of the coloring is done by the silicone of the hoses. Neonflex tubes are extremely flexible, so that bends of almost 180 degrees are possible for our retro signs. In the current issue of Make 6 / 20, we show you how to control the hoses, shape them and which colors work best.

More exciting topics The stove is off? This cannot happen with our radio fill level monitoring for oil tanks, which thanks to LoRaWAN technology also monitors distant containers. We also show you how to glue 3D printed parts correctly – because this is often unavoidable with really large printed objects.

There is more on the topic in issue 6 / 20 of the Make.

Make magazine at the kiosk and in the shop You can find these and other articles in issue 6 / 20 the Make, which is available online and at the kiosk. With one of our subscriptions, the magazine was already in the mailbox when the magazine started. You can also conveniently order the Make as a print version or PDF in the Heise Shop. If you prefer to read Make digitally, you can do so in our apps for iOS and Android. You can also find the table of contents of Make 6 / 20 online. (rehu)