Can you make your own neon sign?

Neon sign-making is a skill that takes years to master. We often joke “it takes five years just to get bad at it!” We talked in our previous article about how the hands-on nature of creating neon signs is a big factor in pricing, but an exceptionally patient (or stubborn) person could acquire the equipment and materials necessary to learn to make neon signs on their own.

The process of creating a neon sign can be broadly split into two portions: the glass-bending side, and the tube-processing side. Glass bending consists of heating the glass over an open flame to a point where it can be shaped to match the pattern, or design you are working from. Aspiring neon signmakers could potentially find used torches online for around $1-2,000. These glass bending setups also require a supply of natural gas or propane, as well as forced air (via a blower) to reach the temperatures necessary to work with glass. From that point, self-guided teaching is a long process of repetitions to build up comfort and familiarity in working with molten glass, and can be challenging without an experienced tubebender to provide advice, pointers and feedback.

Getting set up to bend glass on your own is relatively straightforward compared to creating a tube-processing setup. There are far fewer options to acquire the equipment (at a minimum, a good quality vacuum pump, vacuum manifold and step-up bombarding transformer). Even second-hand, a person looking to acquire this equipment is likely spending over $10,000 and spending a fair amount of time searching for obscure parts or tweaking their setup, as the amount of information available is also fairly slim.

For our shop, acquiring our initial equipment meant a cross-country trip to San Diego to buy out a signmaker who had a garage full of equipment, and a month-long process to get it all assembled and tuned just right.

However, all the above shouldn’t deter you, because there’s a more affordable, more accessible way to make your own neon signs. At Lightship Neon, we offer workshops in neon sign creation, including hands-on time in the fires to allow you to participate in the creation of your own, custom sign. For students who’ve been through one (or more) of our classes, we also offer studio rental time, at far more affordable rates than attempting to build out a neon plant in your own home.