Vacuum in a Can

[alfa88]

I don't know what you're going for, alfa88.
I'm fascinated by H.P. Friedrich's 'McGyver' approach to recreating old technology, i.e., using readily available materials to accomplish said tasks.

 

[Braeden Hamson]

Not to sure what you're doing but could you use an inert gas instead? If electrons are flying through space obviously no, but if you're just trying to avoid oxygen.

 

[alfa88]

A future project would be making a simple triode. In what I've read one reason Edison's light bulb succeeded was that he managed to achieve a higher vacuum thus eliminating that pesky oxidation and inadvertently discovered a rectifying effect later on(which didn't seem to impress him too much). It was a number of years, later, where it was found that an inert gas would work in retarding oxidation for a lamp instead of the ridiculously high vacuum. But for thermionic valves, yes, a high vacuum is still needed for electrons to freely move from one element to another. Various gasses, though, will ionize and were/are used in a similar manner to Zener diodes.

 

[KMoffett]

If you haven't don it already...Google: DIY vacuum tube

Lots of info from people that have done it...or tried.

Ken