Some experiments with a custom argon discharge tube.
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I had access to a custom neon place that made a 2 foot argon discharge tube with a filament and a tungsten target at the other.

This is a tube with a filament in one end and a beveled tungsten cathode at the other. As the filament was so frail, it was not able to be bombarded adequately to give proper outgassing and the pressure was nowhere near low enough to give a sufficient electron acceleration to give x-rays.

 Initially when this tube was fired, it was completely striated every 1/2 inch or so and looked very dramatic. It fired at 2 kV. After a day or so sufficient outgassing had occurred to blur the striations although the Cookes space near the cathode still remains in the left photo above. The tungsten electrode is visible in the right photo with segment of yellow soda glass rather than the clear lead glass.  I had vague thoughts of developing a setup that could be properly evacuated to a level where I could generate x-rays hence the tungsten target.

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Photo Date: 2011