As always, prototypes should be made fast, cheap and disposable, and designed to fix as much mistakes as possible.

The previous prototype was over-dimensioned, and had really loose tolerances. Also, this enclosure was made in 3d printed plastic, which doesn't really do the Nixies justice.

The priority for Prototype 2 version was to try out different materials, and it turned out successfully.

To make sure that the dimensions were right, an ABS plastic version was produced:

Attempt was made to smooth things out, but I messed up with liberal use of acetone :(

To make the darn thing in wood, I turned to Alibaba, and found some suppliers.

 The following wood materials were tested: Mahogany, Black Walnut and Wenge.

Mahogany has an interesting texture:

Wenge is dark, and has some remaining holes from machining, which need to be filled (or maybe not):

Black Walnut is my favorite, it has a smooth finish:

This was my first attempt to deal with wooden enclosures (so far I only worked with metal), and so far, so good.

I let the manufacturers dictate the finish. Mahogany has no finish (might brush this with some mineral oil), while wenge and black walnut have oil based finish.