Patrick wrote:

I want to solder cv 173 tubes directly in a circuit without using a socket.
The pins come straight out of the flat glass tube bottom.
It's impossible to solder a wire to the pins, even with the iron set to
450°C.

Can anyone tell me how should I do this? Sockets for these tube are very
rare and the tubes are high reliability, so socket not essential.

Patrick

Maybe you could make your own sockets,
but its a hard thing to do, using some drilled plastic plates,
and some brass strip bent to form the pin grippers.
But I think if you looked around, you'd find some old sockets
someone didn't want.
See
http://www.tubecollector.org/cv2006.htm
for some idea on socket construction.

Would not a "normal" tube be easier?
6CL6 comes to mind.

Patrick Turner.