[Boatanchors] Refinishing Old Cast Aluminum Knobs (a la

[Gary Peterson]

One thought is to anodize the aluminum knobs.  This creates a thin, tough, porous layer of aluminum oxide on the surface.  There are at least a couple of chemical methods that may be performed at home.  The Internet will give you the recipes.  Just be careful.  Do it outdoors and wear goggles and rubber gloves.

I have anodized aluminum panels for homebrew projects.  Once anodized, the knobs would be capable of  retaining any color of dye, including black.

Gary, K ZERO CX (a slashed zero will not appear on the reflector)  




“As everyone here probably knows, the old cast aluminum knobs used on the 
BC-348, BC-221 and other WWII electronics gear never held paint well.  
Almost every piece of gear I've seen that used them is missing most of 
the black crinkle-finish paint and the white arrowhead-shaped pointer.
I have stripped several of these knobs with the intention of repainting 
them and re-applying the pointer...
I'm open to suggestions!
Mike Harmon, WB0LDJ”