[Boatanchors] Preventing steel corrosion

[Doug Hensley]

At least one US Manufacturer is doing it right: Elecraft.  They use 16 guage tough steel cabinet & chasis parts all die cut on a heavy punch, deburred, pickled and then powder coated.  The toughness and durability of the powder coating is absolutely amazing.


One technique that they use to make assembly easier is to put donut shaped adhesive rings around assembly holes that serve as grounding points immediately prior to coating.  Occasionally these fall off and you have to scrape the paint around the holes prior to assembly.  Wow, I had to use a machinist scraper to get it off.


If you have an old Vibroplex that has rusted, and they all rust, try getting the base powder coated.  Vibroplex will sell a new base for $70 but I've gotten estimates way under that for the powder coating.  I think the big difference is that powder coating reduces hole diameters by a few thousandths and on their 1/2" thick bases, that is a problem.


Cheers,


Doug W5JV