[Elecraft] Tuning knob finish

[Torsten Clay]

It's actually not that hard to anodize aluminum yourself. You
basically need some acid (from battery or swimming pool supplies), a
DC power supply, and dye if you want the part to be colored. The
hardest part is going to be getting all the old paint off of the part.

I've done some home anodizing for telescope parts, and they turned out
fairly nice. There is a lot of information out there in ATM (Amateur
Telescope Making) web sites and email lists. For example:

http://www.focuser.com/atm/anodize/anodize.html

Torsten N4OGW

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> I have the same... er...."problem" although it's taken a lot of
tuning.
> I use the Main Tuning knob constantly while operating. 
> 
> S/N 1289 (approaching 3 years of age) now has a shiny spot on the
knob
> face and I have no doubt that more will appear over time. The spot
is  a
> place where the paint that wasn't all that well bonded to the metal
got
> so thin that a small area came loose and left a jagged hole about 2
by 5
> mm (abt 1/8 x 1/4 in).