[Elecraft] KX3 Bottom Cover - To Sand or not To Sand?

[Dave Jewell]

Thanks Don.  Definitely no mask there - only metal + paint!  :-)   I’ve got poor distance vision, but I can focus down to about two inches from my face.  (Good for building models!)  Even if I couldn’t see the mask, I’d be able to feel it.  

I agree that scraping with a knife (or a Dremel) is a lot quicker than sanding. 

73,
Dave GW0LUA

On 30 Apr 2014, at 20:57, Don Wilhelm <w3fpr at embarqmail.com> wrote:

> Dave,
> 
> Look at that area very carefully using a light held at an oblique angle.
> The masking tape may be there, but completely covered with paint.
> If it is not there, scrape with a knife and then sand a little. That paint is tough and it will take a while to sand through it. Sanding is OK, but scraping with the blade of a knife is much easier and faster.
> 
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
> 
> On 4/30/2014 3:44 PM, Dave Jewell wrote:
>> I’m having *HUGE* fun building the KX3 which I received yesterday.
>> 
>> BUT… I’m now scratching my head on page 20 of the assembly manual.
>> 
>> This page shows various views of the bottom cover and the need to remove the paint masks, as I’ve already done for the top cover.  The small leftmost illustration (immediately above “Figure 25” on the page) indicates that there should be a small mask on the left end (as viewed in the illustration) corresponding to a much larger mask on the right end.
>> 
>> On my bottom cover, this isn’t there.  I’ve removed all the other masks - inside and out - but there is no mask to remove in the indicated position.  And because there’s no mask, there’s paint where there should be bare metal.
>> 
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> 
>