[Hallicrafters] Cleaning Aluminium skirted knobs ?

[Barry Hauser]

On Tue, 23 Apr 2002 05:16:12 -0000 "Philip Atchley" <k06bb at elite.net>
writes:
> Anyway.  The real subject of this post is knobs with aluminium 
> skirts.  The ones on this set are in "pretty fair" condition overall
(considering 
> what the cabinet looked like).  However, they do have light surface 
> corrosion spots on the skirts.  The lettering appears to be pretty much

> intact.  Any ideas on what to do about the knobs, or do you think they
are 
> probably better off left as is (In other words am I likely to make them

> worse).

I don't have my SX-71 handy right now, and some knob details vary. 
Sometimes what appears to be corrosion is deterioration of the clearcoat
that was used on the aluminum skirts -- or slight corrosion underneath
the clearcoat.  Usually, if coated, it will have turned yellow or worse. 


Are yours coated, Phil?  If they are, you might want to either leave them
alone or strip off the coating and polish up the aluminum -- but that may
depend on the next thing ...

Are the skirts stamped and filled with black paint, or are the markings
simply silk-screened?  If they're stamped, you can get fairly aggressive
with the knobs -- even chuck them up on the wrong end of a 1/4" drill
bit, and spin them in the drill with a Scotchbrite pad on the skirts. 
While they're on the drill, you can also polish the bakelite centers with
some plastic polish or Brasso in the center while you run at low RPM's. 
This will give a slight "spun" look to the centers.

If stamped, you can always refill the lettering.  If silkscreened - go
easy -- "do no harm."  One thing I've used for aluminum detailing is
guess what?  -- DeOxit.  Yup.  It seems not to attack silkscreening and
paint,and may often minimize what corrosion is there.  Might take several
applications.  Won't be perfect, but will safely remove much of the
oxide.  As they say, be sure to test in an "inconspicuous" place. So I
alway test into a closet or behind the shed, or in a big crowd at Grand
Central Station first, but can't figure out how that helps  ;-)  Now that
you understand where the advice is coming from ... heh heh .

Barry

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