[Hallicrafters] Blooming meters

[Lloyd]

Well, close. As I understand it the meter case was formed from a "billet" or
"slug" of brass. This was placed hot in a hydraulic press and the case was
formed in one punching operation. The cracks that form much later in the
case are the thinner spots caused by scratches on the punch and/or
impurities in the brass plus the phenomenon called "work hardening" The
metal gets harder as it is worked. If the cases had been annealed i.e.
heated to approx 1350 degrees F, the metal would have relaxed and the
problem would have never occurred. They could have then been retempered to
harden the case. Each of these steps is time and time is money.Besides
nobody ever thought we would be trying to revive these things in 50 years.
Lloyd Godsey  KK7IZ
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