[Hallicrafters] WHO does panel work?

[anchor at ec.rr.com]

Hi agn Folks,
  I was in on a "deal" a few yrs ago to get several SX-42 panels 
repainted & silk screened, by the guy Todd mentioned (anonymously).  
The actual screening was done by Lynn Brock, N0ALO, who I believe will 
still do it.  The other guy, who was a paint supplier and did the 
painting, was extremely slow and we almost lost hope of getting the 
panels back.  AFAIK he's no longer in business.  
  Lynn did a beautiful job, if he'll still do it, go to him, but you'll 
probably have to have the panel painted b4 sending it to him.
  I just had a RadioMarine CRM-R6A panel screened by a professional 
co. "up north" with a screen that another fellow had had made by that 
co. a few yrs ago.  Cost, not incl shipping, was in the $100/ea. range 
(2 were done at once), so use that as a reference point.  It's a pain 
to set up to screen something, and more of a pain to clean up 
afterwards, and commercial outfits probably charge >>$50/hr labor.
  I will consider screening R-42 & R-46 spkrs for others, tho' haven't 
thought much abt a price to do it. 
73,
Al, W8UT
(email is a struggle for me this wk, the ISP is having major problems, 
some incoming stuff may get lost forever b4 I see it.)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Todd, KA1KAQ" <ka1kaq at gmail.com>
Date: Thursday, August 11, 2005 11:12 am
Subject: Re: [Hallicrafters] WHO does panel work?

> On 8/11/05, Craig Roberts <crgrbrts at verizon.net> wrote:
> 
> <snip>
> > I guess what I need are NAMES!.  WHO does silk-screening for our 
> types> of projects?  Are there any folks who will do a complete
> > repainting/silk-screening job; to whom I could send my old panel and
> > have it redone to near perfection? I've put so much labor and so 
> many> new components into this particular receiver (for sloppily 
> sentimental> reasons) that I'm not terribly worried about cost. I 
> would just like
> > this radio to be as pretty and original looking as possible and 
> be done
> > with it -- and I don't trust my own refinishing skills to do the 
> job as
> > well as I'd like.  (Seeing Dee Almquist's Johnson refurbishing 
> artistry> in person convinced me of that).
> 
> Craig, Bill, et al:
> 
> There used to be a couple of guys out there doing panels, from
> stripping to painting to re-screening. Someone took over one business
> that did this along with selling the matching 'boatanchor' paints. I
> don't know the full story, but heard that the new owner hadn't done
> well at keeping up and getting things back to folks, and eventually
> shut things down. Maybe someone else can add more.
> 
> So it would seem that somebody out there somewhere has the screens
> already made, it's just a matter of finding out who and going from
> there. It would be nice if someone could resurrect the business -
> maybe Dee or Howard or someone already knowledgable. At least save the
> screens, there was a pretty good list last I knew.
> 
> I agree 100% with Charlie: re-screening is the only way to go. Sure,
> it's pricey, but so is any decent paint job. Decals might seem
> tempting since you can do them at home, but what happens if you need
> to clean the panel? How well will those decals stand up to it? Makes
> me think of Earl Sheib. Even if you need to get a screen made up
> (probably $200+), you can rent it out or do work for others to recover
> the cost. Unless it's a very obscure rig, you should break even before
> long. A good silk screen will look right, feel right, and be much more
> durable over time.
> 
> BTW Craig, I did check the parts rig last weekend. The IF cans are
> bolted on. Exchanged email with Bob, hoping to meet up with you 
> all at
> Gaithersburg.
> 
> 73, Todd/'Boomer'  KA1KAQ
>