[Hammarlund] Hammarlund SP400SX Front Panel Restoration

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Interesting....

I've pondered how to do this for the older black wrinkle/engraved
panels to preserve the original shiny engraving. Permatex gasket
material came to mind instead of the plaster mix, but concerns of
peeling new paint off the panel by mistake while cleaning out the
lettering left the thought in the dark recesses of my noggin. Glad to
hear that someone has accomplished this through other means.

IMO, the black wrinkle panel with engraved exposed aluminum is the
best looking combination. It's also the toughest to recreate easily.
All of the WWII era examples I've seen were semi-gloss smooth black or
gray with white filled lettering.

~ Todd,  KA1KAQ/4

On Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 12:33 PM, Tisha Hayes <tisha.hayes at gmail.com> wrote:

> Once I strip a front panel and get the surface as smooth as possible I use
> thinned out wallboard plaster to fill in all of the lettering. Then I clean
> the panel again, primer and paint.
>
> When the paint is dry (but before it goes into the oven for a baking) I use
> a dental pick to pop out the plaster from the engraving. This leaves the
> panel with clean engraving slots, after baking I go back over the lettering
> with white acrylic paint to fill in the lettering.