[Heathkit] Polishing aluminum part of SB-series escutcheon

[Chris Codella, W2PA]

Chris,

Since it was fairly scratched I felt I had nothing to lose so I plunged 
right in....

Here's what I did (read the whole thing before trying it):

1) I scrubbed the metal part with a steel wool soap pad, but NOT the 
rectangular part with the model number.  This worked great, but removed 
the black painted tops of the letters.  As long as you maintain a 
horizontal motion and don't press very hard at all, it ends up with a 
nice brushed finish almost like new.  Don't scrub too hard or you'll 
wear down the raised letters making them harder to re-paint later.
2) Since step 1 caused some scratches to the plastic part, I next 
polished just the plastic areas with automotive scratch remover which 
did a great job restoring it to a shiny finish.  You could probably use 
a plastic polish too.
3) I repainted the tops of the letters (H E A T H K I T) using flat 
black latex paint and a toothpick, applying just a tiny drop at a time.  
This works surprisingly well.  If you didn't scrub too hard in step 2, 
and just use a tiny bit of paint with each dab, the paint will stop at 
the edges of each raised letter and it'll end up looking great.  This 
takes a while and requires patience, a steady hand, and a magnifier.  If 
you make a mistake, just wipe the paint away and try again.
4) Mask off all but the metal part you just finished scrubbing and 
painting.  I used regular masking tape.  Spray lightly with lacquer to 
seal the paint and metal finish.  This may, in fact, be how it was 
originally finished.  I used only one light coat.

The results were great.  Email me if you'd like to see a picture or 
two.  The only deficiency I found in this procedure is that the steel 
wool doesn't get into the small areas close-in to each letter.  After 
finishing, however, this was not really noticeable.

73,
Chris, W2PA


Chris Kepus wrote:
> What did you eventually try on your part?  What were your results?
> Thanks es 73,
> Chris
> W7JPG
>