[R-390] Powder-coating update

[Barry]

Gents,

A while ago, I mentioned I was getting the front panels for a couple of
R390As powder-coated.  I thought I'd report a few things.

First, one of the panels came out just great.  I've finished filling the
lettering with lacquer and it really looks good.  Nice, clear, distinct
letters.

The first time they did the knobs, they got very globby with the powder and
it filled in the grooves to the point that a lot of them were indistinct.
They removed the coating, recoated a thinner coat, and they look good now.
Meter covers and escutcheons look good too.  I wish they hadn't coated where
the lamps go, but I was able to sand that back to metal so the bulbs would
make contact.

The unfortunate victim in all this is the second panel.  Try as they might,
they could not lay a thin enough coating on to make the lettering distinct.
I thought they were pretty much the same, but perhaps the first panel had
deeper, sharper lettering.  The first try looked terrible.  You could tell
the engravings were there, but to try to fill them in would have been a
disaster.  They removed the coating and tried again with a thinner coat.
This time, some of the lettering would have worked, but other letters would
be just too indistinct.

They're going to strip it back to metal and I'm going to resort to lightly
spray painting this one.  I guess I just wanted to warn anyone else that
unless the engravings are nicely defined and the coaters can keep the finish
very thin, powder-coating has its drawbacks.

At any rate, I do have one very, very nice front panel now.  The second one
will be nice too,  and the knobs and escutcheon will be powder-coated, but
it will just have to be a painted version.

Barry - N4BUQ