[R-390] Powder-coating update

[John Page]

I wonder what one would look like in St. James Gray? John

John Page K4KWM
Hollow State since 1953
(ex W8PKU,N8BLB,NA8O)



>From: "Barry" <n4buq at aol.com>
>To: "R-390 HF Receiver List" <r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
>Subject: [R-390] Powder-coating update
>Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 13:25:05 -0500
>
>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
>
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