[R-390] Front panel saga

[Barry]

After attempting to have one of the engraved front panels powder-coated two
times, I decided it wasn't going to work.  The first time they baked the old
coating off and the second time, they chemically stripped it.  Right now, it
looks pretty pitiful.  The front panel has visible pits and the engravings
are now not very distinct, so much so that I won't be able to simply paint
and fill in the lettering.

I'm figuring the engravings are a total loss at this point.  I'm planning on
filling them in (along with the small pitting) with JB-Weld, having it
powder-coated (after all this they at least said they would do the next
project free), and have it silk-screened.  It's ashamed to lose the
engravings, but I'm not sure I have much choice now.  I'm hoping that I can
get the panel smoothed out with the JB-Weld such that it is imperceptible
where the old engravings were.

Who out there does a silkscreening?  Since I've invested quite a bit in
these panels already, I'm looking for the best price and only want the front
done.  This will be for a chassis with a power supply that I'm selling.
I've had the panel pieces re-Alodined, the knobs and escutcheon are
powder-coated, so someone will get a pretty nice starting-point for a "new"
radio.

It's a shame.  The first panel came out looking sooooo good.

Regards,

Barry - N4BUQ