[R-390] Filling Engraved Panels

[Bill Kirkland]

I've used the acrylic paint method very successfully on sp-600 panels.
I dilute the paint a bit as my paint is very thick. I use a paint brush to
fill in the letters and go over the letters with a plastic body work 
scraper.
This leaves the "hazy" on the body of the panel.

What I have found with acrylics, is that they appear to dry quite quickly
however the paint is stiff quite soft.  If you wait a couple of days you 
will
find that the paint gets considerably harder.  So, I wait for the paint to
dry for some 10's of minutes and then wipe the panel off with a paper towel
and automobile "scratch/swirl remover".  This allows the paint in the 
letters
to dry to a sufficient level that the "cloth" doesn't just smear it all over 
again.

If you wait a week to remove the haze, the paint has gotten way too hard.

The cloth you use is critical too.  It should be quite smooth.  Any 
roughness/or hairs
will tend to affect the paint in the lettering.

The other trick I use is that the above process is tied in to the entire 
paint job.

I haven't had great success in getting a "smooth" paint application from the 
spray
bombs. So, what I resorted to doing is painting the panel and then using the 
automotive
buffing/polish compounds.
- lightly sand with 600 or better wet sand paper (prefer 1000)
- medium coarse buffing compound (applied with a polish machine, 3000 rpm)
- 1st application fine buffing compound/swirl/scratch remover.

- Fill in lettering

- Followed by final application of swirl/scratch remover.  This takes off 
the haze.

Main issue with this is that you get a very polished (glossy) paint job when 
most of the
panel are flat or semi-gloss.

As for the the polishing machine, I got mine on ebay for less $50.
In the US there are several stores that carry these for similar prices (they 
just don't
ship to Canada)

Bill, ve3jhu


>From: "David C. Hallam" <dhallam at rapidsys.com>
>Reply-To: dhallam at rapidsys.com
>To: "Robert Nickels" <W9RAN at oneradio.net>,"R-390A Receiver List" 
><r-390 at mailman.qth.net>,"Hammarlund" <hammarlund at mailman.qth.net>
>Subject: RE: [R-390] Filling Engraved Panels
>Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 12:48:44 -0400
>
>Get a Lacquer-Stix made by Lake Chemicals.  It is a fill-in paint on stick
>form made for this application.  Any excess can easily be removed with a
>wipe of light mineral oil.
>
>David
>KC2JD/4
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: r-390-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> > [mailto:r-390-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of Robert Nickels
> > Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:37 PM
> > To: R-390A Receiver List; Hammarlund
> > Subject: [R-390] Filling Engraved Panels
> >
> >
> > I'm looking for "best practices" aka "what works" when filling engraved
> > panels.  The panel in question is for a Hammarlund SP-210 but I've got a
> > 390 panel in the queue and the process should be the same.
> >
> > I've read everything Google has produced on the topic, which basically
> > amounts to using a) acrylic artists paint or b) lacquer stick to fill
> > the engraved lettering.   "Filling" is the easy part, the trouble comes
> > when trying to remove the residue that inevitably gets on the panel.
> > Most folks say to wait "a while" for the fill to dry, then remove the
> > residue with a damp cloth, or something similar.  It sounds good, but
> > I've had less than zero success at removing the excess paint while
> > leaving the filled area intact.
> >
> > The laws of physics seem to get in the way.  Common sense tells us that
> > a thin layer of paint will dry before a thick one, and my attempts thus
> > far confirm that if I wait long enough for the filled area to be
> > sufficiently dry, the residue on the panel has fully dried and is nearly
> > impossible to remove without marring the panel.   Edison-like, I've
> > tried dozens of different methods on my (now) test panel, including
> > adding cornstarch to thicken the paint, using various materials as a
> > squeegee, and different cure times, but the result is inevitably a
> > whitish haze around the letters, inconsitent filling of some letters,
> > and a generally lousy (polite word) appearance.
> >
> > There must be a trick to this, and while I'm busy stripping and
> > re-priming and painting, I'm hoping some of you who have had success
> > will share your secrets.  In as much detail as possible, please!  Edison
> > was a patient man....I'm not ;-)
> >
> > Thanks and 73,
> > Bob W9RAN
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> >
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>
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