Cheap Aluminum Flatbar- (Or Being Innovative)

LUV these kinds of ideas Frank!!

I was modifying my sluice box today and needed to make a pair of removable bars for the top of it.
 Going to the local Big Box store I found the piece of flatbar  I needed was almost 10 bux for a 4' piece

Now I am generally a tightwad, and that was way too much, IMHO.
Looking in  he garage, I saw a lot of front panels, alu boxes, etc, but no flatbar. Then I saw my drywall square and thought "Hmmm, that is just about the perfect piece of aluminum".

So off to Harbor Frt. Tools again. ( I should really buy stock in that company), and lo and behold! I got a perfect aluminum yardstick for under 5 bux.
Not only was it cheaper than the alu at the box store, it was 1/16" thicker at least.
Took it home, cut it to the correct lengths, bent it on my small anvil( Not Harbor Frt. A real oldie), and VIOLA! I had my pieces I needed, with a nice piece of yardstick left over for actually measuring stuff  (And if I can find a nugget big enough to require measuring on the yardstick pieces, I'm gonna be having a party!)

So what has this to do with old radios, you ask?

Well, sometimes the exact part you need just can't be found, or a repro part is way too expensive. You MUST be innovative.

Another trick is I needed a shaft support bearing for the front panel of a project. They are way too expensive and hard to find.
Then I remembered a trick I saw on some equipment I scrapped out 20+ years ago. The front panel bearing was in reality the threaded portion of a potientometer. So I took an old junk one, removed the threaded section and nut and that worked just great.

 Innovation is the child born of necessity.