Cheap Tricks

[foakes]

Krylon Wrinkle Finish Spray Paint --

Working on some old DAM Quicks over the weekend.

These spinners are painted with a flat black rough finish -- and it wears off over time -- causing a rough look around the edges -- even though it may be mechanically perfect.  

Never liked that aspect -- not really complete.

Found this stuff -- and it works very well.

Just a light misting makes the reel look like it just came out of the box.

This old Quick 221 was pretty rough --

The counterweight inside the rotor head had become dislodged -- causing excess friction and catching.

The sideplate and rear of the body was badly gouged.

And other things that go with a reel in this condition.

Replaced the rotor and sideplate -- the frame also should have been replaced because it looked terrible with the new sideplate and rotor -- but that would have raised the restoration price past where I considered reasonable.

So a light couple of coats -- let dry for 24 hours -- turned out pretty well.

Best,

Fred

[happyhooker]

Looks good, Fred.  I like that flat black paint on the DAM Qs.

Someone had asked about Sharpies; I've used a metallic silver "permanent marker" for lettering & trim &  it seems pretty durable.

I have occasionally coated some paints, plastic drag knobs that look a little scruffy, etc., with a coat of water based poly; stuff is easy clean up, adds a little protection & shine too & dries in less than 1/2 an hr.

[foakes]

Wrenches & Nutdrivers --

We all have wrenches, socket sets, nutdrivers, and special factory wrenches we use regularly.

Some more than others -- however, they all need to be easy to reach whenever needed.

In a drawer to my right are socket sets in standard and metric.

On the bench to my right are small wrenches in standard and metric.

Above the bench are specialized factory wrenches for various reels -- Penn, Mitchell, ABU Cardinals, Shimano, Daiwa, Record, and others.

On my left are nutdrivers in the carousel -- which are used a lot for spinners.

The key for me is to have no duplicates in my main inside shop -- a place for each tool, easy and identifiable -- and to wipe them off and return them to their location -- ready for the next job.

Everyone will have and develop their own style -- this is just what has worked for my style over the years.

I encourage those who do not already have a system -- to see what type of reels you generally work on -- then design a simple workstation that works for you.

Best,

Fred

[Maxed Out]

 "If you removed the "un" from "unorganized", what you'd have left is Fred.    

 -T

[Tiddlerbasher]

 

[Soren Bredberg]

Cotton socks or if you can get your wife make you a cotton bag would be ideal.

[happyhooker]

Not as handy as foakes (Fred's) trays, but cheaper are the tops off boxes of office paper; they are about 12" X 20"; cardboard color inside on most, although some are white.

Better than an oil can is a little drip bottle; holds about 1 oz. of lube and has a very thin hollow metal tube sort of like a needle, that you can cap with a rubber slip-on top. Easy to uncap & use and you can put the smallest drop of lube into a tight spot.

Citrus-type household cleaners; they are not heavy-duty degreasers, but will remove light grease/oil coatings; they also may loosen glued-on decals or other things (like the fish emblem on DAM Quick reels--don't ask me how I know).

Frank