Mitchell 600 4 ring Overhead

[jonnou]

This is my first tutorial. Any feedback appreciated.
Thanks Alan for such an awesome site.
I am not completely sure of the model but it matches the schematics perfectly. Mitchell 600 4 ring.
I purchased this reel in a box of 14 junk reels. Looked rough, wound rough but was complete. Black paint on side plates all falling off.
I stripped and got it working well before I did this tutorial but wanted to cut and fit cf washers And paint
This is a very simple reel so thought it a good opportunity to do tutorial and also don't think anyone has done one of these on this site.
Parts seem compatible with some Penn parts?



Here is the schematics



I am going to paint this so will strip it down to the bones



first remove handle screw and handle lock screw (key 704 703)





Remove handle screw and handle complete (key 702 701)







Remove the 4 side plate screws( key 709)




Separate rh plate, spool and frame




I am going to paint and clean all parts so I will disassemble the Left hand plate, posts  and reel seat.
Remove the six screws in the side plate




Note pins on lower posts that locate into rh side plate




Line everything up




Note swage in inner ring (both plates)



Remove clicker screw and plastic click spring and Remove bushing and spring (key 685 686)




Done one last photo before the vinegar bath



Now the right hand plate. First to remove the chrome rings push freespool lever halfway to make room.  Then put in gear as this will hold the yoke and yoke spring and pinion in place



remove the four bridge screws support bridge with hand underneath. You have a dog and spring to consider




Ready to remove the bridge



Showing yoke in place under cam( key 993) note position of dog spring( key 693 )



Dog has stayed with main gear


Put freespool lever to neutral and remove pinion and yoke





note position of yoke spring (key700)




As I mentioned before I am painting these sideplates so I will remove freespool lever and cam.This wouldn't need to be done in regular servicing unless there was an issue with it .
Remove nut( key 695)





Remove freespool lever screw (key 706) freespool clutch cam (key 993) cluch cam spring (key697)
Note orientation and position





Now for the drag stack


Measures 4.86mm



Will use 1mm cf sheet
20mm od 10mm id
punch out
clamp in an old penn main gear and 10mm drill. Up the guts
bingo


Everything in the vinegar.
I have to say I was amazed at how well and fast this worked.
Anyone tried coke or pepsi ?



Everything clean and laid out ready to assemble




Starting with the left side plate



Replace clicker and spring



Replace chrome rings note swage to inside



Posts and reel seat. Pins to bottom nearest to seat



Replace bushing





Rebuild the drag stack

New washers measures 4.99mm





Greased with cals drag grease  used old fiber washer under gear
might be dumb move ?



Good time to mention all non exposed metal surfaces coated with marine grade grease screw holes greased trying to stick to the "AT" formula .
drag stack back together top washer nice and flush with top or gear



Now to put the right plate back together
 a lot of this would not be required for field service



Bushing in







Clutch spring





Cam in place lever   screw and nut
 check orientation will go in two ways one is wrong.
Cam locates on tiny pin



Yoke spring hard to see
spot the difference



Pinion and Yoke in
make sure lever is in freespool  then put in gear to hold all in place



Ready for the main gear bridge.
invert all to keep drags in and turn to the side (either) to give room for the antireverse dog and spring



Just to show dog spring position



Dog in place. For some reason I keep putting it in the wrong way and it wont work like that %^#@
This is the right way



Turn bridge into place and screw up four bridge screws



Drag spacer in
this can be done later if you wish as you need to turn plate a couple of times yet




Time for the rings
remember the swage to inside and lever to halfway to get ring in






Bushing in  and ready for the handle



Nearly there



Drag star



Washer. This is a bit weird not in schematic but works



Handle




Screw and lock. Do not overtighten I did on the first reel I serviced myself. Horrible way to finish



Spool frame and rh plate



Spool in



Rh plate. Pins in posts located with holes in plate and inner ring and start reel seat screws first. then  start the others use thumb screws till hand tight. Then tighten evenly



Nice looking reel now  and cost $5 for paint and $3 for homemade CF washers. Lets not talk about the labour content






Reel freespool is ok I won't be casting with it. It  was pulling about 9lbs drag but I only had 10 lb line (old stuff keeps snapping)
Drag was a little bit jerky. Maybe the washer under the gear? I thought it was the ID of washers to start with but I have ruled that out. Its not bad but not as smooth as a penn 85 that I did my first CF conversion on that one had a combo of .5 and 1mm washers

Hope this helps someone if not I think it helped me. I am buying a 80w game reel and a little jig machine and I want to strip and Bluprint them

[redsetta]

Nice work jonnou!
Thanks for sharing the process - looks like a great result.
Cheers, Justin

[Alto Mare]

Nice job Jonnou.
I had three of them: the 600A- 622 and 624. I don't remember if the drags were 6-155 or 6-60, but
I do recall them being small, so maybe  they were 6-155.
No matter how dirty they were, after soaking the chromed parts, they always came out almost new.
I have never seen one of those without cracks on the plates though, but still fishable.
Those are very well made and very easy to maintain.
Thanks for the tutorial.
Sal

[alantani]

great work!!!  can i get you to please send me a pm with your mailing address.  i'd like to send something out to you!!!!!

[handi2]

Nice job Jonnou.
I had three of them: the 600A- 622 and 624. I don't remember if the drags were 6-155 or 6-60, but
I do recall them being small, so maybe  they were 6-155.
No matter how dirty they were, after soaking the chromed parts, they always came out almost new.
I have never seen one of those without cracks on the plates though, but still fishable.
Those are very well made and very easy to maintain.
Thanks for the tutorial.
Sal

Same here. I have owned and sold a bunch of these in the early years and only had one that didn't have the infamous crack in the side.

[Keta]

Nice, everyone one of these reels I've seen had the cracked sideplate.

[jonnou]

Thanks everyone
you guys dont miss much (sideplate) thought the paint might disguise it
was supposed to be pink or purple but they didnt have those colours at the red shed on sunday.
My three year old is still keen to catch a fish on it though. As long as its not to big she says

Cheers Jon

[jonnou]

Hello jonnou,
I was trying to reply to your post regarding the left over washer, but I can't seem to figure out how to reply to the posting.  I seem to be able to send you a personal message though so I wanted to let you know where it goes.  I have a Mitchell 622 and I have been trying to get the drag to work well, but it isn't smooth no matter what I do.  It tends to grab.  But I though I would give thorough servicing a try.  I appreciate you taking the time to post the pics online, but the reassembly of the drag system could use a couple more pics as this is where your missing washer belongs.  It is item number 81715 from the schematic.  http://www.reeldr.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/MITCHELL-6001969.pdf  It appears to be used to provide a spring effect to the drag adjustment mechanism.  The barrel that is under the star nut should press against the convex side of the washer and the concave side pushes against the drag stack.  Otherwise the barrel presses directly against the drag stack.  To install it you need to remove the drag stack and as the last item over the shaft place the spring washer, with the concave side toward the drag stack and the convex side toward the reel handle.  Then the drag barrel will press against it.  Hopefully this will provide you with a smoother drag. 

thanks  I locked the topic some how that was why you couldnt reply
The drag range is good on my reel and as smooth as butter
Hope you got yours sorted out
will sort it out when I get some spare time
thanks for your input

[lehrian]

Where did you get the material you used for the replacement drag washers?  Replacing them may be the answer to my problem.  Thank you. 

[jonnou]

I got the carbon fibre from Downriggers in austrailia
You can get sheet from Smoothdrag (I dont Know where you are)
also the washers are the same size as the small peen reels so you can use HT100 if you dont want to have to cut washers

[lehrian]

I ended up getting a sheet of 1mm thick from hobbyking.com.  I have a small CNC mill so I was able to cut the washers to match the old ones exactly.  It was a bit thicker than the Teflon washers that came out of it and I had to sand the one washer down, the one that goes between the drag gear and the click pawl so it wouldn't bind the drag gear when it was installed.  And then I had a problem when I went to put the star nut on.  The barrel stuck out too far so I threw it on the lathe and turned it down 1 mm so it would fit under the reel handle.  If I had left the spring washer out it would have fit, but the spring washer seems to give the drag a bit better adjustability.  I greased the stack and put it all back together and it was still grabby.  So I did a little reading and there are some manufacturers that recommend running their carbon fiber washers sans grease and Avet doesn't grease their drag stack.  So I took it all apart again, cleaned the grease out, as I was inspecting the brass washers there appeared to be some grooving on them so I sanded them with 1500 grit to clean them up and then polished them on a buffing wheel to a mirror finish.  I put the thing back together sans grease and it is SMOOOOOO-OOOTH!  There is no grabbing at all and the transition from static to kinetic is nearly undetectable.  It works like a brand new reel!  Heading to Baja the end of the week, looking forward to trying to out under *reel* world conditions ;-)

[jonnou]

Glad you got it sorted
The best way to Lap in your metal washers is to keep them turning as you do a few strokes turn 90 deg and repeat
sounds like you learned a lot with this project
Delrin or acetal is the material everyone is experementing with at the moment
It is Placed under the gear and drag stack
The one you sanded if I understand
overall thickness of the drag stack has a bit of tolerence
Just as long as the last eared washer engages in the gear slots and when you back off star you have near freespool
you will be good.
Cheers Jon

[wallacewt]

thats pretty good, jonnou
good stuff

[jonnou]

Thanks Wallace

[fIsHsTiiCkS]

Nice work! How is the paint holding up? I just got a sheet of CF as I do the conversion on a lot of reels and doing the washers from a sheet is a lot more cost effective. I have to cut them by hand and use a dremel to smooth the edges. Seems to have been working well.