The vintage Mitchell 300

[SirCranksalot]

Hi, new here.

I spent some of my hard earned $$ in the early 70s. That one broke and/or got lost over time. A few years back I picked up a couple from garage sales or Kijiji. I have recently taken an interest in re-furbishing them. A bent copper washer popped out from somewhere inside. I think it fits below the spool but it's a very tight fit around the spindle. Does it help control the drag somehow? The washer has been bent out of shape. Do I really need to replace it. Make one or buy one?

thx

[foakes]

Not a valid attachment ID. Welcome aboard!

A Mitchell 300 has a lot of washers —- some are washers, generally the copper ones are shims.

Baffle plate, rotor head, pinion, and more.

Sounds like one of the shims to adjust the rotating head —- or part of the stack to adjust the baffle plate.

If you could show us some photos of the reel and the shims —- I could put some in the mail to you on Monday —- N/C.

Mitchell 300/400 size reels need shimming to operate properly.

As the reel gets usage —- sometimes more or less shims are required.  There is a procedure for shimming these —- it is not an exact science, and may take a couple of tries —- but it is how they are designed to work.

To answer your question —- yes, this needs to be replaced.

One can be made (tough job being so thin and fragile) or this one can be flattened straight —-  but some new ones will be the best solution.

Best, Fred

[happyhooker]

Greetings, SirC, from Minnesota.  Don't give up on the 300; you can almost surely make it right.  They are nice reels and worth a little time to refurb.

Frank

[Wompus Cat]

Hi, new here.

I spent some of my hard earned $$ in the early 70s. That one broke and/or got lost over time. A few years back I picked up a couple from garage sales or Kijiji. I have recently taken an interest in re-furbishing them. A bent copper washer popped out from somewhere inside. I think it fits below the spool but it's a very tight fit around the spindle. Does it help control the drag somehow? The washer has been bent out of shape. Do I really need to replace it. Make one or buy one?

thx

Welcome to the Forums
   
 If you could post some pictures of the washer and maybe some of the Reel there are lots of  folks here that can get you up and running .

[Brewcrafter]

Greetings and welcome SirC from the SoCal Inland Empire.  You are in good hands; not only can you find knowledge and guidance here you will also find folks with the parts in addition to the experience to make it correct. - john

[SirCranksalot]

Thx for the welcome and greetings from the Great White North.


You seem like a friendly, knowledgeable, and quite helpful group of people.

I have had a couple of these for a few years now but have only discovered the fun of tinkering with them recently. Too bad I didn't at the start of Covid.

The bigger copper washer/shim in the attached pic is the one I was asking about. It sort of 'came out of nowhere' and showed up on my work surface. Should have paid closer attention----duuuh!

It looked like it had been deliberately bent in half to function as a spring but had other bends that looked random and accidental. I have partially flattened some of those out with my fingers. It has quite a tight fit over the spindle and I don't see where else it would fit. That is why I assumed it was part of the drag.

I found the other 2 smaller brass shims in the casing(gear box). The reel seems to function OK w/o them but may function better with them. I suspect that the were on the pinion gear.

Thx for your help in solving this puzzle

[Wompus Cat]

Shims do a lot of things .
1. they make up for shoddy machine work to start with ...lol
2. Take up slack because of Mass Produced  Plus or Minus allowed specifications in so heavily relied on in Production these days .
3. Are made to adjust wear over many years of service in a Well made non Shim use Master Machinist Craft mechanism .
4. Spacers are a different story .
5. Wedges too are a different story and a necessity in holding a Hatchet head in place from first Chop,Chop ,Chop  Application .
You reel has seen some use as evident in the Wear on the Copper Shim so it would be good to replace it when and if you find where it goes ,the others could be spacers /shims to set the end-play in the main gear to pinion .
All in all IF those parts were in your REEL to start with and are not in there now you WILL HAVE some Slack Somewhere in  the workings of Your Reel  . Maybe the Rotor in and out as well as the handle in and out .
Getting those to a closer fit by use of Shims is your Goal or if you are happy with it
Just keep crankin til something starts Jumping (and it Will ).
Good luck and thanks for posting the pictures it will help others more smarter than me asses your prob.

And yep I ain't doing nothin right now ............

[Gfish]

How's it goin', eh?
I think we like each other's equipment issues. I, of course like them a little better if they aren't mine, but, I always learn new stuff when others start posting possible answers.
 Have always wondered about the design/engineering thinking on the old M G's with those shims & washers. One thought; adding a shim(s) is cheaper than replacing a gear.

I've found with moderate success that it's a balancing act. Shims added or taken-out may affect something elsewhere. If you get into it, be prepared assemble/disassemble the reel many times to get it right(relatively smooth & noiseless).

[dlrider]

Shims do a lot of things .
1. they make up for shoddy machine work to start with ...lol
2. Take up slack because of Mass Produced  Plus or Minus allowed specifications in so heavily relied on in Production these days .
3. Are made to adjust wear over many years of service in a Well made non Shim use Master Machinist Craft mechanism .
4. Spacers are a different story .
5. Wedges too are a different story and a necessity in holding a Hatchet head in place from first Chop,Chop ,Chop  Application .
You reel has seen some use as evident in the Wear on the Copper Shim so it would be good to replace it when and if you find where it goes ,the others could be spacers /shims to set the end-play in the main gear to pinion .
All in all IF those parts were in your REEL to start with and are not in there now you WILL HAVE some Slack Somewhere in  the workings of Your Reel  . Maybe the Rotor in and out as well as the handle in and out .
Getting those to a closer fit by use of Shims is your Goal or if you are happy with it
Just keep crankin til something starts Jumping (and it Will ).
Good luck and thanks for posting the pictures it will help others more smarter than me asses your prob.

And yep I ain't doing nothin right now ............

Maybe it's me, but I feel that the material a shim/washer is made makes for a difference in smoothness, as in turning the gears.  Brass, bronze, copper alloy stuff seems to be more free of friction than say steel of some sort or bare metal gearing.

[foakes]

If you will send me your full name and mailing address in a PM (personal message) —- I will send out a couple of complete sets of shims tomorrow —- so you can get this reel in order —- plus start on some others.

Best, Fred

[SirCranksalot]

Hi folks,

I am having trouble operating the PM system. Someone sent me one and my reply got messed up.

I have re-assembled the reel I was working on and it seems to be working fine. I added 2 shims to the pinion gear post.

Thx for posting that, Foakes. Still a bit of a puzzle. It shows a fiber drag washer. Mine did not have any but the drag seems to work reasonably well. Also, nothing that shows the bent copper washer that I have.

thx again for all your help

[foakes]

OK, looks like you're good to go.

Best, Fred

[Wompus Cat]

That Buggered up Shim I think is a 81 035 part # and is a shim for the Drive gear and may take one or more to get proper spacing .

[SirCranksalot]

OK, looks like you're good to go.

Best, Fred

Yeah, maybe! Thx for your kind offer. I may have said already that I have 3 of these---one down, 2 to go. I can see where this could become an obsession!!