To Shine or Not to Shine — Mother’s Mag & Aluminum Polish

[foakes]

Finishing up some full restores on a few DQ Supers & Microlites today with the cool aluminum crank handles.

Finishing touches include high speed polishing of the crank handles using a bench mounted polisher and Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish.

One can almost shave in the reflection.

They were never this shiny from the factory.

Best, Fred

[ExcessiveAngler]

Try this again lol!
They turned out great Fred. If you don't mind me asking what type of polishing brush/wheel you used?
Couldn't believe, it took me years, to figure out that you could take some really good wax and polish up aluminum, super shiny, if you happen to know what to use.
And that's all I do, is play around with metal and take all kinds of stuff apart, to build other things lol!
Looks like you have the old jar of MMP there?
Knowing you Fred, you probably have loads of this, hidden away in bulk lol!
I used to use this, when I was younger, on my 69 Nova Crager rims and 82 Z28 mag rims, and chrome bumpers, they were the shiniest parts of the car, for sure.
It was amazing, how it kept the brake dust/dirt, and burnt rubber off them, racing night after night.
Then, just give them a quick hosing and a quick wipe and look good as new again lol!
The finish holds up quite well, even in very high heat situations.
Think, I still have an old empty tub here somewhere, that I kept to store trinkets in.
I'm glad that you actually posted this.
I was thinking about, polishing the insides of some old aluminum guides on a St. Croix Ben Doerr surf rod, the other day.
How do you think that would work out Fred?

[Crab Pot]

100% Shine! 

[foakes]

They turned out great Fred. If you don't mind me asking what type of polishing brush/wheel you used?

I'm glad that you actually posted this.
I was thinking about, polishing the insides of some old aluminum guides on a St. Croix Ben Doerr surf rod, the other day.
How do you think that would work out Fred?

I have a couple of double head 3" mini-grinders, in addition to a 1" belt sander, and a larger dual head grinder also.

The (2) little mini grinders are variable speed, and have a fine wire wheel, a burnishing wheel,a fine grinding wheel, and a soft cotton wheel for polishing.  Plus a Dremel-type attachment. These are directly behind my main work station so that they don't spread fine crud all over the reels I am working on.

On the aluminum guides —- it should work well.

However, if me, I always run a Woman's nylon stocking through each guide before doing any polishing.  If there are any gouges or nicks that could damage the line —- they must be addressed before any polishing —- and the nylon stocking will find the nicks we can't easily see or feel.

Best, Fred

[ExcessiveAngler]

Thanks for the advice, I have plenty of that laying around, use it for bait sacks lol!
I will have to admit, I never thought about using in the matter, you suggested though.
I only have 1 or 2 rods here with aluminum guides, and don't really use them much.
After I saw the finish on that handle!
I thought, you might have an old fashion stand up polisher, but those mini grinders will definitely get the job done, for sure!

[ReelClean]

This stuff also works well for restoring your headlight covers that have yellowed.  Just make sure you hit them with Rustoleum 2x clear gloss afterwards to protect from UV degradation.

[foakes]

url="tel:1694147392"]1694147392[/url]
I thought, you might have an old fashion stand up polisher, but those mini grinders will definitely get the job done, for sure!

I have a much larger grinder out in the metal & powder-coating shop —- on a stand.  Fine grinding wheel on the right head, fine wire brush on the left.  It does a great job on cleaning up old tools, hinges, bolts, and deburring anything I have made of metal.

Best, Fred

[Midway Tommy]

Pretty fancy & shiny! Probably should have done it with the foot stem, too, so the grays look balanced. I kind of doubt the polished finish will wear nearly as well as the original coated finish, especially in a harsh saltwater environment.

[foakes]

Pretty fancy & shiny! Probably should have done it with the foot stem, too, so the grays look balanced. I kind of doubt the polished finish will wear nearly as well as the original coated finish, especially in a harsh saltwater environment.

On DQ Supers, many of the parts are coated and salt-resistant such as the shifting piece, side plate medallion, painted removable stand, and other parts. The dark green paint is also salt-resistant. 

The cranks are not coated, and do weather, oxidize, and become ugly over the years.

The stands are just fine as is, tough and resistant to SW, IMO.

These old DQ Supers are ugly and out-dated compared to the newer plastic Spin-Marvels coming out of Asia —- but, if you look at the construction, reinforcement points, materials, and function —- they are as tough as they come.  Overbuilt for large fish and harsh conditions. 

The fish don't know the difference.

They are also a good value.  Still inexpensive, and after a full restore —- will last a lifetime.

Best, Fred

[Gfish]

Wow, they look like steel now. Good tip on the headlight covers. Remember when they's all glass?

[oldmanjoe]

    Nice to see a pair of these`s .   Let`s see what they look like all dressed up with make up on ..

[jgp12000]

Fred,
I think will be getting some Mother's MAP soon.I will try on my Mitchell handles as well.

[thorhammer]

Been using that stuff for a while. Boat parts, rims, wheels whatever. Good stuff.

[foakes]

Fred,
I think will be getting some Mother's MAP soon.I will try on my Mitchell handles as well.

It works just as well on Mitchell crank handles.

If you take more time —- you can get twice the shine out of these with Mother's than I did.  I just do a quick job with the setup I have in place.  5 minutes, tops.

Many of us would be surprised at the amount of effective products available at Auto Parts Stores, online sources, Wal-Mart, Amazon, etc. —- for our reel work.

Mothers for Aluminum and chrome, Nevr-Dull for metals and plastics, Black Magic for plastic restoring, Gel-Gloss for a final detail to remove grease, oil, and paw prints.

The best Micro-Fiber cloths I have found are at Costco.  The big yellow ones come in a pack of 50.  And they are inexpensive (maybe $12?).  Automotive detailers and body shops buy these regularly.  Just toss them in the washer once a year —- and they are still substantial and good.  Not like the Harbor Freight cheapos.

Heavy Duty Dawn blue dish soap does a great job of cutting grease and not harming painted or plastic parts.  Much better than Purple, ZEP, or even Simple Green.  Gentle, quick, and effective.

There are tons of products out there today.  I have found what works well for my usage and work —- and it doesn't need to say "good for reels" on it.  It just needs to be quick & effective.

Cheap helps also!

Right now, I am paying around $24 for a gallon of lacquer thinner —- which I use on all metal parts that are not painted.  Am going through around 3-4 gallons a month, even with getting 5 reel cleanings out of about 8 ounces in a glass jar within the ultrasonic cleaner.  $100 a month.

WD-40 is also an excellent product for a final wipe down and protection of newly serviced reels.  It cleans, protects, and removes bits of grease and oil.  It is a lousy lubricant —- but a great cleaner.  I buy it in spray cans, and also by the gallon.

I can buy everything out there —- but after 45+ years —- I have discovered about a dozen products that are excellent —- and stick with those.

Best, Fred

[Midway Tommy]

I feel for you, Fred.  $25 a gal?   I buy Sunnyside Lacquer Thinner in 5 gal containers for just under $70 including tax. I use it to degrease my mechanic tools a lot, too.