Mitchell 300 Questions and Thoughts

[shootandfish1]

Hi Fred 'floakes',   I truly appreciate you taking the time to post your 'words of wisdom'.  Once I have this reel in hand, I will start a serious evaluation and 'we' will figure out what parts I want to replace (hopefully just the one screw!) and what parts are prone to wear and failure that I want to have on hand such as bail springs, line rollers, anti-reverse dog and spring.  And as you mentioned, a selection of the various shims. 

In order to maximize reel parts interchangeability and to minimize 'my stash' of spares, I may limit myself to  acquiring just this version of the 300. As the 'risk' is somewhat lessened knowing that I have  at least a 'parts' reel.

Fred H

[shootandfish1]

Forgot to mention, I too, prefer to use the best and most correct tools.  I have from Brownell's, their largest hollow-ground gun-smithing screwdriver set.  Bit width and thickness are listed to the 0.001".  Additional I have every 1/4 inch socket (English and Metric, 6 & 12 pt) that USA Craftsman ever produced! 

Yep, I'm a bit 'anal', thanks to my Dad's teachings. He was tough about his tools!!!

[shootandfish1]

Stupid question.

Since we are discussing Mitchell 300's made in France, any discussion of part dimensions should be in metric, meaning millimeters.  Right? Or do most folks here describe a metric part using USA inches (0.001").   

[Gfish]

I must be stupid too, cause I don't know the answer. HA-ha! Only stupid question is the one you DON'T ask.
Which dimensions did you wanna measure?

[jtwill98]

I believe most Mitchell reel enthusiasts speak metric as that is a European measurement. I've seen it used here on this site.

BTW, here's a thread on the art of shims: 

https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=27334.0

[Midway Tommy]

Stupid question.

Since we are discussing Mitchell 300's made in France, any discussion of part dimensions should be in metric, meaning millimeters.  Right? Or do most folks here describe a metric part using USA inches (0.001").   

I'm an old stubborn tradesman and not much into the World Order science aspect of things. I never really understood why the US gave into metric measure terminology. Nothing irritates me more than when I go to the doctor and get weighed and then the nurse has to go to the computer to convert kilograms to pounds. Sheesh!    I can't even imagine trying to build a house via the metric system so I'm sticking with Imperial & SAE until I die and let someone else have to do the conversions. I did, though grudgingly, pick up a few metric wrenches to use when all else fails.   

 

[shootandfish1]

Since we are discussing designed and 'Made in Frace' reels, it stands to reason that the 300's are made to a metric standard for all parts.  Since my calipers are in 'Inches', it is simplest just to quote a dimension in inches and show a converted millimeter (mm).

By the way, 1 inch is EXACTLY 25.4 mm (no round-off).

0.001 in = 0.0254 mm           or         1.0 mm = 0.03937 in
                                          0.1 mm = 0.00394 in
                                          0.01 mm = 0.000394 in  (just in case)

Quickly skimming new found reading material on 300 shims, I found references to  Michell Brand Shims (4 different ID's and OD's (Need to revisit later)) in the following thickness. 

0.1 mm   which equates to 0.00394 (0.004) in.
0.15 mm  which equates to 0.00591 (0.006) in. 
0.2 mm   which equates to 0.00787 (0.008) in.

I did this fast and if I didn't make a mistake, one can readily tell what shim thickness they have using either a metric or English calipers.

Fred H

[jgp12000]

The Mitchell 300 is the reel that led me to this site 4 years ago.It should be in every collection.I have tinkered with the shims several times,but prefer the 304 & 308 for my type of fishing.It is probably the best looking reel ever made imo.

[happyhooker]

I hear you, Tommy, on the metric system.  Don't particularly care for it, but all the cars these days are mostly metric, and have been for awhile.  I think the Europeans basically said "if you wanna sell stuff over here, it has to be metric."  A good part of American industry bowed to that.

Frank

[Midway Tommy]

You are correct, Frank. Bowing and kissing the those rings is what irritates the heck out of me.