dull anodized finish

[CincyDavid]

Can anything be done to clean/brighten up the anodized finish on some of these Zangi reels? Mine all look dirty and grungy, and the lettering is not as pronounced and shiny as I would like.

[jurelometer]

Are you sure that the finish is anodized and not painted?

In order for a cast aluminum part to be able to be anodized, it hast to be cast from an alloy that is does not contain materials that will interfere with the anodizing process, and the casting itself is more complicated, as porosity, trapped gasses and surface defects all have to be more tightly controlled.  It is possible, but I have only seen this on very modern reels.

Plus colorized anodizing wasn't even a thing until the 1970s or so.

I looked at an add for the Zangi Pelican. Dated around 1960, and stating that the body was cast from "aluminum silicon alloy" which is not a good alloy for anodizing.

To answer the question about degraded finish on anodized aluminum:

It is important to remember that anodizing is not a coating but a transformation of surface of the aluminum to a depth of no more than 1/1000th of an inch (type II), turning it into a a much harder, but more porous aluminum oxide layer.  The anodized part is colored by dyeing, with the dye seeping into the pores which get trapped via a sealing process. 

The shine on an anodized aluminum part is the result of polishing the bare metal before anodizing. if it has lost it's shine, that would mean surface corrosion, but if you polish off the corrosion, you will cut into or even remove the anodized layer, and at a minimum open up the pores holding the dye.

The typical degraded finish that we see on anodized reels is from UV damage to the dye, leading to fading.

Properly refinishing an anodized part requires removing the anodized layer, and redoing the anodizing from scratch.  If you leave any of the originally anodized surface, the dyes may not take evenly and you will get a blotchy finish.  It is usually not cost effective to get a reel part re-anodized.


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On a side note- that add for the Zangi Pelican had a list price of  $27.50 USD.  Assuming a 1960 date, that would price the reel at around $310 today, adjusting for inflation.  Something to keep in mind when comparing spinners from the "golden age" to modern gear. 

-J

[CincyDavid]

To be perfectly frank, I don't know what that dark gray finish is. The painted maroon Ted Williams reels are a different kettle of fish, but think of the dark gray Orvis 100 variants. Some of my TW's are that matte dark gray too and I just can't seem to spiff them up.

[Midway Tommy]

They are always going to end up somewhat dull after awhile, no matter what you find to put on them to spruce them up. It's just the nature of that dull/mat finish that was used on them. ArmorAll or spray on car wax will shine them up for a little while but that shine will eventually weather or wear off. 

[ReelClean]

Just wax it and see?