I have always had an obsession with custom painted reels, but could never do it on my own. Those who have shared their custom paint jobs are artists with proper airbrush equipment, ovens, spray studios and whatever else it takes to pull off the job. Much respect to those guys! If you are like me and don't have time because you're either fishing or working an 8:00-5:00 blah blah (enter excuse), then here is a way to have your reel custom painted in several different colors.
Before I sought a local company that could paint a fishing reel, I researched some coatings that possibly would hold up to years of saltwater exposure. I went from anodizing to several kinds of powder coating and even spray can paints. The most reasonably priced coating that filled majority of the criteria was Cerakote: a ceramic powder coat. This coating is primarily used on firearms to apply a custom look, prevent corrosion, and protect bare metal from normal wear.
I found a local San Diego firearms company, Parallax Tactical, through the power of Google that offers a Cerakote painting service for FIREARMS. Taking a leap of faith, I called them and asked if they paint fishing reels. Their answer was, "No. But if you bring down the reel, we can take a look at it and let you know." After coming in a explaining what I wanted done, they said yes! The quote they gave me was $200, but they were unsure about the price because they had never attempted painting a reel.
I quickly drove home and completely stripped down all parts and took with me the frame, handle, spool, and all the other small visually exposed parts. Returning to the shop I plugged all the holes believed to have the tightest tolerances (mostly bearing housings and large threaded areas) and also taped up the metal shafts ex: spool shaft.
A couple weeks later, I received the call from the shop. I tried to keep my cool when I entered the shop, but who would really? All the parts were coated as desired and looked AMAZING! On top of the great paint job, they unintentionally removed corrosion from the frame and handle when they sandblasted each part. Everything looked brand new.
While reassembling the reel, I found there was a slight increase in thickness, but each part still came together. The frame was an especially tight fit when coming together. The threaded cavities in the frame were left unplugged on purpose to see how the screws threaded back into the frame. To my surprise each screw threaded in (some needed to be backed out a couple times to clear the paint from the threads).
I am very happy with the way this paint job turned out! Of course it does look great, but I really want to see this paint prevent corrosion as they suggest Cerakote does in the manufacturers test videos. Future follow up posts will be placed on this thread. If you want to have your reel custom painted with Cerakote, you can contact Parallax Tactical in San Diego. Tell them Kevin sent you ;)
Parallax Tactical
5276 Eastgate Mall
San Diego, CA 92121
619.630.4869
info@parallaxtactical.com
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In the looks dept... the results speak for themselves. Looking good to me!
You certainly have a one of a kind Saltist reel now.
I bet a yellow and black, blue and black and lime and black would look equally good.
Congrats on your project. Let us know how durable the Cerakote is.
Nice! Now you're ready for Halloween.
Quote from: MarkT on October 21, 2015, 06:27:20 PM
Nice! Now you're ready for Halloween.
I wasn't going to say that.... ::)
That looks really good. Not one of my favorite combination, as for color choice... but it isn't my reel.
That black looks nice, as Steve mentioned, I'll bet it would really pop out with some gold color combination.
Thanks for sharing.
Sal
that looks really great.
so, I got lost somewhere.. at the end how much it was to cost to have it like that?
Quote from: steelfish on October 22, 2015, 12:42:36 AM
that looks really great.
so, I got lost somewhere.. at the end how much it was to cost to have it like that?
I paid $200. The prices range because each job will have varying amounts of parts to paint. It could be $300 for a larger reel with more pieces and parts. Or it could be cheaper with fewer parts.
Impressive I would have never thought those two colours would look that sharp on a reel-it's a quality job.
Looks like quality finish to me 8), keep us updated on how it holds up
Marc..
Nice looking Saltist!