Metal polish

[Bryan Young]

There are grease that absorbs water easily and can be corrosive.  There are also some grease that are for use with specific metals that can also be corrosive with other metals through the chemical interaction.  And last is if there are a lot of ridges in the grease, impurities, such as salt, can accumulate on the metal, then degrade the grease at that particular location and will be corrosive.  Regular maintenance is the best option.

[Fishead]

That whole ugly mess could have been prevented by removing the reel foot when it was new & putting a good coating of tef-gel on it & the screw holes.

[codhead]

That whole ugly mess could have been prevented by removing the reel foot when it was new & putting a good coating of tef-gel on it & the screw holes.

Not guilty m'lud.

I bought that reel at a car boot sale (£35 for the Everol 4/0 and a Penn GLS 25). I've just had to get an allen screw head machined out of the gear housing, it was only the head that was seized in, once that was removed, the screw thread came out easily. The Everol was manufactured in the late 60s and I seriously doubt that it has been serviced since it came out of the factory in Italy. Now I've got the gear housing free, I can continue the strip down, Order the required parts from Paolo and then restore it to something like its former glory. One thing's for sure, that old Everol will still be cranking fish long after I've slipped off this mortal coil

[ChampionShip]

After seeing some of those pics I am sooooooo glad I live in the Great Lakes area and don't have to worry about salt corrosion.

[racoonbeast]

I will share one of my polishing methods. I have brought back many reel parts, including Bakelite, to a new or better than new condition by using walnut shells impregnated with "jeweler's rouge", which is basically rust, and tumbling the part in a rock tumbler for a week or two. It is an extremely mild abrasive (milder than tootpaste) that can be bought in stick or powder form almost anywhere. You want the powder for tumbling, and the stick for impregnating a wheel on a Dremel for those quick jobs that just need a little help. Crushed walnut shells can be bought in almost any pet store as it is a poplular "lizard litter". It takes patience and time, but there is no danger of going too far or taking too much off. The bigger the problem, the longer the tumble. I have taken a set of Accurate stainless steel gears that worked fine in my Penn 500 rebuild, but sounded like a can of marbles rolling down hill. I gave them a week and a half tumble. When they were done, I could see myself in them, any microscopic burs were gone, and the reel is silent gear-wise and butter smooth. This works real well on brass parts and gears in about half the time.

Its not the solution for every polishing problem, but has solved many of mine. One word of advise. If you are polishing something with threads inside like a post that goes across a Penn or other reel, this stuff really cakes up in the threads and needs a very thorough, careful cleaning before using. Soap and water along with a half a dozen Q tips usually does the job fine.   

[xaf]

What kind/size tumbler are you using.

[racoonbeast]

The best answer to the question is one that is too small for large parts of large conventional reels. It is approx 4.5 inches in diameter, and 4.5 inches long. It costs about forty bucks. I did not want to invest too much money in a tumbler until I saw how it worked. I would recommend one twice that size for sideplates, longer handles etc...

The other thing to remember about tumblers that I forgot to mention is that you need to be concious of mixing materials. A Bakelight or aluminum side plate would get pretty messed up if tumbled in the same batch with stainless steel parts.

I am impressed enough with the results to be planning to buy a larger one for the few big pieces that will need a bigger one, but the one that I have now will handle most parts of a large reel except the parts that I have noted and is probably the one that will get the most use. 

[SierraBob]

If no luck cleaning the bad spots ya can always look on eBay for a used reel like yours. Sometimes ya can pick them up for a reasonable price then you can combine the best parts of both reels.

[racoonbeast]

Good suggestion. Thanks. I actually have used this approach in the past while building target grade Colt 1911 hand guns. I would usually buy three to five of them, depending on how many I could find at the "right" price, disasemble them into a huge pile of parts. Carfefully mike each part until I got one gun with will all parts matched as closely in tolerance as can be. Build my gun, reassemble the others, sell them, and often get mine for free or pretty close to it. There is no reason this method would not work with reels even better. Most reels and their parts are not serial numbered, thus non-matching serial numbers on parts would not detract from the value to any prospective buyer who cared about such things.

[Kurly Kiwi]

I've just been reading through this thread and have seen a few interesting comments.
I'm not sure if everyone is awares, but the corrsion that is common to form in the aluminium of your fishing reel, and why screws get stuck etc is because of "galvanic corrosion". The aluminium and stainless steel are electrically different, such that when forced together, ie s/s screw into aluminium body,a current flows, and the aluminium starts to get eaten away. The problem is compounded with salt water which is acting as a very good electrolyte.  (All types of corrosion is electron flow)

A note to ChampionShip - reels in fresh water will still suffer this type of corrosion too, as it's different metals touching each other related - it's just not happening as fast as those is salt water.
Sandbar33 - this stain you refer to sounds like corrosion into the crystal structure of the metal so it will not pollish out - sorry.
As everyone has already discovered - this type of corrosion can be significantly reduced by the application of a coating product, the marine grease works real well, as highlighted by Alan.

[fish4life]

There can be two different issues: Discoloration and corrosion. If is it corrosion you are trying to eliminate, then sand paper and high end compounds are the only ways to recreate a flush and smooth surface. If it is discoloration, then you must use the same process, but dig deeper and deeper, although the surface may already be satisfactorily flush and smooth, until the discoloration is removed. Discoloration will have no effect on performance. If it is a coating which is corroded, then you must have it refinished as Alan said.

When it comes to sandpapers and compounds, you must be careful of how coarse of powerful (dremel) your tools and materials are. Otherwise, you will be creating your own set of issues. After refinishing, make sure you protect with a grease as mentioned by others, or the problems will reoccur even faster since the original finish has be removed.

Also, look into some "On Off" http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=2339. It will completely strip the surface, prepping it well for refinishing, and potentially removing you problem all together. However, keep away from bearing and re-grease and oil after use.

Good luck,

Tony

[BurningHeart]

I've user CLR to take some of the green stuff of of the chrome/stainless stuff. It will also take some of the crusted salt off too.

[Rodman]

A good advert for cleaning your reel after every fishing trip and also get it serviced more regularly


Ken
Frazorodz
Rodz & Reelz Repairs
Australia

[inhotpursuit]

 Being the clutz that i am ,i take more than one or two tumbles a year hopping over slippery rocks last years damage was to my cherished conquest 201 dc i was playing a decent sized salmon and slipped landing on my reel,i did manage to land the fish even got it on film,

but i bent the drive shaft and scratched/gouged the reel frame quite severly. I used diamond/rubber lapping bits  felt dremel bits and mothers mag and wheel polish , i carefully remove the powder coat with the diamond impregnated lapping bits and i must stress "carefully"then polished the reel with the mothers mag polish,the downside is it has to be polished with a microfibre cloth after each use,heres a pic with a 101dc for comparison and the tools needed

[boghy]

A year ago, while i did some snorkeling i found a conventional reel, that appeared to be in the water for quit a while, full with sand, barnacles, rust u name it. The CLR worked excellent. Make sure you wear gloves though - the solution is pretty strong for bear hands.