Reel Polishing

[woodch0p]

Was put onto this product by Tony (slinkymalinky) to polish spool shafts and pinion gear on baitcast reels to further improve freespool performance. As it is a metal polish I decided to try it on a reel body to see if it can cosmetically improve a reel. The reel I am using it on is an Abu Garcia 6500 CS Rocket.

The first series of photos are of the reel pre-treatment. You can see on the top of the reel seat there is a slight build up of green rust, and some tarnishing on the reel body.

This is the product. It is available at supercheap auto and is around $10 for a 75g tube.

Apply a small amount of polish to a clean rag. A polishing cloth is ideal. You do not need a large amount of polish and only work with small amounts at a time. Once applied to the surface buff it off with a clean cloth, exactly how you would polish a car.

Here are some photos of the finished product. The photos don’t do it justice. The cloth was black from all the tarnish. As you can see it has removed a fair bit of the green rust, maybe a once over with some fine grit wet & dry followed with a further polish would complete the job 100%. Either way it is a definite improvement.

Daniel

[slinkymalinky]

If the photos don't do it justice it must look spectacular in real life... that classic abu is looking great. I'd never even thought of using metal polish to... well... polish metal on reels that are showing 'too much love'. Seems pretty obvious now.

Thanks for a great tip and for taking the time to share it

To any Raiders who try using metal polish like this, remember that it's a mild abrasive so don't go overboard with it on anodized surfaces and check your work often... or you might go right through the anodizing. But as you can see from Woodch0p's work, when done properly it can bring a dull or tarnished reel back to life.

Cheers, Slinky

[bassboy888]

i have some rod guides with this green rust on it, would it be alright to use metal polish to remove it or would it be too abbrasive on the guides?

[slinkymalinky]

Coincidentally, Bassboy, I found one of my old fly rods with the same problem on the stripper guide this weekend just gone. I gently tried the metal polish and from experience I can tell you that the anodizing on guides is micro-thin so DON'T do it. In the end, I got rid of it by rubbing it with a cotton bud soaked in CorrosionX (my reel oil of choice). Try the same thing with Innox and see how it goes.

Cheers, Slinky

[bassboy888]

thanks slinky, when i get the time i will give thata try.

[bluebottle18]

Try using a electric toothbrush to clean your runners with the polish as well as the reels.