Show us your Alvey's. Aussie to the bones & proud of it!

[kingie chaser]

57 minutes ago, Green Hornet said:

Before and after shots of my Dad's old Alvey 45C. Sadly Dad's long gone now, but restoring his reel bought back so many memories fishing with him as a kid, catching drummer in particular.

 

That looks fantastic mate, I'm sure your dads looking down with a big smile on his face 🙂

 

Can you please give us a bit of an idea on how you ended up with such a great finish on the metal & the Bakelite?

I's like to try & do the same to dads as well, haven't touched it yet.

 

I also could be getting 4 or 5 Alvey's of a mate this week that he was given & doesn't want them.

 

Stay posted.

Edited May 18, 2020 by kingie chaser

[wazatherfisherman]

7 minutes ago, kingie chaser said:

That looks fantastic mate, I'm sure your dads looking down with a big smile on his face 🙂

 

Can you please give us a bit of an idea on how you ended up with such a great finish on the metal & the Bakelite?

I's like to try & do the same to dads as well, haven't touched it yet.

 

I also could be getting 4 or 5 Alvey's of a mate this week that he was given & doesn't want them.

 

Stay posted.

Hi KC lucky man! Pity others don't appreciate Alvey's like we do

[Green Hornet]

29 minutes ago, kingie chaser said:

That looks fantastic mate, I'm sure your dads looking down with a big smile on his face 🙂

 

Can you please give us a bit of an idea on how you ended up with such a great finish on the metal & the Bakelite?

I's like to try & do the same to dads as well, haven't touched it yet.

 

I also could be getting 4 or 5 Alvey's of a mate this week that he was given & doesn't want them.

 

Stay posted.

The metal parts had a dry, greasy film on them, so after giving the reel a good soak and scrub in hot soapy water, I gave the metal a gentle rub with extra fine, steel wool. The trickier parts where steel wool couldn't get were soaked in 50/50 vinegar and water and scrubbed as best I could with a toothbrush, before soaking in water to remove all traces of vinegar. The acididity of the vinegar dissolves all the green corrosion.

After that all, the metal was given a rub over with Brasso, again the toothbrush was used with some Brasso to get into the tricky corners.

For the spool I got a bolt and built up the diameter with electricians tape to snugly fit the centre hole and with a couple of washers (protected with more tape) and a couple of nuts fixed the spool to the bolt and placed it in a power drill. I have a cool little holder, but you can put the drill gently in a vice and turn it on at low speed, then with a soft cloth just polish the bakelite with brasso and buff afterwards.

With cedar reels I use the same drill and bolt method, but with the drill at a higher speed, to sand the spools back to bare timber. Just go very easy on the inner spool lip, or better still leave it alone, so you don't increase the size of the gap between the spool and the backplate.

Next time I do one, I'll take some pics. Video ain't my thing.

[Green Hornet]

41 minutes ago, wazatherfisherman said:

Hi KC lucky man! Pity others don't appreciate Alvey's like we do

Even though I rarely use them these days, I just love them as its what I started out on as a kid. 

Spending most of my life as a builder/carpenter/cabinet maker, the cedar reels are appealing and unique to me.

[kingie chaser]

1 hour ago, Green Hornet said:

then with a soft cloth just polish the bakelite with brasso and buff afterwards.

Brasso to polish bakelite, that's a new one, seems to work well though 😉

[Green Hornet]

13 hours ago, kingie chaser said:

Brasso to polish bakelite, that's a new one, seems to work well though 😉

Its just a fine polish and works well. 

From my research some guys use far more viscous products like car cutting compound and get away with it, but its really unnecessary. The spool I did above had faded somewhat and after removing the line there was a definite colour change where the bakelite had been exposed to the sun. 5 minutes max with the brasso totally removed it.