due for a topic on this board
People send me vintage and antique reels for cleaning and repair.
Got in a very nice one recently - a Leonard bimetal, with a patent date of June 12, 1877. The components are a mix of nickel-silver and copper.
I think he under-valued it, but the insurance to mail it around was $18.
One man's patina is another man's dealloying corrosion, and this reel was at the point of pitting corrosion if the old grime and biofilm wasn't removed.
First thing was spray it with Boeshield, let it sit, and take it apart with a pair of nylon-jawed tubing pliers and hollow-ground drivers.
Then it got a dilute vinegar bath.
The owner wanted the reel restored to RHW, and someone had spread the spring to a flimsy LHW.
So with a pair of coarse-radius spring-bending pliers, I made about 60 heart-stopping bends up and down the 130-y-o rusted steel spring to bring the ends back together (then gave it a set temper in the oven) - worked like a champ on reassembly.
Here are the cleaned parts.
And here are the before and after photos
The reel can now restore a nice safe patina on itself - a soft pink on the nickel silver, and a darker pink on the copper.
Here's a thread on FFR where I've posted the cleaning procedures
http://fiberglassflyrodders.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1385oh, and I didn't try the reel on my Leonard Fairy Catskill rod - I didn't want to know...
