Mitchell Reel Forum

Steps to remove the pinion gear from the rotating head.

Occasionally, when trying to remove the pinion gear from the head to get at the bearings to re-lube or replace the pinion assembly, you will find that the pinion will not unscrew from the head, even after removing the hex nut in the head. I've had them bond together from corrosion and/or solidified grease very tightly. The difficulty is that there is no hex to place a wrench on the pinion to unscrew it from the head, without damaging the pinion race with pliers. I've had limited success soaking in penetrating fluid overnight, though I still recommend this.

Below are the steps:

1) Place A/R lever in off position (head should spin freely both directions) - This is very important, otherwise you can easily break the A/R gear teeth on the main gear. And yes, I learned the hard way.

2) Remove crank handle - Otherwise the next steps will tighten the handle so much you won’t be able to get the handle out of the main gear until you reassemble the head with pinion.

3) Remove axle - after removal of oscillation block keeper

4) Remove the pinion hex nut inside head.

5) Remove the pinion set screw – small screw between head and body

6) Pull rotor off of housing with pinion still attached.

7) Apply penetrating oil to pinion threads at top and bottom of rotor, let soak overnight.

8) Re-attach rotor to housing, leave pinion hex nut off and turn pinion screw back in

9) Insert axle, and reinstall Planamatic cam gear, oscillation block and keeper.

10) Use a small piece of solid copper about 1-2mm thick to jam pinion and main gear. – Copper is softer than the steel or the aluminum gearing it is jamming so it wont harm them. The key is to get a good jam between the angled gears. They want to spit the copper out, but once you get a good bite, you are ready to turn the head off the pinion. An abundance of caution can be deployed by using a rag or wood first, but I've typically not had success using these materials to jam the gears when corrosion has occurred.

11) Hold the body in one hand and unscrew the rotor with the other hand (normal counterclockwise removal) – Head should unscrew fairly easily, but sometimes takes more force than you might think.

Sandman

Hello Sandman!

What a wonderful post to not have any replies yet. I was doing my normal weekly "catch up" on threads here and came across your post. I have had similar problems on my trusted Mitchell 308 and like you, I used a small piece of my oil rag to jam up the rotor. Your post is a must know for anyone with one of these little beauties. Thank you for sharing...

Best Regards,
Wallace

If you are not sure how hard the copper is, you can hold (a small piece) in a pair of vice grips, heat it with a Propanr Torch until it is cherry red then immediately drop it into cold water. This will anneal the copper. This is a method used by some of our mechanical fitters to prepare cut copper gaskets and ring seals before they are installed. The mechanical pressure from bolting into place causes the copper to flatten out and conform to the surface.

Some copper items, like pipe, are somewhat hard, so if you were to cut a piece from a copper fitting and flatten it out to use for this purpose, it may need annealing to allow the gears to bite into the piece. Probably a copper washer would be suitable for this.

Glen

Thanks Wallace and guys.

Glen, good point about copper hardness. I cut down a copper electrical connector and then pounded one end of it with a 3lb maul to the shape and thickness I needed to be able to bind between the gears. I've had to do this probably 15 times out of a 100 or so ULs I've addressed pinion gears on. Again, it's only needed when there has been enough corrosion, like on really old reels like the high engraved examples in the photo below. I think old solidified grease just adds to the problem.

Sandman

Hi again,

I took a copper riveting washer, used in leatherwork and boat building, it's called a rove and has a domes tructure. I annealed it, then flattened it out. I then tapered one side to knife edge with sandpaper and file., then annealed it again to be sure. I believe there are 4 different hardnesses that copper can be found in.

Best wishes

Glen

Sandman,
Great post and one I will for sure be saving in my personal files.
Kind Regards,
Bill