Mitchell Reel Forum

Purchased a lot of 4 Reels, 2 were pre Mitchels .
I have seen over greased, but this one was packed, looks like grease port was opened inserted grease gun and pumped until grease came out every where.
Grease was like GP Aircraft grease.
Funny thing Reel functioned fine a little stiff, but worked great.
After 2 Hours, and alot of Mineral Spirits , inside was like new.
Works like it was new.
This is the fun part of restoring vintage reels.

Schrack,
A quick tip for you. When I have a really nasty reel to clean, I like to remove as much crud as I can from each part before I put it in the cleaner.

After I'm satisfied that I have removed most of the crud that is easy to scoop out, I then give each part a good wipe down with a piece of paper towel, before it goes in for a soak.

Your cleaner will last a lot longer and do a better job that way. An added bonus is the parts come out cleaner and you save money in that you don't have to buy as much cleaner. A sheet of paper towel is a small price to pay and you can also use it to wipe off your digging tools that you don't throw away.

Kind Regards,
Bill

Good advice Bill.

Glen

I do the exact thing, (most of the time)
Would not have put it in cleaner, was thinking about a parts cleaning machine,
Do not clean enough to pay for it.
Paper towels and Q tips work.
This Reel was the worst I have encountered so far.
Second place went to one that grease solidified that took a long time used carb. cleaner to break down that mess. (Which I do not recommend) it worked.
For the last 5 years I have used Blaster Lithium which has held up very well.
Contacted Company, and spoke with tech/rep.
He told me it forms a gray film and coats parts, does not harden.
So far has been great, film comes off with mineral spirts.
My old faithful was the test for it.