More Cleaning - Interocean 1885

You got 'em, we know how to clean 'em
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Rick H
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More Cleaning - Interocean 1885

Post by Rick H »

Just another simple clean-up...

Pflueger Interocean 1885
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reelsmith.
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Post by reelsmith. »

You must have the patience of a saint.

I could never attempt cleaning that one.

That's like cleaning my little #4 Julius about ten times !

Dean.
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Rick H
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Post by Rick H »

LOL...I'm Norwegian! There ain't no patience...only Patients...I'm one of the Lucky ones, an out-Patient! LOL!

PS: I noticed that you've been checkin' out Robert's pockets. YOU ARE on a mission! :lol:
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Wayne B.
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Post by Wayne B. »

Rick:

I just found a Pflueger Oceanic german silver reel. I am going to attempt to polish the reel. I have read your process for doing this. When you mention buffing, how do you do that? Buffing wheel on a grinder? Any compound? Something(s) I should avoid? Etc. Buffing itself sounds simple, but I have seen many cars messed up after a simple "buffing."

Wayne
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Rick H
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Post by Rick H »

Wayne...PM sent.
Don Champion
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Post by Don Champion »

Buffing takes away too many sharp corners and the finish on nickel plated reels. Some collectors don't want the patina or crud removed from a reel. I prefer hand polishing with something like semichrome. Also buffing is messy. You have to wear a mask if you don't want to breath all that dust from a buffing wheel.
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Rick H
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Post by Rick H »

Don makes very valid points. For instance, the Interocean 1885 that I polished recently had a GREAT original patina on it. Why remove it and buff it out?

There's many different answers to that question. The one thing noone should ever do is buff a high-end, historically important, non-mass-produced reel of any type. BUT...that's just MHO.

I'm pretty sure I can find another Interocean 1885 with original patina, to sit next to the buffed-out version (i.e. nice comparison views, for my collection).
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Wayne B.
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Post by Wayne B. »

Am I right in assuming a german silver or a nickel silver reel is not plated like a chrome or nickel plated reel, and buffing just smooths the matte finish?

I'm going to clean my Oceanic and pretty-up the rubber and see what I have before I attempt the buffing. I have some other nickle silver reels that look nice the way they are. Rick's projects have just made me want to attempt at least one.

Wayne
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Rick H
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Post by Rick H »

You have it right Wayne. German Silver or Nickle Silver is a solid alloy. No plating involved.
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john elder
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Post by john elder »

BUT...lots of older reels got plated OVER nickel-silver! Seems like a really stupid idea now, but at the time, that plating was going to be a godsend to protecting the finish from salt corrosion...oops!

Those can be saved with a little diligence and elbow grease, so that you can end up with a nice NS reel from something that looked pretty horrid at the start. Check out the story by Mike C in the Reel News that will be landing on your door in a few days and see how Aussie Ray saved a real gem!
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