I don't know about the rest of you, but I find it impossible to get a good nights sleep when I have a reel or two in pieces on my workbench. I wake up in the middle of the night, and my thoughts invariably start obsessing over that stubborn screw, the slight wobble in the spool, how I am going to pull the stubborn spindle gear off the end of the spindle, where might that bearing have disappeared to, the anxiety of working on a reel and risking damage when there are only a handful known to exist, etc. Soooooooo, at 4am I put the coffee pot on.

John

No offense, John, but you're taking this stuff way too serious! I finally found that the best solutions to some of those issues come when you least expect it so when tough situations arise I make sure I have good pics and give it a rest for a few days. When the solutions comes to a clear head I go " ".

Haha I've been there! I'd buy a great piece on Saturday and spend the next 12 hours cleaning and polishing till I got it right! Make the coffee and lets go. Unfortunately I missed 1 to many events. Ex-wife used it against me said something like so can more about your reels than.....oh well still have the collecting fever only thing is I really don't clean any more. Tight Lines Nick in NY

None taken, Tommy!! Right now I am wrestling with the spindle gear on a Stead. Tried all the usual tricks, but can't get it to budge. Even tried Elder's advice: "beat it with a hammer". Does anyone have a link to a nice little gear puller?

Why don't you just buy yourself a nice set of new reels instead of wrestling around with that old crap ! I will give you a few bucks for the used stuff and you can go new !!!! Fewer headaches, better sleep !! John Taylor

Have you spoken with Elder? Was it peened over of simply slide on? I've made tools for such a purpose. Is it possible to add heat, what about notching a trowel and sliding it behind the gear only after you've taken out any burrs. Pry/lift! Good luck

Soak in a 50:50 Acetone : Automatic Transmission Oil mix overnight. Then leave it in the freezer for 8-12hours. Pull it out and heat it with a torch. Use opposing flathead screws drivers or similar to pry evenly from both sides of pinion upwards. Maybe mount the spool in a vice after wrapping in leather or something. Light taps all around the gear while heating might help. Running it through a sonic cleaner while soaking in penetrance may also help.

Just a few ideas.

John