Bowling ball opinion

[reels4me,member]

Another site I frequent suggested Hard rubber repair from subject.
Have a small nick on reel that needs filling about the size of half a
small pea. Thought I`d file off or grind off material. Anyone know if
this is meltable ? According to memory(?) add a bit of epoxy and fill
area, dry, and then file or use emery paper to shape and finish ?
Opinions appreciated. . . .Jack

[john elder]

Jack..i don't think you're going to be melting it...if you take an old side-plate and a fine file, you can create fine dust that, when mixed with epoxy, will serve to patch. File, sand, and steel wool flat, then polish with simichrome will generally work. I've also added a bit of black walnut stain to the mix to get the color of the patch darker to match...best try a test bit to see what you need for color match before doing the real thing.

[Harvey]

Hey Elder, Do you fix teeth too?
Just had to ask!
"H"

[Brian F.]

I've only heard of old bowling balls being used to machine entire new plates but have never seen a finished product in photos or in person. I don't think they are used for patching as it's easy enough to find a broken plate to get some filings or dust from like John mentioned.

By the way, Harv, I'd bet John would make a great dentist.

[john elder]

hmmmmm...I would suppose that mixing in that black walnut stain would be about perfect for your smile, Harv

[Len Sawisch]

seems like there was a How To article in one of my very first ORCA Reel News letters - I remember because at the time I had never owned or seen a "Hard Rubber" reel except in books and here was a guy actually drilling out the inside of a cover plate to get enough matching filings to fill the edge chip on the outside. Seems he did use epoxy and also showed how he made a framing to match the edge. If I knew how to search old news letter articles, I would tell you which issue it was. But thanks for the memories (that was also back when I swore I'd never pay more than $50 for a reel - even if the jewels in the endcaps WERE real!) Now that was a while back!

Len

[Reel Geezer]

The article Len's is referring to was written by Pflueger guru, Bob Miller.

The Reel News, Spring 1999

[SWIM JIG]

cool-thumb USA Brian, as you recall, I gave you the total process, However once that process is out, a lot ao fakes and frauds will be on the market! thank the person that came up with the bowling ball prcess! thats easier to see than a conterfit Penny!. brian I gave you the method to( FIX YOUR REELS ONLY) and no I wont let that process out again! period! Your ohio Conection on lake Erie Col. M. lorens aka SWIM JIG! (Len, with a proper method its next to imposible to find except for carbon dating!

[Brian F.]

Col, Thank you and I remember you sending me someting. But rest assured the "the process" will never get out because I've since lost all my old email and your message with it. I will not be repairing any reels or any of mine for that matter. I think right now I honestly don't have the time to do something like that anyway.