How to clean this brass Kopf

[Richard Lodge]

Picked up this Trowbridge - Boston (Kopf) reel today. No screws so I can't take it apart to soak it. Any suggestions how to remove some of the dark discoloration front and back? I don't want to polish it in any way or lose the tarnish and mottling that came with age, but the dark grime is something I'd like to remove as much as I can. It's not grease, but more hard surface crud.
Thanks!

[john elder]

Need reel, Richard. If you don’t wanna lose that patina on the brass, your best bet is to use dish soap and a toothbrush and clean it as best you can, then wipe it down and rinse it with clear water. I would then soak it in mineral spirits, standing upright so that you can be sure to get any moisture out of the inside. Once that’s done and it’s dried out, you can sneak some oil in from either side of the spool to make sure that everything gets lubricated by cranking it. I think you’ll be fine that way. You just don’t want to trap any water inside, but if you submerge it in mineral spirits, that shouldn’t happen.

[Richard Lodge]

Thanks, John. That was the plan I had in mind but I didn't know whether there was some way to address the dark spots a little. I'll work with the soapy warm water and toothbrush (after I'm done brushing my teeth, of course ).
It is a neat Kopf reel, one of two I acquired from Henry at the AMFF show yesterday. He has a lot of rabbits in his hat!

[RonG]

I don't think Mineral Spirits is good for that hard rubber knob.

[Steve]

I don't know why collectors go to so much trouble in fear of removing those beloved patinas. Nice, even patinas can be "grown" at home after a reel is cleaned thoroughly. It takes some time, which varies with the particular brass alloy, but it happens. And Ron, I've never had a problem using mineral spirits on hard rubber.

[RonG]

I've used Mineral Spirits on hard rubber before and it can dry it out and "bleach" it to a much lighter color. I would recommend trying on a sacrificial piece to see. Maybe I'm remembering wrong.

[klonder]

I'd clean it up then re-patina it. Ammonia and salt will work, as well as vinegar and salt. I've patinaed new brass screws to to match old successfully. Google the procedure.

[Richard Lodge]

So Steve, what would you do to the reel? Anything different from what John or others have suggested?

[john elder]

Just a quick add…. I have not had trouble with mineral spirits, but there is no reason to do a long soak. The only purpose is to get the water out of the inside of that reel which you can do by dunking a few times in mineral spirits and then putting it out to drip dry and/or use and air source to blow dry. You can then put Simichrome or some other polish on the grasp to bring back luster. In fact, if you’re really worried about the grasp, just don’t put it in the mineral spirits. Hold it while dunking the reel two or three times to get the water out without submerging the grasp.

[Steve]

what would you do to the reel?

Richard, the procedure I've used for hundreds of reels is down about 2/3 of this page: https://www.antiquefishingreels.info/cleaning.htm. If there's no verdigris, skip the vinegar. You want to remove the "the dark discoloration" and/or "dark grime" while keeping the "mottling." These are not mutually exclusive. I would want to remove the mottling to create a fairly uniform surface color, the let a new patina grow. Whatever the darker areas are, they're not from simple oxidation of clean brass. If you don't have a sonic bath, longer soaking should compensate.
Here's a wee brass reel that was badly mottled when I got it, but the cleaning and very mild polishing left it like this. It's not a Kopf, but it couldn't be disassembled. Just enough dark areas left to preserve "character," IMHO.

[reelsmith.]

.
I use this stuff to re-darken a polished reel...

https://www.amazon.com/BRASS-AGER-Darke ... B09DFSB544

It works well. Some reels darken quickly, others take time. I'm no a metallurgist, but apparently not all brass is created equal.

My process is to clean the reel with Brasso until all dark spots are gone and the reel is a uniform color. Then wipe the reel down with Acetone to remove any trace of the Brasso and oils from handling the reel. Watch the reel closely once dipped. Many will darken quickly. If the reel gets too dark, wipe it down and start over.

I've never dunked an assembled reel and have always submerged a few parts at a time. If you dunk an assembled reel, it's possible some parts will get darker than others. There is no science to this, its trial and error.

Here are two "after" process examples. Both were bright and shiny "before" ...I hate that look.






Best of luck.

Dean.

[Richard Lodge]

Thanks, gentlemen!