Julius Vom Hofe B ocean 6/0

[Matthooper]

Came across this at a local antique mall and offer was accepted. Always wanted a nice Vom Hofe (didn’t matter which brother). I’d like to give it a complete breakdown and cleaning but I have no experience with them. Wondering if this is the correct handle. The pics I can find all have a retaining nut. Does it just unscrew? Also is there anything I can do to clean up the leather brake pad and case?. Might not be a big deal to most but I want this to be the center piece for my collection. Thanks for reading.
Ps. is the line worth cleaning and keeping?

[RonG]

The handle is correct and unscrews. I would recommend removing the line. The biggest problem you'll have is cleaning the corrosion products off of the spool. Some people save the line and others discard it. It's up to you.

[Midway Tommy D]

Some people save the line and others discard it. It's up to you.

If you chose to save the line for future reel display it should be thoroughly soaked & cleansed to remove all the corrosive salt residue.

[Matthooper]

Thanks for replying Ron and Tommy. I’ve already taken off the line and have a little penetrating oil on the handle (can’t get it to budge). Gonna give it a couple of days. Is a water and vinegar soak on the frame and spool safe? I assume it’s a nickel alloy but not sure. Aren’t some Vom Hofe reels plated? Also is there anything I can do about the leather thumb pad?

[john elder]

Nice reel! Yes, white vinegar/water soak will loosen the corrosion and you can then put it under a stream of water and gently scrub with 4/0 steel wool, followed by polishing with Simichrome or another polish. I would break the reel down completely to do this. The vinegar won't hurt the side plates but soap and water, followed by Simichrome will work. A product called Ballistol is also a good treatment for the hard rubber.
Both the thumber and your case can be treated with a gel call Black Rock, which you can find on line. Other leather cleaners/polishers will also do.

[Matthooper]

Thanks so much for the advice John. I’ll definitely get some ballistol and black rock. Im always looking for different products to try out.
One more question. Is there a diagram of this model anywhere? I’d like to know if anything is missing once I break her all down.

[Matthooper]

Had a look at the spool.

Corrosion looks really deep. We’ll see what it looks like after a soak. May have to clean the line and throw it back on.

[Deepfins791]

The best way to clean spools is to chuck them into a drill press and spin while hand polishing. I use a bench drill press with the addition of a foot peddle-operated rheostat to control my rpm's. A drill press makes quick work of a spool. If the brass arbor is heavily corroded, a bit of muriatic acid and steel wool will smoke the corrosion off in minutes, saving you hours of polishing. Gotta be super careful using this stuff, though. I have my own very specific method for safely using it. Obviously, you do not want to try this while the spool is on the drill press.

The attached photo is of a spool out of a 9/0 B-Ocean I just did. I used the muriatic treatment on it, then finished it in the drill press. Took me 30 minutes tops. Without the acid treatment and drill press, getting the spool this clean would have taken many hours.

Before I had the drill press, I would chuck my spools into a hand drill, and tighten (gently) the hand drill in a vise.

Other than an occasional missing crank handle nut or replaced crank handle grasp, I rarely come across these EVH and JVH saltwater reels with missing internal parts. There is a tray of loose thrust bearings under the drag wheel. Once in a while you'll have a missing bearing because the previous owner lost one. Generally, these reels are very well-made and easy to work on. Good luck! John

[Deepfins791]

Your spool looks like it will clean up just fine. Might have some minor pitting when you are done, but I see nothing there that is super scarey.

[Matthooper]

Thanks John. I’ve used the handheld drill (I don’t have a press) and polish technique with much smaller spools with some success. This one is by far the biggest. I’ve never worked with muriatic acid before. Could wet sanding and a hand held be an alternative? I’ll clean it as much as possible and try polish first before I dive in with more abrasive techniques.

[Deepfins791]

As John suggests, give it a soak in 50-50 vinegar and water, followed by 0000 steel wool and Simichrome. See how that works, before considering wet sanding.

[Matthooper]

Will do. Thank you