So he bought two, and sent them to me. One was in okay condition; the other was a absolute train wreck, delivered in a body bag.
yeech, what a mess of corrosional crud.
Well, maybe not a lost cause... with a lottle bit of cleaning and TLC it was almost recognizeable, or most of it anyway.
Taught myself a new trick for siezed, corroded or broken screws and bolts: The stud welder gun. It is an electrical welding device similar in principle to a spot welder, only that it welds short screws onto whatever you point it at. So, load, aim carefully at old broken off screw and ZAP! weld a new stud onto it... Very handy for holding and unscrewing, and the instant electrical thermal / electrical shock lets things loose easily.
Some time with the buffing wheel improved things, as well as some time in a galvanic cleaning bath run by a 12V battery charger
Okay... now what? Looks like something being bonded?
What is that, a wood fascia?
Yup.
There we go... see what a little effort can do? From basket case to nice, in just a few easy pics.
Really i was inspired by another SeaMartin i'd seen pics of earlier; this one. It sold recently for a small fortune.
Much nicer, but mine was essentially just a wreck when i started. Really, i usually am very cautious about making any changes to a reel at all, especially permanent ones. In this case though, i felt okay about it. And the SeaMartin wasn't particularly nice to begin with, having been intended as an inexpensive workhorse rather than any sort of precision instrument.
Well, i'll take it for a test drive one of these days..
Doc.