Paint or NEVER!

[Duckett]

Painting a reel can be a good way to get yourself a nice looking reel for little outlay.
Speedias are notorious for losing their original finish and can be made to look better than new with a little effort.
Mitchells are a different ball game, the original finish is difficult to achieve but I have seen some great jobs done, in other colours too.

There is an old saying in the antique trade about restorations. Never do anything that can't be undone.
Better to leave antique or very rare reels to the collectors of such things.
For reels that are going to be used, I think they should look nice and work as well as the day they were made.

Wal.

That always reminds me of a dodgy antiques warning that I heard on the old TV series “Lovejoy” Wal ………. “It’s Cromwell’s sword! It’s had three new blades, a new hilt and a new scabbard but it’s still Cromwell’s sword!” I used to know a dealer who said that all the time!

Phil

[JAA]

That always reminds me of a dodgy antiques warning that I heard on the old TV series “Lovejoy” Wal ………. “It’s Cromwell’s sword! It’s had three new blades, a new hilt and a new scabbard but it’s still Cromwell’s sword!” I used to know a dealer who said that all the time!

Phil

I had a cricket bat like that. One new handle and two new blades...Theseus's bat.

[John Milford]

It’s a very personal thing but, whilst I have a few quite old ‘pins and fixed spools in near perfect condition, I like the battle scars on my painted reels with scrapes and wear. With wooden reels, embrace the imperfection!

Phil

The Japanese, those masters of aesthetics, have a term Wabi-sabi, which is the reverence and appreciation of exactly what you describe Phil.

It’s a fair cop …… I’m a huge fan of wabi-sabi but felt I’ve mentioned it a bit too regularly on TFF!

Ah, I now see you have, Duckett San. Apologies for my unwittingly preaching to the converted!

[Wallys-Cast]

Painting a reel can be a good way to get yourself a nice looking reel for little outlay.
Speedias are notorious for losing their original finish and can be made to look better than new with a little effort.
Mitchells are a different ball game, the original finish is difficult to achieve but I have seen some great jobs done, in other colours too.

There is an old saying in the antique trade about restorations. Never do anything that can't be undone.
Better to leave antique or very rare reels to the collectors of such things.
For reels that are going to be used, I think they should look nice and work as well as the day they were made.

Wal.

That always reminds me of a dodgy antiques warning that I heard on the old TV series “Lovejoy” Wal ………. “It’s Cromwell’s sword! It’s had three new blades, a new hilt and a new scabbard but it’s still Cromwell’s sword!” I used to know a dealer who said that all the time!

Phil

Or Triggers brush Phil.

[Duckett]

Painting a reel can be a good way to get yourself a nice looking reel for little outlay.
Speedias are notorious for losing their original finish and can be made to look better than new with a little effort.
Mitchells are a different ball game, the original finish is difficult to achieve but I have seen some great jobs done, in other colours too.

There is an old saying in the antique trade about restorations. Never do anything that can't be undone.
Better to leave antique or very rare reels to the collectors of such things.
For reels that are going to be used, I think they should look nice and work as well as the day they were made.

Wal.

That always reminds me of a dodgy antiques warning that I heard on the old TV series “Lovejoy” Wal ………. “It’s Cromwell’s sword! It’s had three new blades, a new hilt and a new scabbard but it’s still Cromwell’s sword!” I used to know a dealer who said that all the time!

Phil

Or Triggers brush Phil.

[Duckett]

It’s a very personal thing but, whilst I have a few quite old ‘pins and fixed spools in near perfect condition, I like the battle scars on my painted reels with scrapes and wear. With wooden reels, embrace the imperfection!

Phil

The Japanese, those masters of aesthetics, have a term Wabi-sabi, which is the reverence and appreciation of exactly what you describe Phil.

It’s a fair cop …… I’m a huge fan of wabi-sabi but felt I’ve mentioned it a bit too regularly on TFF!

Ah, I now see you have, Duckett San. Apologies for my unwittingly preaching to the converted!

Not at all John. Wabi sabi deserves a spot of preaching!

Phil

[Duckett]

That always reminds me of a dodgy antiques warning that I heard on the old TV series “Lovejoy” Wal ………. “It’s Cromwell’s sword! It’s had three new blades, a new hilt and a new scabbard but it’s still Cromwell’s sword!” I used to know a dealer who said that all the time!

Phil

I had a cricket bat like that. One new handle and two new blades...Theseus's bat.

[Rockape]

Since joining this fraternity, I have acquired a number of reels. For example Speedias. They are all perfectly usable, but are all "scruffy" They are not rare or precious, are they? Do you strip and paint them, or is that frowned upon? I have seen another's description of "restoring" a Mitchell, with a lot of careful and technical expertise and work. I have a "user", also scruffy, but I am not bothered about how it looks.. (It is a "Sasquatch" with the big-foot, and has to be forced in to ie, my "Dr Redfin" (Mark Everard) Roach-rod and my little quiver rod, but whatevs...)

Hi Wakou,

My impetus for restoring some of my old half bail Mitchell reels, started with some work I did on my dads old A serial reel, which was in pretty rough condition, and the inspiration for that refin came from another restoration thread, where the finished early Mitchell half bail looked a million dollars!

The amazing results on my dad's reel came as a pleasant surprise to me, and inspired me to attempt another refinish, aiming for as close to perfection as possible (I am both clumsy and have OCD, which makes for a challenging attempt at anything approaching perfection).

I recently obtained three reels that had some interesting details, but they were also pretty scruffy looking, so I decided to give those reels a nice refinish too (plus some practice on a 1977 300 that a friend gave me, which came out...ok).

I am primarily an 'enthusiast collector' and most of my reels are original factory finished, as is my preference, but it was a lot of fun refinishing the worst of them. The correct approach to getting a top result takes a lot of time and preparation, and so I am giving it a rest for a while (sadly my last attempt failed miserably and I had to start over again....without the shortcuts.....forgot to follow my own advice..lol!).

If I were buying one of those reels to use regularly, it would just get a strip down, clean, re-grease and no new paint.

Another way to put it is, if the reel was really rare, I wouldn't do anything to "improve" it.