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Replating saltwater reel

 

I have recently pulled out my old saltwater fishing reels which, I'm ashamed to say, have not been looked after very well.While they are all mechanically sound there has been wear of the "chrome" finish and a deposition of a green salt (copper I think). I have cleaned the parts and polished them after immersion in weak acid solution and after again cleaning with a high speed fine wire brush am left with a surface which is mottled and looks like brass or copper underneath. Is there an inexpensive method of recoating these parts? Would an electroless chrome plating process do the trick.

Many thanks,

Michael Daly
- Cedar Rapids

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There is no such thing as electroless chrome. Replating is expensive because of the time involved in doing a few special small parts; it often costs more than buying new stuff. But if the reels have sentimental value, a plating shop can certainly re-chrome them for you.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
 

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Michael:

It sounds like the corrosion got through the chrome and nickel down to the brass base of the part and started eating into that. For you to do a couple of reels yourself would probably cost a bit to set-up and do.Do you know of any friends that electroplate? One route you could go is..... 1. Buff, sand, or chemically remove the chrome off of the parts, clean very well, Fill the pits with either silver solder or brazing rod and sand them down smooth. Then you would have to pay a plating company to copper/nickel/chrome the part. If you get the part smooth and shiny before taking it to the plater, it would be a lot cheaper then letting them take it from the ground up and fix it.

Hope this helps.

Tom Haltmeyer
- Peoria, Arizona, USA