Anyone know if there is a way to restore the black finish on a Pfluegar Medalist?
I would also like to know the answer to this one. John
If your reel is one of the old “Made in USA” models, I wouldn’t mess with it. A little wear shows character.
If you’re really set on refinishing it, satin black would be the color you want - it’s in between a gloss black, and a flat black.
If it were mine, I’d just fish it the way it is.
FWIW - I refinished one about 10 years ago for an old friend that wanted to display it. He grew up fishing one, and had fond memories of them. I had all the chrome screws and bits gold plated (yikes!), and repainted the reel. It came out looking spectacular, but I don’t know how durable the finish would have been under use. I’d never bother doing all that work for a $25 reel for myself, but my elderly friend cried when I presented it to him in it’s display case.
Hello duckster, Krylon used to offer what they called ‘60/40’ black…it was great for doing resto work on muscle cars where the look of the wheel wells under the hood needed to be a not so shiney, not so flat black. I’m looking at a beat up 1495 and there really isn’t much shine left so I’d agree with Heritage Angler on the satin black.
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
If its just got a couple of spots where the finish has worn away you can try touching them up with a black Sharpie marking pen.
Not sure of the finish on your Pfluegar. Mine appears to be blued and not painted.
I would ask a gunsmith if it could be reblued.
Now THAT would be convenient. I’ve re-blued steel, but I’ve always thought aluminum didn’t take bluing. Birchwood-Casey makes a product called Super Blue. It is a liquid bluing agent that is quick and easy to use. It works fantastic for touching up the bluing used on some vise jaws.
Wow, the ‘bluing’ gave me a bright idea…well, I don’t know what it would look like or if it would even work, but what about anodizing since it’s aluminium. Reel seats made of aluminium look great once anodized and are relatively well protected, though they do scratch…maybe no more so than any kind of paint. I wonder…
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
Hello,
Dick Janak has repainted the finish on some of my Medalists and some Garcia Mitchell spinning reels. Excellent work. Reels look brand new.
Dick Janak. Dick’s Rod and Reel Repair, New Paltz, NY. 845-255-5874, rjanak@hvc.rr.com
Dick is a member of ORCA.
Cheers,
Richard in Texas
i believe it is what is called a japaned finish. the closest thing would be a powder coat
You have to be careful. Not every type of aluminum can be anodized. Some of it, especially some types of cast aluminum, will turn to powder in the anodizing process. You would probably get a more durable finish with a powder coat finish. Somebody on the board was posting about powder coating their hooks the other day. May be a little more info there. One thing I do know, the part to be coated needs to be perfectly clean to get a good finish. Minor scratches and such will “level out” in the coating process. Deeper scratches and dents will still show. I don’t know if there is a satin finish available with powder coating.
Kirk
Well, Richard, I fired off an email to him after your post and got a quick reply but he said he had never done any refinishing but only repairs:confused:
.
Too bad …if the cost wasn’t too great that might have been an easy answer.
Thanks crazy4oldcars, so much for that idea as I wouldn’t risk a Medalist turning to powder in any kind of process to make them look prettier.
Cheers,
MontanaMoose