Reel Grease

[The Old Buffer]

What recommendation would forum members have for which grease and oil to use for the lubrication of both centrepin and fixed spool reels?

[Badger1]

Personally for pins I use Hoppe's No9 oil or Singer Sewing machine oil.

http://www.amazon.com/Hoppes-Lubricatin ... 8P1H40PQ7Q

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/19133534 ... 108&ff19=0

For egg whisks (fixed spools) grease - any old gunk will do .

[MHC]

'Silicote' grease and oil for my reels. Conventional (petrolium distillate) oils and grease can tend to wax up over time and I have heard, can dissolve (to some extent) the plastic of reel handles.

WD40 dissolves carbon fibre, I tested this at one stage, as some ( I read) had used the oil when their rod sections stuck. I found that application of WD40 actually fused the sections together. ABU and Berkley make very good silicone reel oil and grease. Bicycle shops are a good source of hi tech lubrication information.

[Penninelad]

I use Singer Sewing Machine oil on all my reels,although somebody has given me some Quantum Hot Sauce to try.Has anybody else used Hot Sauce? Yes,it's really called "Hot Sauce"!

[Paul D]

MHC Sir I beg to disagree, wd40 will not harm carbon period.
It will however ruin oilite and phosphor bronze bushings.

[Chavender]

for grease I use Castrol Lm grease ,have done since the eighties the same pot ,the stuff lasts forever .and works in all tempratures.

for oil I use a range of different oils depending on how worn the reel is.

garry mills does some excellent centrepin oil ,its very low viscosity and a nice light oil perfect for the job & great for reels with tight tollerances.

I also have some singer oil ,again a very light oil and great centrepin oil

my most used oil is whol hair clipper oil a bit thicker than singer oil be still light enough for close tolerance centrepins ,and its good at absorbing noise ,keeps the reels quiet

and I have some motor oil ,the lowest viscosity I can find again a little thicker than the previous oil and good for worn reels and too slow overfast reels down a bit .

[ReelMaker]

Dear friends,three in one oil is what I always use for all lubrication on the hand made reels that I make for a hobby ,a light silicon grease on the ratchet gear,but grease can clog up the smaller mechinians .Reelmaker

[Nobby]

I use Reel X grease, soft and medium, on fixed spool reels. It cost me a lot to get it sent over from Germany, but one of our members imported a load recently and is selling it on at just cost. PM me for his details if you want some as he won't try and 'sell' it on the forum. It isn't cheap but it goes a long, long way.

For centrepins I use Garry Mills' 'Pin Oil'. I've got some 'trombone slide oil' too but it isn't really a lubricant designed to prevent wear, though Lord knows it's thin!


Like any engineer I use WD40 for cleaning things, but it tends to dry stuff out if left so I always follow up with a 'real' oil. Despite some people having issues with it I really cannot fault 3-in1 oil for light work like centrepin handles.

[Watermole+]

For general reel lubrication, I have used the light grade '3 in 1' for many years without any problems and would unhesitatingly recommend it, provided only the minimum amount is used. One-or two drops only will be more than enough for a reel spindle for example.

I sometimes feel we can get bogged down with doubt when we read horror stories about what might happen if we use anything else than certain-usually very expensive-particular products and in most cases, such things are totally without foundation. In this kind of useage, no lubricating oil sold today will attack metal. Many are unsuitable and should not really be used, but your reel will not fall apart in your hand if you use them!
WD40 and a similar product, GT85, are both excellent metal cleaning fluids but maybe herein lies a problem. A liberal application and scrub with an old toothbrush will soon clean up a reel-or any other mechanism-but I always thoroughly clean this off afterwards-preferably with an airline, which I realize that not everyone has-otherwise all the loose dirt and grit in suspension just stays there, ready to move back! I very much agree that it should not however, be used on rod ferrules, carbon or otherwise, for the (hydrocarbon?) lubricant will allow the ferrules to fit further together on the taper (in the case of carbon fibre ) than they would normally otherwise do and thus jam tight together when the solvent evaporates. I had no idea that WD40 could actually dissolve carbon and currently have a test piece soaking in a small jar to see what happens..
After cleaning, a tiny amount of light oil will take care of most things.

As far heavier lubricants go, I have used PENN Reel Lube since the 1960's and cannot fault it, though CASTROL LM used very sparingly is great for gears and fly-reel pawls. I'm not sure if you can still get this particular type (I still have some old stock) but have every confidence in their products).
One of the best ways of protecting any exposed bare aluminium alloy is to wipe it over with 'MUCILIN' on a felt pad. The metal surfaces won't look quite so shiny but they will not start corroding either.
Hardy Bros. recognised this and made a similar protective named "Safetysmear" or something like that.

Hope this is of some use,

Wm+

[MHC]

Good points, well made WM. Some years ago Trout and Salmon magazine published a letter mentioning stuck (together) graphite ferrules from an unfortunate fellow, who had tried all that he could think of to separate the sections, including the use of WD 40 to free them. He mentioned that he had contacted the manufacturer of the rod who commented that said oil should not be used as it dissolves the carbon, in effect fusing the sections together like glue. Finding this hard to believe I tried it myself on a broken ferrule section of a Hardy fly rod (beer in one hand, fly rod the other and sprung outer screen doors do not a good combination make).

The ferrule did become very sticky after being sprayed with WD 40, and did lock up fast I seem to remember. I applied some to carbon rod part itself (not varnished) wiped it with a kitchen wipe and the black came off of a as if I were rubbing a stick of charcoal. That was as far as my experiment went.

I also cannot think how lubricating oil would attack metal as has been claimed, phosphor bronze bushings are common in reels. However I have read that old grease of the auto type can become somewhat acidic with age, possibly damaging reels. I have seen no evidence of this, neither have I looked I admit.

Those with black-leaded reels should be wary of using conventional oils (3 in 1 etc) or waxes containing petrolium distilates on them as they will find that the black lead (carbon) will come off on their cloths, as I have seen. Once the lacquer is worn off the reel the black finish is very soon to follow.

Instead of oils wiped on reels to protect and give a lustre (which attracts grit) Conservators Wax is a better alternative, made for protecting fine objects. Tested on black lead finish, none comes off on my cloth.