Reel Maintenance Tools.....?? 2025

Crow Horse reply :

I'm putting together a dedicated tool kit for my reels (Mitchel 300Pro).

So far, this is what I have (or will have)

1. Wiha precision screwdriver set

2. 10mm combination wrenches

3. Assorted dental picks

4. Magnetizer

5. Reel "jig" - aluminum tubing with a Fuji reel seat that will be clamped into a small vise.

6. various cleaning implements - old toothbrushes

7. Lubricants - oil & grease, Super Lube

8. Parts tray(s)

9. Ultrasonic cleaner

10.- Gallon size ziplock bags to be used as a capture bag (to capture parts that want to go AWOL)

Anything else?.........

J Francho reply :

Muffin tray. If you are going to do other brands of reels, the Smooth Drags 8 in 1 Tool next to the tray is handy.

Crow Horse reply :

I like the muffin tray idea...

redmeansdistortion reply :

Needle nose and snap ring pliers are good to have. On the ultrasonic cleaner end, get some 4oz wide mouth mason jars for non-bearing parts and 2oz jars for bearings. Forceps are something else you may want. They come in handy fishing bearings and other small parts from the jars you'll use with your ultrasonic.

Crow Horse reply :

Mesh strainers also work well to retrieve parts in the ultrasonic cleaner. It depends on what kind of parts and their size. Mason jars are helpful in saving cleaner as well. I can fill up a mason jar with a cleaner and parts and avoid having to fill up the entire UC.

Bankbeater reply :

A cell phone to take pics of the parts before you take them off, and some kind of magnifying glass.

OkobojiEagle reply :

Misc. stuff... white hand towel to work on top of. Roll of paper towels, q-tips, bottle of alcohol and acetone, can of compressed air, 3/4" dowel sharpened at one end (hand spin bearings), adjustable neck lamp, table top fan to aid your room ventilation (acetone fumes will cloud your head pretty quickly)... my favorite tool... 4" magnetized metal dish to keep small screws and retainer clips in. I can drop that dish upside down to the floor and nothing will spill out!

Dirtyeggroll reply :

On 2/13/2019 at 12:34 AM, Crow Horse said:

I'm putting together a dedicated tool kit for my reels (Mitchel 300Pro).

So far, this is what I have (or will have)

1. Wiha precision screwdriver set

2. 10mm combination wrenches

3. Assorted dental picks

4. Magnetizer

5. Reel "jig" - aluminum tubing with a Fuji reel seat that will be clamped into a small vise.

6. various cleaning implements - old toothbrushes

7. Lubricants - oil & grease, Super Lube

8. Parts tray(s)

9. Ultrasonic cleaner

10.- Gallon size ziplock bags to be used as a capture bag (to capture parts that want to go AWOL)

Anything else?.........

This is a great idea for a thread. At $25-$45 a pop for reel cleaning services it can get expensive sending reels off for quality cleaning and supertuning.

can you add the cost of all of those items you listed above?

Crow Horse reply :

On 2/13/2019 at 12:06 PM, OkobojiEagle said:

4" magnetized metal dish to keep small screws and retainer clips in. I can drop that dish upside down to the floor and nothing will spill out!

This only works if the parts are ferrous. Plastics, aluminum and certain grades of stainless steel aren't magnetic and can go AWOL. It's still a good idea and I did use a magnetic tray when I tore down my spinner......

Crow Horse reply :

1. Wiha precision screwdriver set - app. $24

2. 10mm combination wrenches - app. $5

3. Assorted dental picks - found them at a yard sale, price unknown, but they were cheap

4. Magnetizer - app.$5

5. Reel "jig" - aluminum tubing with a Fuji reel seat that will be clamped into a small vise. - aluminum tubing free, Fuji reel seat app. $10

6. various cleaning implements - old toothbrushes

7. Lubricants - oil & grease, Super Lube

8. Parts tray(s) - $2-$10

9. Ultrasonic cleaner - app. $80

10.- Gallon size ziplock bags to be used as a capture bag (to capture parts that want to go AWOL) -$3

Most of the above I already had in various places at home. I'l take a pic when I get most of the items together.......

craww reply :

That's a pretty good list.

-I know you mentioned a spinning reel put something down the road that may be useful is a pin removal tool... I have a set of duckbill lineman's pliers that I made into one with a grinder, but there are some affordable alternatives on the market now I may end up picking up.

-I didn't see where you specifically noted it but a little container of drag grease will last you forever.

- not sure what lubricants you have but some of them don't allow for a precise enough application of oil. A little needle Oiler is something that's been on my list for a long time that I've just never got around to getting.

-Some extremely fine grit sandpaper...

-I have accumulated various shims from different manufacturers over the years. It can be useful when a spinning reel isn't laying line properly, handle knobs have too much play, a baitcasters cast control is outtake wack, etc.

- few cans of canned air, unless you have a compressor or air tank.

Crow Horse reply :

Do carbon fiber drags (on a spinner) require greasing?

J Francho reply :

On 2/13/2019 at 9:47 PM, Crow Horse said:

Do carbon fiber drags (on a spinner) require greasing?

I run mine dry, but you can put a vapor thin layer of drag grease on them if you want it to be smoother. I fish in sub freezing conditions, sometimes grease can get thick, and feel sticky. On a dry set up, it feels a little different when the drag slips. Performance in normal conditions is virtually the same.

Crow Horse reply :

Thanks!

Adding to the list: lighting (be it some type of work light or a headlamp)

Optivisor (or some type of magnifying lens)

J Francho reply :

Meh, I have a magnifying visor with a light, and I rarely use it. Same with a US cleaner. I completely disassemble the reel, and clean every single part by hand with a strong degreaser (use nitrile gloves!). If you're not confident stripping a reel down 100%, then a US cleaner will be handy. Another use would be for an unfinished aluminum part, such as the frame on a Megabass/Daiwa Alphas Ito AI. The US cleaner will get most water stains out without polishing, which invariably is removing some material. The US cleaner will help greatly with badly soiled bearings, but that's rare.

Crow Horse reply :

I don't think that the USC actually removes substrate material but rather "blasts" the substrate with a bubble implosion in a process called cavitation. Even relatively inexpensive USC's do a pretty good job. Better one's cost hundreds to thousands of dollars and I have no experience with them but I bet they kick a**.

I US cleaned a 40 year old spark plug socket that looked pretty sad. After several cycles in the USC, it looked almost brand new (overlooking gouges and scratches in the chrome).

J Francho reply :

Yes, you are right. USC doesn't remove material. Polishing does. Maybe I didn't word that as well as I could have.

MickD reply :

My most important "tool" is the mailing address of a good reel repair pro. The reels are getting too complicated for me to be taking them very "far" apart, even spinning reels. Don't even mention bail springs to me.

Bass_Fishing_Socal reply :

How many reels do you plan to clean each year?

IMHO it is a lot easier to send to local professionals to clean the reel if you can find one, especially those of spinning reel.

I do clean my 12 baitcaster reels sometime but for a full service, I’d op for professionals. I don’t clean my reel very often once a year or maybe longer for full dry clean(taking apart, clean out old grease and add new grease, flush bearing) and have professionals look at it may be every 2-3 or 4 seasons.

Junger reply :

Getting reels cleaned can really start to add up and I'm probably going to start doing my own reels (lower end ones) after this season. I'm also a little OCD so any little gunk or reel noise drives me crazy.

There are a myriad of ultrasonic cleaners on Amazon, lots in the 20oz container range. I'm thinking that's sufficient to only put bearings in there. The rest of the components I would clean using an Ardent wire mesh basket and container.

Any recommendations for ultrasonic cleaners, or are the ones off Amazon sufficient?

J Francho reply :

On 2/14/2019 at 11:53 PM, Junger said:

Any recommendations for ultrasonic cleaners, or are the ones off Amazon sufficient?

Hornady.

Crow Horse reply :

I have the Harbor Freight/Amazon ultrasonic cleaner. Cost about $80 and I've had mine for nearly 5 years with almost daily use. I believe it's a 2L size and it's more than paid for itself. I've used it for jewelry, sockets and other tools, carbs, eyeglasses, firearm parts, vehicle parts, and virtually anything that will fit in it. Granted, it's not as powerful as some of the more pricey ones but I think it's worthy of consideration. It might take a little longer but if you're not doing production work, it's a good choice.

fishwizzard reply :

On 2/14/2019 at 11:53 PM, Junger said:

Getting reels cleaned can really start to add up and I'm probably going to start doing my own reels (lower end ones) after this season. I'm also a little OCD so any little gunk or reel noise drives me crazy.

There are a myriad of ultrasonic cleaners on Amazon, lots in the 20oz container range. I'm thinking that's sufficient to only put bearings in there. The rest of the components I would clean using an Ardent wire mesh basket and container.

Any recommendations for ultrasonic cleaners, or are the ones off Amazon sufficient?

I have the cheapest one Amazon had for sale and it isnt great. For bearings I put them in a little glass jar of acetone and then put that in the cleaner.

Honestly most of my reels only get a deep cleaning right before I sell them. The few times I crack one open to fuss with it there is never much if any filth inside, so I stopped doing it and just focus on the exposed parts like the levelwind worm. The next time I have an extended work trip I want to send all my reels out for a full clean and tune, it will be interesting to see if performance improves much.

bayvalle reply :

I'm disassembling and cleaning every other year. You real don't need an expensive screw driver set. An Ultra Sonic is a plus. I have an old one from my dental practice that works great but if you buy one an expensive one is not needed unless you're using it frequently. Disassembling and cleaning reels is a fun winter project plus you will learn more about how these reels work and provides the opportunity to identify parts that are needing replacement before they fail.

Crow Horse reply :

On 2/15/2019 at 11:47 AM, bayvalle said:

You real don't need an expensive screw driver set.

I respectfully disagree. Low quality screwdrivers have a tendency to fit poorly and cam out possibly stripping the screw head. I think quality screwdrivers are worth the cost to avoid that......

J Francho reply :

I ran a reel cleaning business for three years before buying a set of Wiha tools. I still use the #1 Phillips head driver from the $10 kit from Lowe's. It just works better than any other I've used. Back in the day, I did around 250-300 reels a year.

Crow Horse reply :

A couple of pics of a home brew reel jig/vise....

GreenPig reply :

On 2/14/2019 at 11:53 PM, Junger said:

Getting reels cleaned can really start to add up and I'm probably going to start doing my own reels (lower end ones) after this season. I'm also a little OCD so any little gunk or reel noise drives me crazy.

There are a myriad of ultrasonic cleaners on Amazon, lots in the 20oz container range. I'm thinking that's sufficient to only put bearings in there. The rest of the components I would clean using an Ardent wire mesh basket and container.

Any recommendations for ultrasonic cleaners, or are the ones off Amazon sufficient?

I run the small Hornady ultrasonic cleaner. I

clean bearings and gears with it.

On 2/13/2019 at 12:34 AM, Crow Horse said:

I'm putting together a dedicated tool kit for my reels (Mitchel 300Pro).

So far, this is what I have (or will have)

1. Wiha precision screwdriver set

2. 10mm combination wrenches

3. Assorted dental picks

4. Magnetizer

5. Reel "jig" - aluminum tubing with a Fuji reel seat that will be clamped into a small vise.

6. various cleaning implements - old toothbrushes

7. Lubricants - oil & grease, Super Lube

8. Parts tray(s)

9. Ultrasonic cleaner

10.- Gallon size ziplock bags to be used as a capture bag (to capture parts that want to go AWOL)

Anything else?.........

I would add a pack of very sharp hooks if you're going to remove bearing shields.

Heartland reply :

On 2/16/2019 at 6:16 AM, Crow Horse said:

A couple of pics of a home brew reel jig/vise....

Just curious, what do you use it for?

Crow Horse reply :

It makes it a little easier to work on at times...

waymont reply :

I would spend the extra money on Wera laser tip screwdrivers. They are the most solid, best gripping screwdrivers I've used.

You don't want to mess up you reel screws!

CrankFate reply :

Precision screwdriver set.

Spool Pin Removal Tool.

CountryboyinDC reply :

On 2/13/2019 at 12:39 AM, J Francho said:

Muffin tray. If you are going to do other brands of reels, the Smooth Drags 8 in 1 Tool next to the tray is handy.

This is a good idea too - I use an egg carton.

J Francho reply :

On 4/23/2019 at 5:53 PM, CountryboyinDC said:

I use an egg carton.

I have a cat, lol. You can probably connect the dots.

CountryboyinDC reply :

On 4/23/2019 at 8:52 PM, J Francho said:

I have a cat, lol. You can probably connect the dots.

For you the muffin tray is definitely the way to go.

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Reel Maintenance Tools.....?? 2025

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