Rook

I don't think or "feel" my house is going to burn down either but I have a fire extinguisher just in case.

The WD-40 is for cleaning not lubing. I think you'll find that 0W-20 synthetic oil is about as light as anything you use.

I use Mobile 1 0W-20 synthetic motor oil in a 21 gauge syringe to lube my reels with. A quart of it will last someone a life time lubing reels. Any of the synthetic oils will work just fine. In my opinion that secrete ingredient crap that the snake oil salesmen charge an arm and a leg for a couple of ounces of is a bunch of BS! Same thing with their secrete ingredient grease. I hope somebody does me a favor and puts me out of my misery if I ever pay $10 bucks for a half ounce of miracle grease. The only thing I use to clean reel parts with is WD-40 and an assortment of brushes. That way I can keep the doors to my workshop closed and not worry about fumes. Most of the old grease has to be physically removed anyway and it would take for ever to try and soak it in something to remove it. I can have a reel cleaned, greased and reassembled in the time it takes to soak parts in carburetor cleaner. Plus WD-40 doesn't hurt the paint finish. I put the parts in a big metal pan and use WD-40 that I buy by the gallon and put it in a spray bottle and give them a good scrubbing. They come as clean as can be without worry of burning the house down or breathing in some of the bad stuff they put in cleaners.

In my opinion the best grease to use is an Aluminum complex grease that contains a synthetic oil such as Yamalube Marine Grease. I've tested it against other greases and found that it works the best for me. I also found an article written by a retired mechanical reliability engineer that spent 37 years of his career in the lubrication of machinery in the power and chemical industry that's a member of the Old Reel Collectors Association that reinforced my opinion on aluminum complex grease. Here's a summary of what he wrote: "Greases are composed of OIL and SOAP. The oil does the lubricating and the soap holds the oil in position. Greases should be selected based upon the environment that they will be working in. So, what are the desired characteristics of a fishing reel grease? a. Good lubricating properties. Since the oil does the lubricating, we would want a soap that would hold the highest percentage of OIL possible, per ml of grease. b. Low separation rates of the oil from the soap. Old style Lithium soap greases would “bleed out” and the soap would harden up if allowed to sit without use. c. Good corrosion inhibiting properties. Being in a possible wet environment, I think this is obvious, especially in salt water. d. Water resistance. The ability of the grease to stay in place in the presence water. e. Thermal stability. What? The reel doesn’t get hot. But those of you who fish all winter, like me, appreciate a nice free running reel in cold weather.There is one TYPE of grease that meets or exceeds all of these requirements…. Aluminum Complex grease. Al Complex grease carries the highest percentage of OIL per unit volume of ANY grease. It WILL NOT bleed out and that is why it is used in the food industry. It has excellent corrosion properties with respect to Aluminum, Bronze, and steel. It also has excellent thermal stability. So what grease should you use? No problem. “Yamaha Multi-Purpose Grease” available at most Yamaha motorcycle or boat dealers. This grease is blue in color and is one of the finest greases on the market. It’s very inexpensive too. It is an Al Complex grease that contains a PAO synthetic oil, similar to Mobil 1." I personally think the Yamalube Marine Grease is better than the multi-purpose grease but that's just my opinion as they are basically the same. Here's an example of how NOT to grease your reel. I recently purchased this old Mitchell 406 and it looks beautiful on the outside but the inside is another story. Grease is every where except on the pinion gear. Packing a reel full of grease does nothing but make a big mess. You don't need but about a half a tablespoon of grease for a reel. I refurbish lots of reels and it's amazing how many are not maintained and left for corrosion to ruin. Here's a Mitchell 302 I recently acquired. It's a mess too. This Mitchell 301 was pretty much ruined from corrision from dried out grease. The aluminum side plate is eaten up along with the transfer gear. I was able to salvage the old 301 with some new parts including a new old stock side plate, new bail and different handle. I glass bead blasted the rotating head and body and repainted them. Turned out pretty good.

I'm still stuck in the 50s. My newest reel is over 35 years old and several of mine are over 60 years old and they still work like new. I grew up at my grandfather's Three Rivers Boat Dock & Resturant at the confluence of the Holston, French Broad and Tennessee Rivers in Knoxville, TN back in the 50s and 60s. Seemed like most everyone used Mitchell's back in those days. These are the Mitchell's that I've inherited and purchased and salvaged from the garbage dump over the years. My first reel was an Airex Bache Brown Model 3 that my grandpa gave me. I didn't get a Mitchell 300 until about 1960 when I saved up enough money to buy one. This is a picture of me and my old half bail Airex back in '57. Boat races at Three Rivers Boat Dock summer of 1959.

I'm not 100% sure but it looks like a bottle of water to me.

Everything I fish with is about as old as I am. My fishing reels are older than most of my lures. I don't use anything but the old Mitchell's.

I always had great respect for my great grandfather and I use his nickname on forums etc. His name was Thomas (Rook) Monday from the mountains of East Tennessee and he managed to make a fortune at a time around the turn of the 20th century when people were making pennies on the day doing manual labor.