I have a small nick in the upper part of my spool that has now cut the line a handful of times. Most recently cut 20lb. braid literally like it was nothing. I just saw my lure go flying with no jerk or anything. What do you recommend to smooth out this little nick. 

Welcome aboard!

 

I've got a spool with a very tiny "nick" in the lip, but I've

not had any problems with it. That said, you could try to 

smooth it out with high-grit sand paper (200grit and up)

to ensure it is smoothed out, or simply see if you can buy

another spool.

 

I'm not sure my sandpaper suggestion is great, so I'd wait

to see what others suggest. We do have reel repair folks 

here like @Delaware Valley Tackle, @J Francho, who will have

other, probably better suggestions than mine.

Edited September 21, 20178 yr by Darren.

Thank you, Darren.

The nick is so small I almost missed it but have checked over the rest of the rig and that's the only hiccup in the whole thing. I even tried it on a different rod just in case there was something I missed. The line clearly breaks very close to the reel, definitely before the first eye.

I'd also thought of the sandpaper but don't want to mar any more of the spool if I can help it.

I'd try jewelers polish and a buffing wheel on a Dremel rotary tool.  I think the polish/buffer accessory kit comes with the polish.  If you were going to sand, I'd be looking at wet sanding in grits closer to 1000. 

That sounds like a good option. Thank you, J.

25 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I'd try jewelers polish and a buffing wheel on a Dremel rotary tool.  I think the polish/buffer accessory kit comes with the polish.  If you were going to sand, I'd be looking at wet sanding in grits closer to 1000. 

This is the best way to address the issue. Worst case scenario replacing the spool is easy. 

If you don't have a dremel, a bit of leather with some jewelers polish worked into it might work, but will obviously be a lot slower.  

I do have a dremel but thank you for the belt idea.

 

Learned two things today, how bout that.

Just go slow.  I had an old reel I used for shore fishing that had a banged up spool lip, and polishing it worked.  Didn't make it look any prettier, but it wasn't nicking my line anymore.

Thank you guys for the help and also the quick response.

2 hours ago, BiGFooT_Fishing86 said:

I do have a dremel but thank you for the belt idea.

 

Learned two things today, how bout that.

I think I'd practice with the buffing pad on something else, even if you've got the experience, so at the very least, you'd but "warming up" to the task at hand. Good luck!

4 hours ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

This is the best way to address the issue. Worst case scenario replacing the spool is easy. 

"What he said...."

Most of my spinning reels have a few nicks in the spool due to normal wear and tear (bank and kayak fishing) I have never experienced the issue you are having. I would just buy a new spool and be done with it 

I had that same thing happen to one of my reels. It wasn't until I was at the lake that I noticed something was up with my casts. Once I spotted the nick I just used a rock to polish it out. It worked great, no problems since.

What make and model spinning reel? Spools are fairly inexpensive.

Tom

20 hours ago, J Francho said:

I'd try jewelers polish and a buffing wheel on a Dremel rotary tool.  I think the polish/buffer accessory kit comes with the polish.  If you were going to sand, I'd be looking at wet sanding in grits closer to 1000. 

I've done this on spinning reel spools. 800 grit wet sanding > Automotive rubbing compound w/Dremel > jeweler's rouge w/Dremel. The process removed a small spot of the anodized finish on the spool, but it worked great. 

 

Tom

20 hours ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

Worst case scenario replacing the spool is easy. 

I would replace the spool. Unless its an old model reel you should be able to find a new spool. You might even find and older model reel's spool on ebay. Shoot, if it's cheap enough there, buy the whole reel just for the spool.

 

I can see myself doing something like that for some of my favorite older reels like my Shimano Symetre.

I use a simi chrome polish once the nick is lightly sanded with a fine grit paper. Simi chrome polish is a very fine polish that's used to remove machining marks in plastic injection molds.

I know everyone else is saying to buff it off, and that seems like the best option. Am I stupid saying maybe you could fill it in with some kind of superglue or hot glue?

21 hours ago, JustinJ said:

Most of my spinning reels have a few nicks in the spool due to normal wear and tear (bank and kayak fishing) I have never experienced the issue you are having. I would just buy a new spool and be done with it 

Most of mine have a few too and have never had a problem. This one must just be cut perfectly.

21 hours ago, WRB said:

What make and model spinning reel? Spools are fairly inexpensive.

Tom

It's an Abu Orra sx30. I looked it up and a new spool is about $20.

 

I think I'll try to fix it first since it's an otherwise perfectly fine reel. If that doesn't work then I'll buy a new one. 

I would call that a dent and there is another dent in the photo similar to what is circled and you may have more dents on the spool edge. The dents don't affect the line during the retrieve, the can snag and damage the line during the cast.

You can sand the dents smooth using 400 grit sand wet/dry sand paper, the buff the rim surface with fine steel wool followed by polishing compound. This will expose the aluminum and it needs to be coated with Alodine to prevent corrosion. $20 sounds like a better option.

Tom

In the pic it does look like a dent. What would be the "bottom" part of the "dent" actually sticks out. Also, this is happening on the cast, not the retrieve. The other dent is actually a dent and I can't feel it at all when I rub my finger over that one. It's on the upper part of the lip where the line never touches. I've checked over the entire rest of the spool edge and the rest of that whole upper area and trust me the circled nick is the only possibility. These are the only two blemishes.