[SmokeyJ]

I have always been told that the best way to clean bearings is either 1) an ultrasonic cleaner (sounds expensive, really not, and you can tell the wife you bought it for her to clean her jewelry) 2) soak the bearings overnight in acetone (pure stuff, not the nail polish remover kind that has dyes and fragrances in it), shaking occasionally and switching out the acetone for clean when it gets cloudy.

On using a lapping compound, yes, it may smooth up the surface of a damaged bearing, but it will remove material, which will reduce the efficiency of the bearing. The tighter the tolerances in the bearing the better it reduces friction. Using a lapping compound, no matter how minute the amount of material removed, will loosen up the tolerances of the bearing and make it less efficient. Hell, just the normal wear of a properly maintained bearing will over time reduce its efficiency. In the end, how you handle it will depend on what you are after. If you are after the most inexpensive way to restore a reel to decent operating condition, the lapping compound will be the way to go. If you are going for peak performance from your reel, you might as well replace those bearings because by the time they feel noticeably rough the damage has usually already been done.