Fly Reels

[YotaBota]

Beautiful work. I'm not familiar with using Gorilla Glue for finishing, how do you keep it from expanding or do you let it expand and shape and polish on the lathe?

 

[eotrfish]

Beautiful work. I'm not familiar with using Gorilla Glue for finishing, how do you keep it from expanding or do you let it expand and shape and polish on the lathe?

You just put a little dab of GG on a bit of folded paper towel and apply to the spinning part. Spin the part and polish until no longer tacky. The glue should be dry enough to re-apply in less than 1/2 hour. Half a dozen coats should be enough for a durable finish. Rubbed on GG is a common finish for bamboo fly rods.

 

[YotaBota]

I'll have to remember to try this for the next project, it seems to be a secret among the fly rod community. I just googled and got to the Classic Fly Rod forum and there is a lot of talk there but I've never seen it on any woodworking forums. Thank you sir.

 

[Galoot]

Fantastic work!
Well done!

 

[buckbrush]

top shelf work.

 

[eotrfish]

Good morning!

It's time for an update of my reel production...

First up is a pair of 4" drawbar drag large arbor reels. These are fairly simple to build, maintain and operate. Drag is provided by a tension rod which loads the spool onto the cork covered drag plate. A little Neatsfoot oil on the cork is about the only maintenance required.




Next a pair of 4" Rulon/Stainless sealed drag reels. This is a more complicated design which requires a one-way bearing and a stack of alternating Rulon and Stainless discs. The hex shaped Rulon discs are held stationary in an internal hex in the reel body. A set of Stainless discs are pinned to the one-way bearing and rotate with the spool. Drag is provided by compressing the wave spring onto the drag stack.






Drag assembly design

The guts of the drag assembly

 

[PeterT]

Beautiful work as always!

Coincidentally I was just thinking of you the other day when I as watching this YouTube engraving artist. Have you ever considered going down this path? Or maybe these reels take enough of your fun time as is LoL. (random internet pic)

 

[eotrfish]

Thanks Peter

That's a pretty looking reel. I've seen a few more in person and always thought it would be a good idea. I did consider going down the engraving rabit hole. I joined an engraving forum, shopped for equipment and looked at registering for a week long course. I guess that I just settled for basic information laser engraved on some of my reels. When my buddy no longer has access to his laser engraver I may have to revisit the manual engraving plan.

I made 5 of these clock reels while I was working on the 4 that I previously posted - they would have been good candidates for manual engraving

 

[francist]

Gosh those are fabulous looking things, aren’t they.

 

[johnnielsen]

Beautiful to look at. I know it takes painstaking attention to do such work and ,Eotrfish, you accomplish it with every piece. Amazing.

 

[YotaBota]

Are these awards for "Caster of the Year"? They could replace the Oscar.
Very very nice.

 

[eotrfish]

Hmm “Caster of the Year" - interesting idea. Actually they’re for a few of the interesting characters that I’ve met on the water over the years. I just shipped one to a friend in Virginia who has more fishing stories than I’ll ever have time to hear.

 

[eotrfish]

Renderings of a few more in the works this winter

All of the reel bodies are similar construction - the main difference is in the drag systems.

 

[PeterT]

Nice. Can't wait to see them in 'REEL' life HaHa

I have a question - not sure if this is part of your designs. Do you use typically micro dowel pins in the mechanism? If so, are you buying specific reamers to achieve light press fit (for assembly) and/or for precision free rotation fit?

 

[eotrfish]

I use 1/16" dowel pins sparingly - usually to lock a couple of threaded parts together. I don't recall using any for a free rotation fit. I just use a nominal 1/16" reamer or a 1/16" carbide drill. If the pin is loose in the hole I'll either add a dab of Loctite 680 or flatten the pin a few 1/10ths for an interference fit.

 

[Tomc938]

Your reels are absolute works of art! My guess is people will be talking about them - and collecting them - for generations to come. Amazing! You are an inspiration to us all.

 

[eotrfish]

Thanks Tomc938

I came across some photos of another group of reels that I made last year. I originally hadn't intended to make these but had purchased 3 leather cases that I thought would fit some of my other reels. It turned out that the cases were too narrow for any of my reels so I designed this set of reels to fit the cases. These use 0-80 screws for all the pillars and drag parts so there was a bit of a pucker factor making sure that I didn't have to remake any parts. All's well that ends well!

 

[PeterT]

Very snappy. Most mortals would design the gift box around the contents, not the other way around HaHa.
Are the leather cases a 'stock' item for reels specifically? That looks like some intricate folding & stitchery.

 

[eotrfish]

The leather cases are generally custom made for reels. There cases are from Olaf Kundras in Germany. There is also a fellow in Oregon, Arne Mason, who although recently retired, has outfitted untold numbers of reels with his fine leatherwork. Here's an example of an Arne Mason case.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

Wow, what a fantastic thread. Absolutely beautiful reels.