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Fly Reels

Here's another one from this winter's work...

P WD 01.jpg
P WD 02.jpg


These reels are an interesting challenge because of all the components that must stack up to +/- .001" in the final assembly. I try for +/-.0005 on the critical lengths and then trim one bushing and one arbor of the final assembly. Usually I only have to remove .003 - .005 to make everything stack up correctly.
 
Makes me want to fly fish so I could justify owning one of those beautiful reels. Awesome work. I would never have guessed such precision was necessary in such a component.
 
Very nice. Just wondering, some reels have solid faces & others are heavily swiss cheesed with radial holes. Is there a dynamic aspect to them like when casting or more about overall weight or maybe just aesthetics? Also do you do any contour turning on handles like using radii lathe accessory? I knw nothing about reels but it almost seems fitting that the same engineering types who studied machinery handles in the hand would have had some influence there too. LOL.
 
DPittman said:
Makes me want to fly fish so I could justify owning one of those beautiful reels. Awesome work. I would never have guessed such precision was necessary in such a component.
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johnnielsen said:
Amazing craftsmanship!
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Thanks guys - I’ll try to put together an overview of most of the tolerances involved.

PeterT said:
Very nice. Just wondering, some reels have solid faces & others are heavily swiss cheesed with radial holes. Is there a dynamic aspect to them like when casting or more about overall weight or maybe just aesthetics? Also do you do any contour turning on handles like using radii lathe accessory? I knw nothing about reels but it almost seems fitting that the same engineering types who studied machinery handles in the hand would have had some influence there too. LOL.
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Peter
The holes and cut outs are primarily cosmetic. Originally the radial holes were meant to assist with drying silk lines when left on the reel. Silk lines are seldom used these days but the holes do help a little with drying the backing. There is really not much weight reduction possible without making something that looks more like a salad spinner.
Most modern reels resemble the spinner hubcaps on Shaq’s Escalade.
I don’t normally do any radius turning on the handles but you make a good point. I typically just taper the handles. I have done the odd concave radiused handle but just eyeball it and finish with 600 grit paper. Some reel makers do offer concave radii on their handles.
 
Wow, I am VERY impressed at your reels.

I have a custom flyrod I bought in Calgary while on a business trip there back in 2000 or so. We were heading into the rockies to test vehicles with a bunch of auto journalists and I had a weekend to myself so I figured I'd find a mountain stream to catch a few fish and camp under the stars - the rest of the team went golfing.

It has an off the shelf reel. I've always wanted to buy a nice custom one to match my fly rod.

To be honest, I never even thought about making one!

Would you consider selling me one of yours?
 
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Nice again. I beet there are some hours in there.
Are bearing types a consideration for any particular reason or does it mostly come down top size? I notice they are always coated in happy red stuff. Would something like ceramic make sense from moisture standpoint? Where do you buy them?
 
Absolutely beautiful work, very clean looking design. I'm looking forward to seeing the next two, if I started now I doubt I could finish one before next summer's end, assuming of course I had your skill set. My work is much more..... Utilitarian.
 
PeterT said:
Are bearing types a consideration for any particular reason or does it mostly come down top size? I notice they are always coated in happy red stuff. Would something like ceramic make sense from moisture standpoint? Where do you buy them?
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Peter
Bearing selection comes down mostly to size. Often it is a case of trying to fit 10# of crap into a 5# pail. In this reel the drag drum rides in a bronze bushing. Side play of the whole assembly is limited by the two home built thrust bearings. This fly reel thrust bearing assembly dates back about 120 years. Originally the balls were just placed in a groove and the outer rim rolled inward to retain the balls. I changed the layout to use a press fit ball retainer.

The happy red stuff is a special reel grease. The big advantage of this grease it remains visible so you can see when it's time to re-lube.

I use 2RS bearings whenever possible so there is no need for ceramics. Having said that I have used ceramics in a few reels when they were the only size available.

I couldn't find a ceramic roller clutch so I designed the drag drum with an internal quad ring each end to retain the roller bearing/clutch grease and to prevent water intrusion.

BOCA BEARING https://www.bocabearings.com/ is my go to supplier for small / odd bearings. I tried to source the roller clutch locally but got "never heard of that size - no one makes that size roller clutch" from the order desk at Transmission Supply. Oddly enough the best price and delivery for the roller clutch was from Amazon.

PM Hobby Craft https://www.pmhobbycraft.ca/ on 32Ave N.E. also has an excellent selection of small 2RS bearings, both inch and metric.

PS-101 DRAG 01.jpg


PS-102.jpg
 

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Dabbler said:
Perfect Craftmanship!
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Thanks Dabbler but it turned out to be not so perfect. I had hoped to have the reel finished this morning but it looks like I'll have to run in the gear set with some lapping compound. There's some hit and miss noise from the gears meshing. Lots of concentricity concerns in this build. Possibly I should have chosen larger tooth profile gears. Oh well - I'll make it work. Patience will be the key.
 
I totally love the craftsmanship and detail.
Sorry if this was explained in earlier posts but I want to ask if those reels are from commercial plans or is of your own design and plan capabilities?
Boy if you fly fish that's got to be a rewarding project. You get the fun of making AND using such a fine piece of work.
 
DPittman said:
totally love the craftsmanship and detail.
Sorry if this was explained in earlier posts but I want to ask if those reels are from commercial plans or is of your own design and plan capabilities?
Boy if you fly fish that's got to be a rewarding project. You get the fun of making AND using such a fine piece of work.
Click to expand...

Thanks

These reels are from my own designs and plans. The basic concepts of most of these reels have been around since the 1880's but the devil is in the details.

The design process is a juggling act to incorporate most if not all of the client requirements...

- spool volume
- spool arbor diameter
- spool width
- outside diameter
- outside width
- width
- drag type - clicker / cork disc / carbon disc
- drag sealed or open
- weight ***
- colour
- right hand or left hand wind
- s-handle or plate wind
- ease of disassembly for maintenance
- fresh water or salt water use
- and the list goes on

Although the latest reel is 4" OD it has a relatively small spool volume due to the cage pins that serve as the 0-80 threaded anchors for the sun gear. It'll become a Bow River trout reel in about 3 weeks.:)
 
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