New Reel making project..

[BlackSheep]

I bet there are a few amongst us who would love to have a pin like that.

Lovely.

[The Tuesday Swim]

Wow, wow, wow!

[Richard C]

I bet there are a few amongst us who would love to have a pin like that.

Not 'arf. Limited superlatives in my vocabulary fail me WM+.
Astonishing skill. I have enjoyed the reels progress. A shame its ended really but history is yours to create and I for one, will look out for stunning fish worthy to accompany a wonderful achievement in your future postings.
I wish you and your reel, every success for the future.
:hat:

[Loop Erimder]

Sublime phenomanol amazing bloody well done that clever clever man :hat:

[Weyfarer]

Phew! In the words of Mission Control; "You've got a bunch of guys here about to turn blue, we're breathing again."

Magnifique.

[St.John]

Out of interest Mr mole, how long did the reel take to make in hours? I think it is the most impressive centerpin i have seen and I am not a massive fan of wooden back reels......until now!

[Watermole+]

Firstly, a very big and sincere THANK YOU! to everyone out there, for all the nice words and kind comments..it's all a bit embarrassing but I really do most humbly appreciate everything you have said..you are all most kind people, Gentlemen and Scholars every one of you!

Nobby asked if I made every component..well, strictly speaking, not quite; the 12 screws which hold the drum together through the bronze spacers were bought as a box of standard stainless M3 bolts and I modified the heads of these on the lathe to suit, then cut 10 of them to identical length.
Again, the 4 screws which hold the wood to the star back were extensively modified from bought bolts.
Apart from that, every single thing was scratch built from base materials.

St.John; to be honest, I didn't keep a log of time spent but I suppose it must have been about 1 to 1 1/2 hours on average, say 3 evenings per week, plus about 10 hours total every weekend, since the project started. I wasted a lot of time in trying to develop ideas which were really non-starters and again, had to re-make several bits which I made wrong or out-of-tolerance. The most difficult part was making the threads on the spokes. It wasn't really such a good idea to use stainless welding rod, although we got there in the end. I'm definitely having a rethink on this for reel No.3.

Forgot to mention the performance. It spins nice and freely with a very low inertia start-up and the check is very comparable to both my other reels, if anything, a bit stronger, but when I get the chance to visit a fishery somewhere, I'll put in a field test report. Weight is just a little more than the Match Aerial.

Cost? Not much, as far as cash is concerned. About £35 which included screws and odd bits of special metals.

As I said before-and say again; this is not beyond anyone who has access to a small hobby lathe. I gained a lot of practical experience along the way and intend in the future to have another go, but this time making the drum from aluminium. I also have thought of a much better and more attractive way of making the wood back...!

Thank you all again,

wm+

[St.John]

Better and more attractive? Rubbish. That back is sublime! I want one!! You are far Far too modest. Would love to see it in the flesh one day and have cast!! And around the weight of a match Aerial. Seriously impressed. St.

[Plot36]

I was fortunate enough to see the finished article at the BFFI yesterday, and safe to say it is an absolutely exquisite piece of work - to my eyes it looked flawless and it was only with the greatest reluctance that I handed it back. If ever a reel could be described as 'drop dead gorgeous' then this is that reel. It won't surprise anyone I when I say that it very soon attracted a great deal of interest from passers-by, as did the equally stunning rod WM had brought along with him.




It was a pleasure to meet and chat with Watermole - a true gentleman.

[Richard C]

Cost? Not much, as far as cash is concerned. About £35 which included screws and odd bits of special metals.

:o If I send you the money........ :chuckle: