Gypsy Gem with a difference.
- Wallys-Cast
- Pike
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Gypsy Gem with a difference.
After a cack handed moment where I dropped my little Grice and Young Gypsy Gem and then stood on it just to make proper job of destroying the spool, I decided to make a wooden spool for it.
Easier said than done by the way, it must have took me 6 hours getting it right but it has returned one of my favourite gudgeon reels back to service.
The spool was turned from an old mahogany spool but just as it was getting down to the right diameter the holes appeared where the original handles used to be fixed. So holding my temper back and not swearing even once , I removed a bit more, leaving a rebate to accept a disc made of Walnut, cut from the backplate of another scrap reel.
The original winding handles crumbled as I tried to remove them so I used cut down versions from old Shakespeare multiplier reels which I got in a job lot of reel spares years ago and have come in handy on a few occasions. These old winding knobs by the way are I think made of something like nitro cellulose. If they get really hot they burst into flames like cordite. I found this out the first time I tried to reduce one in length on a sanding disc and it flared up like a firework. Impressive to see but a bit scary too so now I do it with a file.
The original inner disc of the spool was reused and the holes from the line pillars were countersunk to accept the screws used to hold it to the new wooden spool. I also stripped all the paint off the backplate to give it a different look.
It has worked out quite well as the spool is now a larger inside diameter so will give a faster retrieve and will be great for about 25 yds of 2lb line, just in case I catch a monster Gudgeon and I have to let it run.
Just a bit of daftness but I thought some of you would like it and maybe inspire some other rescues.
Wal.
Easier said than done by the way, it must have took me 6 hours getting it right but it has returned one of my favourite gudgeon reels back to service.
The spool was turned from an old mahogany spool but just as it was getting down to the right diameter the holes appeared where the original handles used to be fixed. So holding my temper back and not swearing even once , I removed a bit more, leaving a rebate to accept a disc made of Walnut, cut from the backplate of another scrap reel.
The original winding handles crumbled as I tried to remove them so I used cut down versions from old Shakespeare multiplier reels which I got in a job lot of reel spares years ago and have come in handy on a few occasions. These old winding knobs by the way are I think made of something like nitro cellulose. If they get really hot they burst into flames like cordite. I found this out the first time I tried to reduce one in length on a sanding disc and it flared up like a firework. Impressive to see but a bit scary too so now I do it with a file.
The original inner disc of the spool was reused and the holes from the line pillars were countersunk to accept the screws used to hold it to the new wooden spool. I also stripped all the paint off the backplate to give it a different look.
It has worked out quite well as the spool is now a larger inside diameter so will give a faster retrieve and will be great for about 25 yds of 2lb line, just in case I catch a monster Gudgeon and I have to let it run.
Just a bit of daftness but I thought some of you would like it and maybe inspire some other rescues.
Wal.
Last edited by Wallys-Cast on Tue Aug 13, 2019 10:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
- Tomglum
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Re: Gypsy Gem with a difference.
Superb Wal, looks a treat.
Tim
Tim
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Re: Gypsy Gem with a difference.
Very nice Wal.
Mark (Administrator)
The most precious places in the English landscape are those secretive corners,
where you find only elder trees, nettles and dreams. (BB - Denys Watkins-Pitchford).
The most precious places in the English landscape are those secretive corners,
where you find only elder trees, nettles and dreams. (BB - Denys Watkins-Pitchford).
- Paul F
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Re: Gypsy Gem with a difference.
Great work Wal, you're a clever bugger
- Olly
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Re: Gypsy Gem with a difference.
It is a very nice mix Wal, the wood and metal. Reminiscent of the early Allcocks.
Dave Plowman has just made a similar one but it is a wooden starback with a metal spool. A renewed Coxon type.
Dave Plowman has just made a similar one but it is a wooden starback with a metal spool. A renewed Coxon type.
- PershoreHarrier
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Re: Gypsy Gem with a difference.
Absolutely splendid - I can hear it buzzing now as that monster Gudgeon runs with the bait.
- Vole
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Re: Gypsy Gem with a difference.
That does look nice - first cousin to a Zephyr.
The "Donor" spool, with its shallow arbour, looks as though it came from a tasty reel - is the back scooped away, "Sheffield Style"?
The "Donor" spool, with its shallow arbour, looks as though it came from a tasty reel - is the back scooped away, "Sheffield Style"?
"Write drunk, edit sober" - Hemingway.
Hemingway didn't have to worry about accidentally hitting "submit" before he edited.
Hemingway didn't have to worry about accidentally hitting "submit" before he edited.
- Wallys-Cast
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Re: Gypsy Gem with a difference.
Thanks for your kind comments lads.
Vole, the main part of the spool was off the reel shown below which came with a job lot. The reel had been screwed to a wall at sometime, the screw driven straight through the edge of the backplate and chewing a piece from it so not really salvageable.
Wal.
Vole, the main part of the spool was off the reel shown below which came with a job lot. The reel had been screwed to a wall at sometime, the screw driven straight through the edge of the backplate and chewing a piece from it so not really salvageable.
Wal.
Last edited by Wallys-Cast on Wed Apr 13, 2016 3:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Wallys-Cast
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Re: Gypsy Gem with a difference.
Double posted.
Wal.
Wal.
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Re: Gypsy Gem with a difference.
I'd call it upcycling! Great job, Wal!