The 'Naiad' reel by Watermole+
Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2017 2:36 pm
Watermole+, my dear friend Leszek, and I have been discussing a stillwater reel to suit my needs, that will still trot a stream if needed and he has been working on it for some time now. Beyond mere dimensions and choices of materials I've given him all sorts of problems to overcome like needing the spool rim close to my thumb, which required setting the reel spine down into the composite reel back to draw the rim upwards and a thicker than usual rim-mounted check lever as the sides of my fingers seem be rather tender. He's also developed further his 'ball bearing' centrepin idea which creates a long-lasting spindle tip that will never wear and a new type of check using lighter leaf springs, which still gives a substantial 'check' to any running fish if needed and reduces my famous birdsnests on the bankside.
The rascal wouldn't send me any images except a couple of the annular rings to strengthen the composite reelback and the heavily ventilated spool still in the lathe chuck....so I really had no idea what I might get!
This time he has gone professional.
Today I received, not only the reel, but specification letters detailing the design and choice of materials, a cleaning cloth, a reel bag, an oil bottle and a 'quality control' card detailing the reels running clearances after its final build......some wood samples, some spare handles and all this came in a very professional looking green velvet box...and even contained some green tissue paper reminding me of the J W Young reel boxes of the early Fifties.
The tub of Polish sausage, Kabanos, in the background is my little joke ....and our shared passion
That final running clearance? Does the abbreviation 0.0005" mean anything to any of you?...Yes that's half of one thousandth of an inch! Since this is the run out of a circulating object, taken on its outer edge the actual deviance is in fact half that again.....one quarter of one thousandth of an inch....0.00025". So well made is it that once spinning slowly you can turn the reel into any plane you like in the palm of your hand and it just keep quietly turning, completely unaffected by the situation.......
Here's the new leaf spring check arrangement:
Here is the reel back, you can see the varieties of wood used, two tones of Turkish Walnut and some Indian Ebony within a Tufnol ring and the fishtail spine cleverly conceals mounting points required by the new check design. You can also see the bullet-nosed check lever knob that will be easier on my forefinger. You'll see we had a bit of a 'green' thing going on here...retro-cammo, if you like......
The beautiful acrylic handles in mock amber mounted on Hiduron alloy pillars:
I asked him to put his name on it for me:
Now this reel isn't run in yet..........or is it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3rYNA1 ... e=youtu.be
As you can see it already has that magic 'eternal motion' thing going on......the 'thing' on the rim is my darning needle gadget for threading the line up the rings, it didn't mind the imbalance.
The compressed reel back:
But maybe my favourite bit of the whole thing, .... these professional looking box labels...this time he means business!
The rascal wouldn't send me any images except a couple of the annular rings to strengthen the composite reelback and the heavily ventilated spool still in the lathe chuck....so I really had no idea what I might get!
This time he has gone professional.
Today I received, not only the reel, but specification letters detailing the design and choice of materials, a cleaning cloth, a reel bag, an oil bottle and a 'quality control' card detailing the reels running clearances after its final build......some wood samples, some spare handles and all this came in a very professional looking green velvet box...and even contained some green tissue paper reminding me of the J W Young reel boxes of the early Fifties.
The tub of Polish sausage, Kabanos, in the background is my little joke ....and our shared passion
That final running clearance? Does the abbreviation 0.0005" mean anything to any of you?...Yes that's half of one thousandth of an inch! Since this is the run out of a circulating object, taken on its outer edge the actual deviance is in fact half that again.....one quarter of one thousandth of an inch....0.00025". So well made is it that once spinning slowly you can turn the reel into any plane you like in the palm of your hand and it just keep quietly turning, completely unaffected by the situation.......
Here's the new leaf spring check arrangement:
Here is the reel back, you can see the varieties of wood used, two tones of Turkish Walnut and some Indian Ebony within a Tufnol ring and the fishtail spine cleverly conceals mounting points required by the new check design. You can also see the bullet-nosed check lever knob that will be easier on my forefinger. You'll see we had a bit of a 'green' thing going on here...retro-cammo, if you like......
The beautiful acrylic handles in mock amber mounted on Hiduron alloy pillars:
I asked him to put his name on it for me:
Now this reel isn't run in yet..........or is it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3rYNA1 ... e=youtu.be
As you can see it already has that magic 'eternal motion' thing going on......the 'thing' on the rim is my darning needle gadget for threading the line up the rings, it didn't mind the imbalance.
The compressed reel back:
But maybe my favourite bit of the whole thing, .... these professional looking box labels...this time he means business!
Fantastic.
).
