In Praise Of BeechmereLake

[SooperClooper]

Had a pair of Cardinal 57s that were in very good condition but the line lay was terrible, not a patch on my 55s or even my 155s, is this normal for the 57s or was there a fault?

[BeechmereLake]

Your Cardinal 57's should be no different to your 55's, both reels work the same using what is known as " Time Phased Spool Oscillation" inside the reel is a large plastic gear which is driven by the main gear called a line cam and this moves the axle in and out with a constant movement so the line never sits on top of itself so it can "bed in", it was designed to help with casting at distance and preventing your line bedding in and causing a "Crack Off" of your rig. With many of the eBay reel breakers now buying reels to smash up for profit they have no idea of which part fits which reel and why, you may think a certain part will fit all reels but this is just not the case. One instance is the main gears, over the 7-9 years Abu made them there were 5 changes to the main gears alone all different in one way or another, there were different sideplates for different housings which again cause no end of troubles for people who wish to repair a reel. Biggest issues I get are reels made up from parts which are wrong and cause coning of the line onto the spool, they can front load or back of the spool load, some even load both ends and leave a gap in the middle of the spool, taken me a few years to work them out but making sure reels have a serial number and the correct parts makes them healthy reels.
One thing with 57's is they can be a bit clunky compared to the 55's but serviced properly they can be made nearly as good as the 55's, they dont have the same tolerances as the 55 but if not worn in any way can be a super reel

[CrayCane]

Just like to add my thanks to BeechmereLake and to those on here who have recommended his work. Not being familiar with Cardinals I bought a cheap Cardinal 77 from ‘that auction site’ and Martin has transformed it into a very sweet running reel that will outlast me no doubt.

[BeechmereLake]

Just like to add my thanks to BeechmereLake and to those on here who have recommended his work. Not being familiar with Cardinals I bought a cheap Cardinal 77 from ‘that auction site’ and Martin has transformed it into a very sweet running reel that will outlast me no doubt.

My pleasure Peter, I like the mix of reels coming in lately, doing 55 and 57's everyday can get a bit boring so recently I have had a right mixture including Cardinal 33, 44 66 66X and 77, your 77 and one sent in from Ireland gave me great pleasure working on them, both has issues that were straight forward to put right because I had the parts, I also appreciate the work.

[Lea Dweller]

I would like to add my appreciation of the service I received from Martin (Beechmere Lake) I acquired a really nice Abu Cardinal 55 recently, but as I am completely clueless at 'fettling' I entrusted it to Martin at Redditch last Sunday. I received the reel back this morning and it is superb! It feels really smooth and has had 'upgrades' as part of the service! I will need to get an alloy spool for it, as I hear that the plastic spools are not good. I understand that Les Shaw has alloy spools, (unless a TFF member has one for sale? ) Having spoken to Martin today, I feel confident that my better than new '55' will now give me many years of good service! Thank you Martin!

[Crowquill]

Martin sorted my 66 out.great fast service and reel came back with a much improved drag.looking forward to using it on a barbel trip in the near future thanks again martin

[BeechmereLake]

Martin sorted my 66 out.great fast service and reel came back with a much improved drag.looking forward to using it on a barbel trip in the near future thanks again martin

Your more than welcome, thanks for your custom