Blue Zulu
New member
I thought I would share with everyone on the Forum the Step by Step process of making a 3 Piece Style, 4inch Wide Drum Fly Reel.
This style of reel has become popular of late in the States and especially amongst Steelhead Fishers. Ed Ward even has a Narrow Drum Perfect hanging from his Loomis Dredger in his DVD – Skagit Master.
With collectors paying silly money for an old one, and the latest reproductions just as expensive I decided to see what all the fuss was about and make my own.
I decided to use 8082 T6 Bar stock to make my reel, which is stronger than 6061 T6 that a lot of American Manufacturers use. I also set myself the challenge of making it entirely on my 1960’s Lathe and hand tools.
The Main Frame/Cage
Centre drilling prior to machining
Cleaning up the Bar Stock
Parting as deep as possible
Cutting the remainder by hand
About 2 ½ lb
Machining the inside of cage
Profiling the outside
Milling out the windows (only using my dividing head as my rotary table is too big to fit on my vertical slide)
After some hand finishing
View from winding plate side
The Reel Foot
I have decided to make the foot to the AFFTA Spec so that it should fit most rods.
A lot of the older reels have huge feet and some people actually fish with their reel taped to their rod with electrical tape!
Squaring up some alloy for the reel foot
Machining to thickness
Drilling locating holes
Using a ¾” Ball Nose Slot Drill to profile the Foot
Making a mandrel to hold the foot
Ready for machining
First taper complete
Second taper complete
Using a Fly Cutter to radius the foot base for locating on cage
Counterboring for heads of fixing screws
Completed foot
Fits nicely on the cage
Bearing Assembly
Starting off with a 2” Piece of Brass
Turn to size
Drill
Ream to size
Form a groove for the ball bearings
Insert some Stainless Steel Ball Bearings and form a cup around them by a process called spinning whereby the metal is forced into shape by applying pressure from a polished tool as it rotates.
I still have to drill and fit 3 retaining screws, but things are starting to take shape
Spool
I decided to make the Spool out of a hard black plastic called Delrin. It is used to make items such as bearings and gears and it does not absorb moisture as much as Nylon so can be used in marine applications. Also it is nice to machine.
Roughing out to size
If you keep the tools sharp you can get a good finish without the need for papering.
Setting up for drilling the holes in the spool. I am sure whoever made the original model of this style of reel had a warped sense of humour by making a 13 hole pattern. As you will have probably guessed 13 does not go into 360 degrees exactly. The worm drive on my dividing head is 60:1 so I need to turn the handle 4 and 56/91 turns to advance the spool to drill the next hole. Luckily the outer ring on plate N0.1 has 91 holes, so all I need to do is turn the handle 4 complete turns and 56 notches.
I am using a stub drill which is a lot shorter than say a normal jobbers type drill bit. This prevents the bit from wandering and saves using a centre bit to start the hole.
Almost complete.
I think the black ads a bit of colour if you know what I mean.
Spindle and Gear
I decided to make the check gear teeth out of some silver steel which is a type of tool steel that can be hardened then tempered if required. Because it is a pawl type arrangement and not a train of gears then there is no need to cut an involute profile. I have used a 60 degree double angle cutter and 40 teeth makes it a nice easy 1½ turns of the dividing head per tooth.
Drilling out a piece of 40mm Silver Steel
Roughing out a piece of brass
Pressing the ring of Silver Steel onto the spindle and securing with retainer. I will drill some round key pins at a later stage
Turning the groove to fit the ball race
Threading the end of the spindle
Set up for cutting the teeth using a dividing head on the vertical slide on my lathe
First cut
After three cuts per tooth
Finished spindle and check gear
This is where it goes
Winding Plate
I decided to make the winding plate out of Delrin to match the spool. I was a bit worried that the thin disk of Delrin would not be up to the task so I needed a way of strengthening it. I decided to make a serpentine shaped handle that would provide the strength and then the Delrin would just be a cover plate bearing no load.
Clean up some 4” Alloy and turn a small boss to secure to spindle and part as deep as possible prior to sawing off by hand
Drill and Tap
Saw by hand and face to thickness
Mark out the serpentine shape
Saw roughly to shape
File to shape
Turning and threading the counterweight before parting off and chamfering
Turn, chamfer, drill and counterbore the Delrin for the handle
Turning a flat disk of Delrin on a mandrel
Completed winding plate assembly
I’ve still got lots to do but couldn’t resist a sneak preview
Check Mechanism
I am starting off with the shoe for the check spring by turning a ring of aluminium and parting off to size
Set up to cut out a groove with a flycutter
Super Glue the ring inside the reel cage and set up to drill hole for rim tension adjuster
Tapping the shoe with a 6BA Tap
A couple of hours work to make this little bit of metal!
Clean up some brass for the rim tension adjuster
Knurl (would have used a fine straight type knurl if I had one)
Turn down to size for thread
Form thread
Part off and dome head
Pawl retaining screw about to be parted off
Set up for slotting heads of screws with a slitting saw. Note the improvised use of an angle bracket to get close the headstock.
Drill, countersink and partially part a piece of silver steel to make the pawl
Mark out prior to sawing and filling to shape
Almost ready for assembly
Completed check mechanism
I am not too keen to have any bare brass on show on the outside of the reel as I think the gold clashes with the black and silver. I have decided to nickel plate the rim tension adjuster and the reel foot screws. I have gone for a matt finish rather than the normal shiny finish as I think it matches the aluminium better.
After a scrub with a toothbrush and detergent I wrapped some fine copper wire around the groove in the thread and lowered it into some nitric acid based de-oxidiser and de-smutting solution for 30 seconds.
After a rinse in some de-ionized water I am ready to lower it into my DIY plating tank containing nickel electrolyte heated to about 30deg with nickel anodes running off a twelve volt battery.
I never used any brightening solution and found that twenty minutes was enough to give a nice matt finish.
I think this should match the aluminium nicely.
Anodising
Instead of a highly polished finish I prefer a matt finish to the aluminium which I achieved by using a scotchbrite pad for the final polish. Prior to anodising I gave everything a good scrub with detergent and rinsed thoroughly.
Each component gets attached to some aluminium wire then the first step of the anodising process is to dip them into some sodium hydroxide de-oxidising solution. Remember these any nasty chemicals so please do not try this at home unless you know what you are doing and remember to wear protective clothing, rubber gloves and face protection and work in a well ventilated area.
Here you can see the solution at work. The longer the item is left in the solution then the more matt the surface becomes
Rinse in de-ionised water then dip in nitric acid based de-oxidiser and de-smutting solution
Another rinse in de-ionised water then into the anodising bath containing sulphuric acid and powered by a 12Volt battery
Bubbling away nicely
After about twenty minutes remove and thoroughly rise in water. If the items were to be dyed then that would be done next followed by boiling in a sealer to fix the colour.
After re-assembly and some final adjustments it is ready to put a line on it and go fishing.
The reel weighs in at 11 ounces and is pictured here loaded with 100yds of backing and a #10 Double Taper Salmon Line.
This style of reel has become popular of late in the States and especially amongst Steelhead Fishers. Ed Ward even has a Narrow Drum Perfect hanging from his Loomis Dredger in his DVD – Skagit Master.
With collectors paying silly money for an old one, and the latest reproductions just as expensive I decided to see what all the fuss was about and make my own.
I decided to use 8082 T6 Bar stock to make my reel, which is stronger than 6061 T6 that a lot of American Manufacturers use. I also set myself the challenge of making it entirely on my 1960’s Lathe and hand tools.
The Main Frame/Cage
Centre drilling prior to machining
Cleaning up the Bar Stock
Parting as deep as possible
Cutting the remainder by hand
About 2 ½ lb
Machining the inside of cage
Profiling the outside
Milling out the windows (only using my dividing head as my rotary table is too big to fit on my vertical slide)
After some hand finishing
View from winding plate side
The Reel Foot
I have decided to make the foot to the AFFTA Spec so that it should fit most rods.
A lot of the older reels have huge feet and some people actually fish with their reel taped to their rod with electrical tape!
Squaring up some alloy for the reel foot
Machining to thickness
Drilling locating holes
Using a ¾” Ball Nose Slot Drill to profile the Foot
Making a mandrel to hold the foot
Ready for machining
First taper complete
Second taper complete
Using a Fly Cutter to radius the foot base for locating on cage
Counterboring for heads of fixing screws
Completed foot
Fits nicely on the cage
Bearing Assembly
Starting off with a 2” Piece of Brass
Turn to size
Drill
Ream to size
Form a groove for the ball bearings
Insert some Stainless Steel Ball Bearings and form a cup around them by a process called spinning whereby the metal is forced into shape by applying pressure from a polished tool as it rotates.
I still have to drill and fit 3 retaining screws, but things are starting to take shape
Spool
I decided to make the Spool out of a hard black plastic called Delrin. It is used to make items such as bearings and gears and it does not absorb moisture as much as Nylon so can be used in marine applications. Also it is nice to machine.
Roughing out to size
If you keep the tools sharp you can get a good finish without the need for papering.
Setting up for drilling the holes in the spool. I am sure whoever made the original model of this style of reel had a warped sense of humour by making a 13 hole pattern. As you will have probably guessed 13 does not go into 360 degrees exactly. The worm drive on my dividing head is 60:1 so I need to turn the handle 4 and 56/91 turns to advance the spool to drill the next hole. Luckily the outer ring on plate N0.1 has 91 holes, so all I need to do is turn the handle 4 complete turns and 56 notches.
I am using a stub drill which is a lot shorter than say a normal jobbers type drill bit. This prevents the bit from wandering and saves using a centre bit to start the hole.
Almost complete.
I think the black ads a bit of colour if you know what I mean.
Spindle and Gear
I decided to make the check gear teeth out of some silver steel which is a type of tool steel that can be hardened then tempered if required. Because it is a pawl type arrangement and not a train of gears then there is no need to cut an involute profile. I have used a 60 degree double angle cutter and 40 teeth makes it a nice easy 1½ turns of the dividing head per tooth.
Drilling out a piece of 40mm Silver Steel
Roughing out a piece of brass
Pressing the ring of Silver Steel onto the spindle and securing with retainer. I will drill some round key pins at a later stage
Turning the groove to fit the ball race
Threading the end of the spindle
Set up for cutting the teeth using a dividing head on the vertical slide on my lathe
First cut
After three cuts per tooth
Finished spindle and check gear
This is where it goes
Winding Plate
I decided to make the winding plate out of Delrin to match the spool. I was a bit worried that the thin disk of Delrin would not be up to the task so I needed a way of strengthening it. I decided to make a serpentine shaped handle that would provide the strength and then the Delrin would just be a cover plate bearing no load.
Clean up some 4” Alloy and turn a small boss to secure to spindle and part as deep as possible prior to sawing off by hand
Drill and Tap
Saw by hand and face to thickness
Mark out the serpentine shape
Saw roughly to shape
File to shape
Turning and threading the counterweight before parting off and chamfering
Turn, chamfer, drill and counterbore the Delrin for the handle
Turning a flat disk of Delrin on a mandrel
Completed winding plate assembly
I’ve still got lots to do but couldn’t resist a sneak preview
Check Mechanism
I am starting off with the shoe for the check spring by turning a ring of aluminium and parting off to size
Set up to cut out a groove with a flycutter
Super Glue the ring inside the reel cage and set up to drill hole for rim tension adjuster
Tapping the shoe with a 6BA Tap
A couple of hours work to make this little bit of metal!
Clean up some brass for the rim tension adjuster
Knurl (would have used a fine straight type knurl if I had one)
Turn down to size for thread
Form thread
Part off and dome head
Pawl retaining screw about to be parted off
Set up for slotting heads of screws with a slitting saw. Note the improvised use of an angle bracket to get close the headstock.
Drill, countersink and partially part a piece of silver steel to make the pawl
Mark out prior to sawing and filling to shape
Almost ready for assembly
Completed check mechanism
I am not too keen to have any bare brass on show on the outside of the reel as I think the gold clashes with the black and silver. I have decided to nickel plate the rim tension adjuster and the reel foot screws. I have gone for a matt finish rather than the normal shiny finish as I think it matches the aluminium better.
After a scrub with a toothbrush and detergent I wrapped some fine copper wire around the groove in the thread and lowered it into some nitric acid based de-oxidiser and de-smutting solution for 30 seconds.
After a rinse in some de-ionized water I am ready to lower it into my DIY plating tank containing nickel electrolyte heated to about 30deg with nickel anodes running off a twelve volt battery.
I never used any brightening solution and found that twenty minutes was enough to give a nice matt finish.
I think this should match the aluminium nicely.
Anodising
Instead of a highly polished finish I prefer a matt finish to the aluminium which I achieved by using a scotchbrite pad for the final polish. Prior to anodising I gave everything a good scrub with detergent and rinsed thoroughly.
Each component gets attached to some aluminium wire then the first step of the anodising process is to dip them into some sodium hydroxide de-oxidising solution. Remember these any nasty chemicals so please do not try this at home unless you know what you are doing and remember to wear protective clothing, rubber gloves and face protection and work in a well ventilated area.
Here you can see the solution at work. The longer the item is left in the solution then the more matt the surface becomes
Rinse in de-ionised water then dip in nitric acid based de-oxidiser and de-smutting solution
Another rinse in de-ionised water then into the anodising bath containing sulphuric acid and powered by a 12Volt battery
Bubbling away nicely
After about twenty minutes remove and thoroughly rise in water. If the items were to be dyed then that would be done next followed by boiling in a sealer to fix the colour.
After re-assembly and some final adjustments it is ready to put a line on it and go fishing.
The reel weighs in at 11 ounces and is pictured here loaded with 100yds of backing and a #10 Double Taper Salmon Line.
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