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They're Blue
Post 28 Aug 2020, 22:44 • #1 
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Joined: 08/10/05
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Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
This is my project for my birthday, which was last weekend, though I've been working on the project all month - my mom made me a key lime pie, which I haven't pedaled off yet.
And this is an on-going project. Everything I'm doing on these and reporting now is on the slick spool side - have another plan for the drive side I'll post later.

Decided to race out a pair of 1995 AG 6500C3CT tournament non-level wind reels. These are big in the surf on the east coast, especially in UK, and Oz. Though when I brought it up on corpusfishing, there are a few in Corpus who are fond of these reels for light surf fishing also.

Thought they're twins, they are just slightly different.
The US market reel, marked Blue Yonder came from SC. It was sold as the blue Elite to the rest of the world, and this one came from UK

The main reason I picked these reels is because of the mix of great parts available from across both big ponds.
Also, the Japanese make great LW improvement parts for the smaller Abu's, 1500 to 4600, but no LW parts for the larger Abu's.

The other reason I picked the C3 is because of all the great spool options and improvements for Ultracast spools, including the shallow braid spools Avail offers for 5500 and 6500 sizes.
I wanted light braid reels (15-lb), and also plan to set up a deeper spool for the surf with heavier braid or fluoro. I went with the plan of building one at 5500 width, and keeping the second at 6500.
I'll fish these reels in the salt, and really don't have the inkling to fish baitcasters in freshwater.

The third thing that opened the starting gate for me was the barstock frames the Brits make just for the Abu CT tournament reels.
In fact, could have bought a great Akios ready to go for what I put into these, but I did this mostly for the project.
The barstock frames, aside from being gorgeous, are low profile, and bring the spool almost an inch closer to your thumb - if you've ever looked under your Abu spool, there's a heck of a lot of air there.

The reel foot, though, is a whopping 78 mm long, which requires a custom reel seat, this one, the Fuji SK2 split seat.

that last photo was shared by Rich Hedenberg, who's building the first of two rods for me, the 8'er for the 5500-wide, 1/4 to 1 oz - this will throw lures from inshore to the surf.
When I get there, the 6500 will match with an 11' surf rod, 1-4-oz - spider weight rigs in the surf (and no trigger, which would just get in the way of 2 hands).

While I was waiting for frames to arrive, I started on the handles. Always knew the 5500 was getting this 20-g Avail power handle, 55 mm pitch, which is 5 mm more than the original, and at least 70 g lighter.
Since it's flat, it got the matching flat Avail star drag, and titanium hardware to shed even more weight, and gain salt impervium.
(one chromed brass frame was already showing salt pitting)
For the 6500, tried to go cheap with a good Livre knob and cheap Gomexus curved carbon handle, 60 mm pitch, adding the Avail curved star drag - also a 20-g handle.

Unfortunately, the slick drive on the NLW reel would always shoot this handle to bottom dead center, so I regrouped with the Daiwa BG300 counterbalanced handle for the Livre knob - also a 55-mm-pitch handle.
I'm sure it's twice the 20 g - the counter-balance is that much, and only works with the Daiwa stainless hardware.
So I have a little bit of titanium hardware left over to spread among my Lew's...

I bought 3 sets of spool bearings, beginning with the plan to put the slickest on the 5500, next on the shallow 6500 spool, and the close 3rd on the deep 6500 spool.
Parts came from Japan Tackle, Mike's Reel Repair, and Akios, including a pair of abec-7 hybrid ceramic spool bearings from each.
The second winning bearings were the double-metal-sealed Akios hybrids, and they went on the shallow 6500 spool.
This spool also got the Avail lightened version of the Abu 6-pin centrifugal brake - jury still out - could be my spindle, but it rubs the brake plate if you turn the handle side down.

The 5500 spool got the super-light 4-pin version, which also requires the spring circlip to hold it to the spool - this one I really like, it has huge clearance.
The winning bearings on the 5500 are Mike's single-side-metal-backed hybrids - I was really floored, before getting my lowest viscosity oil, they would spin so fast and long they gave the optical illusion of changing directions.
The orange-seal abec-7 hybrids came in 3rd, and will go to rebuild a deep 6500 spool.

With no mag, no centrifugal brake shoes installed or engaged, and no end tension (1 mm end play on the spools), both would spin over 20 seconds with a thumb flip.
The Avail mag slides snug onto the frame posts under the backplate. The large setscrew adjusts stand-off for all 5 magnets.
Avail recommends 1/4- to 1/2-turn on the setscrew.
A quarter-turn magnet stand-off on each reel cut the free spin time exactly in half. Adding centrifugal brake cut that in half.

this is where I'll begin, but will be tuning both mag and centrifugal brakes for my targets once I have a rod to cast out back - the targets are fishing 1/4-oz lures on the 5500, and 2-oz weights on the 6500.
The shallow 5500 spool will hold 200 yds braid, and the shallow 6500 spool 300 yds.
Also, the stock Abu Ultracast spool feels like an anchor next to the Avail spool.

Also want to mention the tolerances on both the Avail spools and Akios barstock frames are astounding.
There's no way braid can get behind the spool.

Anyway, they're not twins any more, but are a lot more useful to me.



Also didn't recognize how heavy the chromed brass frames were until I picked up both at once tonight - holy cow, these reels really shed some weight.


Last edited by bulldog1935 on 29 Aug 2020, 07:50, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: They're Blue
Post 29 Aug 2020, 04:01 • #2 
Guide
Joined: 10/26/16
Posts: 100
Location: UK
They were beautiful reels before you started.
They are stunning now.
Please let us know how you fish them, and what you catch.


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Re: They're Blue
Post 29 Aug 2020, 05:19 • #3 
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Joined: 08/10/05
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Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
thanks - if my rod makes it, will be fishing the 5500 inshore in 4 weeks.
But also know I'll enjoy just cast-tinkering. I enjoy taking out Meeks and Talbot on period cane and lobbing light weights 150'.
In fact, I told a friend my goal on this project was building a slicker Talbot - I have it in the 5500 mod, it's really sweet with no feel of inertia anywhere...


A pointer while I'm thinking about it.
If you replace the chromed-brass end caps with alloy, here Avail, make sure you replace the O-ring, especially on the back-plate side.
(not quite so important on the handle face plate, where the plastic axle clip makes tension)
Inevitably, the O-ring that's in place with have a major flat, possibly 25 years' worth of flat, and your end setting will drift all over the place. When I swapped in new o-rings on both backplates, my unloaded tension knobs were rock-solid.


Last edited by bulldog1935 on 29 Aug 2020, 06:17, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: They're Blue
Post 29 Aug 2020, 05:43 • #4 
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Location: US-CA
It's good to be "King", eh!


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Re: They're Blue
Post 30 Aug 2020, 05:18 • #5 
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Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
I figure too many women went away with too much jewelry

Another lesson


those centrifugal brake shoes snap in hard, and impossible to do with the pin-washer attached to the spool.
Had to remove the circlip, remove the washer, and snap on the shoes.
I may end up turning around the centrifugal brakes - the 4-pin brake with 2 shoes seems stouter than the 6-pin brake with 6 shoes...

But photos first - took a few longer perspective, which definitely show the handles and spools in better perspective.


tinkering around, I determined even though the 6-pin brake washer I used on the 6500 appears on the schematic for spare spool option on both versions of the reel, it interferes with the pinion gear when you add a tension load.
Which also means I'm going to live with the 4-pin heavy shoes I show just above on the 5500.
So I need to replace the 6-pin brake washer on the 6500 spool with one of the 4-pin versions - unless, when I tackle new drive gears, the new pinion doesn't interfere....
I have time - the 5500 is the one I want to fish first.


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Re: They're Blue
Post 30 Aug 2020, 09:55 • #6 
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Nice. Look out PMR!


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Re: They're Blue
Post 30 Aug 2020, 12:11 • #7 
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Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
thanks
and made me look - may have to get some of those q/r backplate screws.,..
Image


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Re: They're Blue
Post 30 Aug 2020, 13:36 • #8 
Master Guide
Joined: 04/20/17
Posts: 387
Location: Portland, OR
BD, fantastic upgrades...and gorgeous reels...display worthy...where art meets science...

Sandman


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Re: They're Blue
Post 30 Aug 2020, 13:37 • #9 
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Beautiful reels,but not understanding the non level wind.I can see the advantage in casting distance ,so you have to level the line with your thumb?What about when fighting a fish?My mind is seeing braid piling up and making a mess of things.


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Re: They're Blue
Post 30 Aug 2020, 14:14 • #10 
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you may not be seeing. 5 mm depth holds 300 yards on the 6500 spool, and 200 yards on the 5500 spool.
You load the line with a perfect level wind. You take it fishing, you'll be working about a mm off that spool thickness. How much can it pile?
If it begins to pile, it will cause itself to wind sequentially away from the pile, and you may Occasionally need to guide it with your thumb.


When you get it home, you use a line winder, taking it back to your perfect level wind (which is always tight lay in one direction, and fast lay in the other).
Get it ready for next time.

It's been done this way for a couple of centuries now, and I always recommend to people wanting to try vintage baitcasters on cane rods to go back to the NLW reels of the ninteen-naughties, especially Shakespeare, to find enjoyment - and especially narrow spool reels
Image


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Re: They're Blue
Post 30 Aug 2020, 15:25 • #11 
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Location: Missouri Ozarks
Great looking reels and Key Lime pie? Someone must be livin' right. Happy belated birthday and thanks for the great info.


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Re: They're Blue
Post 30 Aug 2020, 16:33 • #12 
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Thanks for the explanation BD.I rarely use a bait caster these days.The spinning gear i have for bass catfish carp etc is so much nicer to use.I don't use crankbaits or big wood top water lures much any more.Top water i prefer a fly rod.


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Re: They're Blue
Post 31 Aug 2020, 08:05 • #13 
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Thanks guys, my kind of fun.
hersh, you're welcome - where baitcasters really have an advantage is drift-fishing the grass flats - the TX coast has 15,000 sq-mi less than 2' deep.
The fly rod has a specific place, which at the coast, is wading and sight-fishing less than knee-deep, or sitting in a kayak in muddy sloughs (or standing on a Hewes, which is also sight-fishing).
The bait rod lets you drift fish the flats and blind fish all day long.
You have instant retrieve with a baitcaster, which helps keep your lure above the grass and in the zone.
I also wouldn't take a traditional Abu LW into the salt - wouldn't give me the cast I want - if it wasn't my 5500 CT, it would be Lew's or Shimano low profile b/c.
Given the potential for braid backlash, these wide open frames without the LW mechanism obstruction are also a plus.

This was a cold March day (began below 50 with 18 kt NNW, though clear and reached 70 and calm by noon)
I'll be doing the same kind of paddling and fishing in 4 weeks.
Should be legendary - we're hitting the first really good fall tides - Thurs 24 and Fri 25 are both killer.


Though all my e-friends reported massive catches with the storm tides last week.
The way you look at strong tide currents is they turn passes into rivers - pushing bait either from the big bay onto the flat, or drawing bait through the cut into the big bay.

ps - here's a very good article on the history of the Abu CT reels - http://www.realsreels.com/customABUReco ... Brown.html


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Re: They're Blue
Post 31 Aug 2020, 10:33 • #14 
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I love it, especially since I never did much baitcasting after 1965 or so, so various Pfluegers--just gave one to my grandson--in the usual polished finish were the end of it for me. I looked at those modern colored reels, even the free spooling ones, but never got one. Never even had a baitcaster with paddle grips, just the small round knob. Blue, red, green casting reels. Who knew?


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Re: They're Blue
Post 31 Aug 2020, 13:15 • #15 
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a good baitcaster, especially NLW or Lew's and modern low-profile reels that don't drive a level wind mechanism during the cast, will out-distance the best spinning reel.
The thumb feathering also gives you a precision cast advantage, which good manual-bail management and finger-feathering on your spinning reel can almost duplicate.

Historically, baitcasters used stouter rods for accurately throwing bigger hardware, while spinning rods were goosier for throwing lighter lures.
In the 60's they began bench-making offshore size spinning reels, and in the 80s, baitcasters went down in size.
The one exception is the prewar Shakespeare 1740 I show above - the original finesse baitcasting reel.

The one advantage spinning tackle will always retain is casting in the dark. Casting into the wind is also a spinning reel advantage, unless you have your baitcaster mag set precisely.


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Re: They're Blue
Post 31 Aug 2020, 15:03 • #16 
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And the more recent BFS scene and guys casting light stuff like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3muB7aN ... mb_rel_end


Was Langley early to the game?



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Re: They're Blue
Post 31 Aug 2020, 21:58 • #17 
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Tom and I were just discussing this offline - Langley was postwar - so I'll quote myself
bulldog1935 wrote:
...The 1740 was the only alloy spool offered prewar. It comes with a cork arbor. The handle is also alloy. The freespool mechanism is simply a friction fit of the handle into/out of the drive gear.
So you want a not-worn reel so this joint will be fresh and crisp (read tenacious).

Up front, i've never handled a Langley. The marque has junkie-like devotees, and many vintage-fishers. While just about everybody went to alloy spool postwar, Langley used more aluminum more extensively throughout the reel, But I can't tell you about their quality - I suspect it's good.
I can warn you off Ocean City and Bronson, though, who also made all-aluminum reels, with basement "quality".
I will say Langley looks like they have geometric rigidity, which is exactly what the O/C/B reels lacked....


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Re: They're Blue
Post 31 Aug 2020, 23:05 • #18 
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Joined: 10/17/14
Posts: 68
Location: US-PA
Very nice reels, there's a lot going into them. Not quite my style, but I would like to do some casting with them, see what I'm missing. My only experience in that direction was an ABU Ultra Mag, back in the 80's when it first came out, all the bells and whistles but was a disappointment. These have to be a lot better.

Happy birthday, hope you enjoy them.

Tim


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Re: They're Blue
Post 01 Sep 2020, 07:36 • #19 
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thanks Tim, the whole point is because they're different, zippy, and fun, and it's been a great project - will keep me going a couple of months and longer until both are rigged out.

The 5500 is a no-inertia finesse reel that's also useful to me for my main inshore lure fishing, looking forward to trying light salt lures for winter glass minnows, and still a great combo for lures in the surf.
The bait fishing for fall bull reds in the surf (and December pompano) with the larger reel and much longer rod is something I won't do often, but if you've ever tried it, it's manly sport.


Last edited by bulldog1935 on 12 Sep 2020, 07:28, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: They're Blue
Post 12 Sep 2020, 07:26 • #20 
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Doubt my thumb has the "finesse" for an old-school baitcasting reel anymore, but like wallyjoe, I'm intrigued by these "modern" ones. Might have to try one under cover of getting one of the type for my grandson. At least this is bringing me up to speed on the type. Come to think of it, I don't even know if baitcasting is part of the term anymore or why it was originally. Maybe "level-wind" suffices these days, but that's probably so-sixties, too.


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Re: They're Blue
Post 14 Sep 2020, 09:39 • #21 
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Steve, it's possible with the combination of mag + centrifugal to dial-in a no-thumbs reel.

Over the past week, I've made the reels now as pretty on the inside as on the outside. Remember, both these reels have only been fished in the surf for the past 25 years.
It's been my goal all along to come out of this with new reels, but made the way I wanted them.
You may see below why they needed new drives - they certainly needed new pinion gears - but I wanted the only salt results in these reels to be what I put there.

When I began pricing all the upgrade drive parts I wanted to replace, determined it was actually cheaper to buy a Rocket Reelco drive already assembled on brake plate than to buy the parts separately -- so I bought two.
On the left is the new drive, on the right is the old.


First thing to do, though, was replace the IAR one-way roller bearings in both faceplates - the bearings, anvil and die all came from Mike's in BC.
The tool drives out the old roller bearing while supporting the face plate - flip it, and it drives in the new.

I'll also apologize for the harsh lighting in this entire post - all the work was shot under my Ott light with a bicycle light and milk jug adding balance light where I had the hands for it.

Next thing I determined was the new brake plates don't fit well with either the faceplate/IAR or the barstock frames, and especially with both. Of course I didn't mind moving the new drives from the new teal brake plates to the old blue ones - it was all going to have to come out anyway for proper lube. But in re-using the original brake plates, I gave up two things. First, the teal stripe in the reel assembly looked cool as all get out. Second and hardest to give up, the new brake plates use a socket panhead on the end of the drive post - see my first photo above - in place of the hated Abu circlip (which may have dashed around the room either when you removed it or tried to reinstall it).

So since I was there, took a series of rebuild photos, also to describe proper lube.
The drive shaft assy includes the clutch dog, main gear, drag stack, sleeve that rides in the IAR bearing - on the old reel, it sits on a flat thrust washer.
The new drive shaft sits on a ball bearing, and below that is a shouldered washer so the bearing rides only on its inner race - a drop of your sexiest light oil on the bearing.

The clutch arm and push button both need to ride on a film of oil on the brake plate - also the pivot points for the clutch mechanism need oil - my choice here is slightly more viscous McLube One Drop. The pinion gear needs grease where it rides in the carrier - this will be your only chance to get to it.

The drag stack - count them, 4 carbontex washers, the first between the clutch dog and main gear.
Each of the drag washers and mating stainless washers needs a thin, fully-wetting film of Cal's Drag Grease.
Especially important on the carbontex washers is getting the inside and outside edges where they contact the drive shaft and main gear shoulders.

The clutch dogs and main gear need a good brushed-on grease film. The meshing pinion gear teeth will get all all they need when you add the drive shaft. After a few spins, use your brush to pick up the excess. Also note the drive shaft I.D. gets a drop of oil. Especially important, the drive shaft sleeve gets a light oil film on both inside and outside, but especially the outside.

Also learned something along the way.
The 5131 bellville washers beneath the star drag press the drag together through the drive shaft sleeve.
Without proper lube, the threads on a new drive shaft get a bite on the bellville washers to misalign your drive shaft and put an eccentric contact load on the IAR bearing.

With proper grease on both shaft and bellville washers, when you feel the incipient binding, changing your drag setting causes everything to slide back into place and releases the bind. Sure enough, when I looked at both old drive shafts, a band of threads that contacts the bellville washers were significantly worn - worn-in.

Speaking of wear, before you install the spool spindle, use your brush to grease the bottom pinion surface and slots that grab the spool washer dogs.
Here's one of my worn pinion gears next to the new phosphor bronze pinion. Never want my new pinion to end up this way, and brushing grease here should be a regular activity.

One of my old pinions was so bad you had to guess whether it was ever going to grab the spool dog. On the wear ramp visible in the photos above, there was a brinnelling mark where it was trying to make its own new slot.

Something to add about pinion wear.
These small round-section spool dogs on the Avail (optional) 6-pin drag washer look a lot nicer to the pinion than the square-section spool dogs on standard style Abu spool washers

Since my 5500 will get 50 casts for every one the 6500 gets, it also gets the Avail nylon 6-pin drag washer

One last lube point recommendation - the hated Abu circlip. It contacts both the rotating drive shaft and fixed post. A drop of your sexy oil here. Someday, someone will put a BB here.


I'll also add the reels came out of this with no drive end play, that crisp feeling of new gear mesh, and still unbelievably low inertia compared to any level wind, or even any other NLW I've handled. Also noteworthy, to get that totally effortless wind and proper spool centering, they need 2 bronze shims under the right-side cap.
My 8' rod from Rich Hedenberg ships Monday, so I should have time to line and tune the 5500, then take it on a coast kayak trip in 2 weeks.

Ouch. Just heard from Rich - he was packing my rod this morning - it rolled from his work bench partly in the shipping tube, and the weight crushed the blank - back to go and unlikely I'll fish a reel before November now.
He tells me, though, he's going to make it...
Really nice guy.


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Re: They're Blue
Post 15 Sep 2020, 21:08 • #22 
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Posts: 141
Nice documentation on a some very nice reels. Sucks about the rod. I hope you can use these anyway.

Still waiting on one last part for my 2500.


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Re: They're Blue
Post 09 Oct 2020, 12:53 • #23 
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Joined: 08/10/05
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Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
Thanks, friend.
When I got back from East Flats, my rod was waiting.

Took me a half-day to spool the line - between gear-cleaning breaks - intimate line-lay to the left, quick line-lay to the right.
(set up in a rod holder, and tensioned the whole time between a phone book with a wedge of turbine rotor steel on top)

I left enough room on the spool to wind my 3' 20-lb fluoro shock tippet with allbright knot and perfection loop, allowing me to swap spools.
(I've also added deeper spools for mono/fluoro, and the spool below is the 5-mm-deep braid spool w/ 200 yds)
Set the drag to 3-1/4 lbs, which is honking if you've never used a spring scale to set drag.


Rich did a great job on the rod - here's the split reel seat, and he spaced L3 exactly at the 78 mm I needed.


He also added pretty blue tipping


It's an 8' 1-pc surf rod, but the lure rating and moderate action are both great for inshore, as well.
As an afterthought, maybe should have asked for a gimbal butt so it would stay upright in a rocket launcher, but found my Stealth QR-1 rod holders fit the rod beautifully, and they're very secure.
Very light in hand for the Toray graphite, and again, wonderful moderate action.


The question came up above about level wind. If you do need to adjust the line lay at some point in fishing, it's easy to jam the rod butt against your thigh, hold the front grip, and adjust with your thumb


The back acre is freshly mowed, and the dew should be about dry - will edit with first cast report...
___________________________________________________________________________

I'm back, and what a joy.
I was casting a 1/4-oz Trout Support Lure, which is my goal for this rod.
150' casts were easy and repeatable. (I plan to take it to Arroyo to see what it will do with 7/8-oz Hogy's epoxy jigs)

On the fifth cast, tried a little aggression, and got a minor backlash.
So I opened the backplate - love the PMR Q/R thumbscrews - took back 1/4-turn stand-off on the mag.
Still cast the same distance and no backlash with aggression. Went into the back again and increased the mag stand off by by 1/8 turn - seems to be perfection with long slow lobs.
vs.

As I expected, random line lay was not an issue. Even the few times it wanted to stack, the stack never made the full spool depth.
Also discovered you could level-wind with your thumb, but probably need a thumb glove for that against the braid full-time.

ps - took the combo to the back acre again today for some focused two-handed casting. Keeping the lure low, 150' no problem. Aiming up, it was going a lot farther, and quit after I threw one over the fence. Nothing even close to backlash. I'm sure I could fish this reel in the dark as long as there was nothing out there to hit; i.e., in the surf or from Arroyo dock


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Re: They're Blue
Post 12 Oct 2020, 16:10 • #24 
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Manual level winding is the same when surfcasting with a non-levelwind Penn Squidder or using a trolling reel. It becomes second nature quickly. However, my reels were loaded with 16# mono or lead-core line. Super braid is much thinner, so I would be concerned about grooving my thumb. I have never used a 'thumb glove'. What is that?


Tom


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Re: They're Blue
Post 13 Oct 2020, 06:26 • #25 
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Hey Tom,
Several different ways to do it - the simplest is a piece of bicycle inner tube over your thumb; Proflex 5 makes one in neoprene.
Surfcast Pro Shop offers a couple of ideas, unfortunately, the coolest octopus thumb glove won't copy the zoom image, but a smart way to use it attaches to the rod instead of your thumb.
(reminescent of the old Pflueger leather thumb pads)


and since I mentioned Surfacast Pro Shop, I bought my deep Zeta spools there.
Of course this project's not done - will it ever be?
I've accumulated parts along the way, including deep mono spools for both reels, as well as two different spindle configurations for each.

The deep spool, btw, on the 6500 holds 400 yds of 0.330 mm mono (16-lb test for the Sakuma copolymer)

Since my shallow braid set up worked perfectly on the 5500, and it will be at least a few months until I can buy a $500 surf rod, decided to set up the 6500 with the deep mono spool and first try casting up to an ounce on the 8' rod I have. Of course, that's not going to happen tomorrow, either - I bought the Sakuma copolymer line that most tournament casters prefer, and will take a month from the UK - fwiw, it was a whole lot cheaper than Abrazx fluoro - less than half including UK shipping.

Also trying the different and more traditional/tournament spool set up.
Everything I've shown above uses the short Mike's ball bearing bullet (speed bush) in the back cap, and a variation on the spool cog to retain the spool bearing on that side. I have 2 of the the Mike's cogs that adds 2 spindle BB, and the spool cog has added clearance so it never touches the spindle.
I do have a use for the spool cog, because it engages my clicker, and the reel where I probably really want a functioning clicker is the 6500 for bait alarm in the surf.

However, wanting to try the other, I set up the Zeta deep mono spool tournament style on the 6500. (can set up both spools either way by choosing spindle and back parts)
In place of the short end cap brass bush and spool cog, it uses the "fabled tournament brass bullet"

This is the Rocket Reel Co spindle and brass bullet - note the spindle doesn't have the shoulder that accepts the spool cog.
The brass bullet never touches the spool, but forms a bump retainer for the spindle bearing inner race and still set up with 1 mm end play.
They also say not having the cog eliminates a "windmill effect drag" from the cog splines (which should simply add to centrifugal brake).
The whole thing spins very smoothly and long-winded.


Kinda funny, when I first assembled this, the spool was really stiff on wind - I first looked for size/fit tolerance problems. I figured out it was the magnet stand-off, way too close to the flat spool flange, and I was actually fighting the magnets just trying to crank the reel.
After a turn-and-a-half on the Avail magnet stand-off adjustment, it seems very close to the great functioning set up I have on the 5500 shallow spool I was casting above.
Will let you know after I receive line, hand level-wind 400 yds, and cast a little.


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