Hi Vlad,

great reel.
you need a socket (better, nutdriver) that fits the nut and a fine screwdriver. The idea is to take out all the end play and still have the spool spinning freely.
disengage the pawls and check for end play.

1) if it has end play, you need to loosen the nut and tighten the screw.
when it's just right, tighten the nut then the screw.

2) if it's binding, loosen the screw and tighten the nut a bit, retighten the screw and try again.

you will probably have to cycle between these two sequences to slowly dial it in

the last thing to always do is tighten the screw, make sure it freespools with minimum to no end-play.
tighten doesn't mean torque it down - everything just needs to be snug.

Re-engage the pawl.

that bad news is if you can't make end-play go away without drag on the spool. That means the latch bar is bent and needs to be bent back to flat. It's a bugger to disassemble the latch plate on the prewar design - actually to reassemble it and get the latch spring back in place - I have an algorithm for that, too ... (but it's a snap on postwar reels)

I love these reels
here's a 1937 Flycraft

there is a clutch plate screwed onto the back of the spool.
remove the two screws, flip the clutch plate, and put the screws back.

Great information Ron!

Thanks;

Waynebh

Bud wrote:

---

I just received a nice little Ogden Smith with what appears to be a silk line. Any suggestions as to how to loosen the Spindle screw? It is so tight that I am afraid of tearing up the brass screw. I would like to take it apart and clean and lube it.

I don't know why the guy did this. I bought a Beaudex frame and spool assuming replacing the latch assembly would be no problem - I have the parts.
Here's what it's supposed to look like


the guy had gouged out the latch bar boss, and had gouged out the wall of the assembly boss between the arrows

Of course, even if you pinned the latch bar, taking the spool off, the latch would close so far that it couldn't retain the spring.
I drilled and added a pin for the new latch boss, and put a drop of JB weld to build a new wall, then filed the cured drop to fit the latch cover

I ended up having to drill and add one more pin to make a better stop for the latch bar
It came out great - works like a champ


good ol' JB Weld ...

topic comes up all the time, (former) sticky over on Clark's board
http://classicflyrodforum.com/forum/vie. .. 44&p=49886

discussing how to tune pawl springs

Guys, don't bend on vintage Hardy or Dingley springs - find some new springs that fit and bend those ...

I had my Godfrey Westminster apart this morning, and was amazed how much dirt this reel had accumulated with moderate use.
So I decided to link to this bit of wisdom from Shoeless Joe
http://clarksclassicflyro ... rdy-reel-lubrication.html

I mentioned this in another thread but thought it would be appropriate here with pictures to show someone's ingenuity ... a little mechanical bit.

The little knob on the end of the spindle creating the latch groove is not a listed separate part so I guess someone lost the knob and replaced it with this ordinary wood screw. This actually is working quite well!

though I would show you some of what I go through sometimes to fit a foot to a reel.
A reel with a badly bent, riveted foot. Drilled it out and tapped for 5-40 screw
But, the cheese-head screws have huge heads.
So I have to file them down to fit in the countersink on the Pfoot, all the while maintaining a slot in the head using a slot file


here's how much I had to remove

you can see my new slot is 100% below the bottom of the slot on the original cheese head

and the comparative result

Ron,
Cool-that's neat fix. What reel /brand is that?

Les

CMR 56 in black, a lovely reel. The spindle wobbles sufficiently to bother me. In fact it really bus me. There is no exterior adjustment (Young had it right). I have read thru this part of the forum and there are hints but nothing tht really answers my question. I want to tighten the spindle so I need to know how it is threaded and any other tips that will help me repair the reel.