Daiwa 8600

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The Fishing Hobby
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Daiwa 8600

Post by The Fishing Hobby »

I just uploaded a video about the Daiwa 8600 reels from the late 60's-early 70's. If anyone knows anything about them, I'd love to know more. Very high quality reels that seem to be based somewhat off the Penn Spinfishers. Worm gear drive, 6 disk drag stack and 3 ball bearings.
I'd highly recommend picking one up if you get a chance. I was shocked at how well made they are. I like a lot of my old Daiwas but I haven't seen any of them that were this well made. It's a keeper!
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Kevin Connell
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Teal
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Re: Daiwa 8600

Post by Teal »

One of the best videos of this kind I've seen. Very, very informative. I've been researching Japanese reel makers from the 1950s and 1960s for some time, and although they produced tons of garbage reels, some of their innovations were amazing. This was clearly designed at Daiwa USA in California. Very well done!

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Midway Tommy D
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Re: Daiwa 8600

Post by Midway Tommy D »

Nice vid, Kevin! Those reels sure weren't very complicated yet work great and seem to last forever. Too bad most of the newer reels aren't that well made.
Love those Open Face Spinning Reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco)

Tom DeLong, NE
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The Fishing Hobby
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Re: Daiwa 8600

Post by The Fishing Hobby »

Thanks guys! I really like this one and I'm going to try to get some more from this series of reels in the future.
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Kevin Connell
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arley
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Re: Daiwa 8600

Post by arley »

The Daiwa BG and SS series are also well made. Bg's while heavy are rugged and the drags are good. Also underrated IMHO.
you can tune a piano,but you can't tuna fish.
The Fishing Hobby
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Re: Daiwa 8600

Post by The Fishing Hobby »

I like those too. If you like the BG series, you can by the X series or D series and have pretty close to the same reels if you replace the nylon bushings with bearings. The SS reels are great too. The 8000 series is built better more ruggedly though. They are heavier too which may be a drawback for some. After cleaning and relube this one weighed in at 17.9oz!!! The worm gear drive and extra size on the body to accommodate the huge main drive gear is where a lot of the extra weight comes from. It is worth the trade in weight for the worm gear setup to me but others may not like all the extra weight. The 8000 series was either made in much smaller numbers or people just don't sell them that often because they are much harder to find.
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Kevin Connell
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Paul M
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Re: Daiwa 8600

Post by Paul M »

In the ORCA library there are several catalog pages showing this reel during that time frame. The earliest Daiwa item in the library is from 1969 and the 8600 listed. This reel is "Unconditionally Guaranteed for Life".
Paul Manuel

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Re: Daiwa 8600

Post by The Fishing Hobby »

I saw the Lifetime Guarantee in the adds for the reel. They must have felt pretty good about them! I read somewhere online (and now I can't find it again of course) where these began production in 1969 and production ended in 1971. I don't know how accurate those years are.
I know they must have been time consuming to make due to the machine work on the gears. I just assumed that they were expensive to make and must have sold for a high price as well which may have been what lead to ending production on them.
The cast gears in the other reels would have been significantly cheaper to make.
Worm gear hobbing isn't an easy process in comparison to casting/light machining.
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Kevin Connell
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