Re-tapping a 4/0 621 Edward Vom Hoff Reel

[seareel]

First let me mention how much I enjoy the truly excellent community of members here on Reel talk and ORCA in general. Getting to read and participate with this community of like minded fisherman and collectors is truly a wonderful experience.

Now, to the ask...I have recently switched my the focus of my collection from the Penn Senator line to starting a new....lets call it...obsession....for collecting and restoring Edward Vom Hoff reels. I am currently restoring a model 621 (4/0) and having a great deal of trouble getting one of the reel's screws back into place while putting the reel back together. Specifically I am having trouble putting the screw that holds the "piller" in place on the reel. I had a great deal of trouble unscrewing it while taking the reel apart, and am having an even harder time screwing it back into place. The screw goes in about half way then will not fully go into the reel for fear breaking the screw.

I am to the point of re-tapping the reel. Does anyone know what size of tap to buy?

I have included a picture below for reference and clarify my question above.

Any help or assistance would be greatly appreciated!

Respectfully,

-David

[Paul M]

You did the right thing by stopping and asking for guidance. Breaking a screw is an unhappy experience. Are you certain that screw was in that same hole, or could they have become mixed up?

Paul

[Hoosier Dave]

Post the Diameter of the screw and the number of threads per inch and I will tell you what tap to get. Will most likely need the diameter in thousands of an inch.

[seareel]

Gentleman,

Thanks for such a quick response. During the process of disassembling the reel I have always followed a tip that I saw on a previous post on reel talk. I always draw out a rough diagram of the side of the reel on a piece of paper and after taking each screw out of the reel use that specific screw to punch a hole in the piece of paper in the exact position it came from on the reel. I do this to make sure each screw goes in the same position it came from in the reel and am very careful that each screw goes exactly where it needs to on the reel.

[Paul M]

I dismantled a cross-pillar from a similar EVH reel. The depth of the holes on the pillar are not equal on both ends. The longer screw needs to be in the correct end. That's the one with the bare shoulder that goes through the thicker sideplate. If you didn't already try to reverse the cross pillar to see if the screws fit the opposite ends, I would double check that before adjusting the hardware. It was right before and they don't change during cleaning unless some foreign object was introduced and is blocking the threaded hole.

[KeysReels]

Hi,
I take all of my reels apart and have run into this very problem. I did notice that one screw has a long shoulder ...the other screw has a short shoulder ( area with no threads) The long shoulder I imagine would go on the front plate as that is the thickest plate compared to the back plate. If you have been trying to screw in the screw without the pillar being on the reel it probably will not go tight to the pillar as the head plate would stop it at the proper distance.

You may have accidentally turned your thumb piece around. Take the long shoulder screw and try screwing into the other side. You can also take a piece of wire (piano wire) and put into each pillar taking note on how far it goes in so you will know if the depths are consistent or if one side is deeper then the other.

I think Vom Hofe screws are not like early Meek and Milam reels where screws may have been handmade and cut for each pillar. All the pillar threads and screw threads should be consistent with each and interchangeable as long as they are the same size...that is unless the screw had been cross threaded and forced sometime in the past.

Taking time to carefully check other pillars and comparing screws to each other you should be able to work this out. Oh, try shooting a little oil into the hole...put in the screw and turn just until you feel resistance...back out a bit...then screw in again until resistance, over and over. Often the screw will go in a little bit further each time . There may be some crud inside the pillar ( on the threads) and the screw is having to push it ahead of itself. The oil will help cut the crud. In a way this is using the screw as a tap to clean out the threads. The holes are small and a small amount of dirt will easily interfere with the screw.

Hope some of this helps.

Bill

[john elder]

Don't assume that the screws in the reel are original...they may have been put in there (forced?) by someone before they stuck it on Ebay. And note that VH screws are not the same from reel to reel. There is still a handmade aspect to the reels so that there will be subtle differences from one 4/0 (for example) to another.

Don't hesitate to re-tap the hole and run a die over the screws either. the pitch may be correct, but the threads are usually full of gunk or corrosion and just running tap and die will take care of that. Get a tool for measuring TPI...they are inexpensive. You can also get a set of taps and dies from Brownells that has a gauge as part of the set...worth the money to have these. If you do much work, you will find these reels have all sorts of variations, so you can buy most of the taps and dies off ebay...if you don't see it, ask one of the sellers a question and see if they have what you need.

one other note, it's really good to throw all the screws into mineral spirits while you are cleaning up the rest, then take a toothbrush..or wire brush, if needed, and give them a cleaning. Light oiling is good, but note that the fit in the VH holes is so snug that often you will get pistoning effect and trapped air that will prevent you from putting the screws all the way in. On many occasions, I have screwed in the screw...waited a bit, then screwed in a bit farther as the air pressure was released.

I will have to check tonight, but I believe the screw size is likely #4-48. Another note...the foot screws are generally one size larger!

[john elder]

One other note...in looking at your pic, I believe that we are looking at the surface that should face in toward the spool, which would mean that the screw with the larger "cheesehead" is on the wrong side; i.e, I would expect that screw to be on the faceplate side? (Edit....NOT! see below!)

[seareel]

Thanks for such a tremendous response and all the helpful advice! All the advice was extremely helpful in fixing the problem that I have been plagued with for 2 weeks. I am pleased to respond that after all the advice and guidance from this wonderful community, that I finally fixed the problem, got the screw back into place, and got the rest of the reel back together.

After reading one of the comments Bill posted about putting a little oil in the hole, I started thinking...well, if using Kroil helps loosen to screws that are difficult to get out, why not use the same concept to get them back in? I used an eye dropper and put a few drops of Kroil in the hole. As soon as I did that, the screw went into place without ANY hesitation!

If anyone should have this problem again, I would highly recommend using a couple of drops of Kroil before trying to get the screws back into place, it worked perfectly.

After getting the pictures uploaded, I hope to share the before and after restoration pictures with you guys very soon.

Thanks!

-David

[Paul M]

Great news!

[john elder]

I just wanted to correct something I said above...the side shown of the leather drag is, in fact, the outside face that is normally mounted away from the spool. Sorry if I added any confusion!