Admiral 4.0

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Dr. Rob
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Admiral 4.0

Post by Dr. Rob »

Recently I had been thinking to myself, that I really should have an Admiral reel.

They can be a little tricky to get ahold of, as relatively few were made for ABU in Sweden and Garcia in the USA, in the early 1960s.

But, I wanted one. Maybe of a size a little smaller than the 7 ½ /0, 6/0 and 4/0 sizes the original reels were made in. Those are nice of course, but as we all know, nice things can come in small packages sometimes.

So, I made one.

It took some doing of course, and some time. A lot of time, honestly. But some things should be allowed to take some time. My machinery is all of the manual, hand-operated type, which is perhaps not the fastest, but decidedly enjoyable to use. And I make everything myself, except maybe ball bearings. And without a blueprint, there is usually more chin-scratching involved, which also takes some time. Of course, it may have been wise to make a blueprint, or at least some notes, but that is almost a killjoy. Sometimes you just want to make something without getting all square rooty about it. So, shoot from the hip.

A good beginning is an ample supply of aluminum and stainless steel.



From which a lot of parts can be made



Some of which can be trickier than others. This gear housing took an extra lot of doing.



All put together, it starts looking pretty good.



And better yet, in living color:









Of course, a reel like this needs somewhere to live. So, I made a more-or-less period accurate box too. I mean, we’ve come this far, so…



I said earlier that I make everything myself, which is generally true, but I also recognize that others are more skilled than I in certain areas. So after painstakingly fighting with elementary computer graphics for a very long time, my old friend Carl stepped in to help with the sideplate graphics, which I am sure took a great deal of his time. Not only is he a good friend, but he also appreciates the passionate throes of creativity, and is particularly skilled at graphics. Further, as a fun bonus, his dad used to work with Berkley Bedell many years ago. So, keeping it the family, so to speak.

Now all that remains is to load up the reel and take it fishing, which is after all the point of it all.

& PS: as may be inferred from above, i do hold a particular interest in these reels and am working quite hard to compile all there is to know about them. So if anyone here has or has had one, i would be delighted to hear about it.

.
Robert Janssen
Sweden
spadej1
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by spadej1 »

WOW! That is fantastic and a labor of love for sure.
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Steve
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by Steve »

Mind-boggling! :shock: Amazing what a little impatience can do. :bow:

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john elder
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by john elder »

Oh, My! Great work, Rob! …. And so much of it! Forget the hours…. How many months??! :shock: :bow:
ORCA member since 1999
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Specializing in saltwater reels...and fly reels...and oh, yeah, kentucky style reels.....and those tiny little RP reels.....oh, heck...i collect fishing reels!...and fly rods....and lures
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Bill Muth
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by Bill Muth »

Very, very impressive. I wish I had a fraction of the skill that you and a few others on this board demonstrate.
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RonG
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by RonG »

Thanks for sharing your work. It's always great to see the results of time well spent.
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Ron Mc
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by Ron Mc »

That's pretty - looks nicer than my Seigler SGN

Image
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reeltackle
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by reeltackle »

Fantastic little reel Ron. Do you have time to make a little Kovalovsky?
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Midway Tommy D
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by Midway Tommy D »

I've seen you talk about fabricating parts, etc. in the past, but holy cow Dr. Rob, that is spectacular! :bow: Did you anodized it or is painted & clear coated?
Love those Open Face Spinning Reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco)

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Dr. Rob
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by Dr. Rob »

reeltackle wrote: Thu Dec 16, 2021 10:39 am Fantastic little reel Rob. Do you have time to make a little Kovalovsky?
Y’know, I wouldn’t mind doing that at all. There is however another reel project coming up that will demand most of my attention in the near future. I prefer to focus on one thing at a time, so perhaps after that project is done. Let’s stay in touch.

.
Robert Janssen
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by Stef Duma »

Sensational reel, Always a tough reel to find, did the two stolen reels ever turn up?

I seem to recall that one was a one off.
Teal
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by Teal »

Good Lord Rob. That is amazing! What a build!!!!

-- Dr. Todd
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54bullseye
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by 54bullseye »

Beautiful job Rob you're a master !!!! I would love to watch you while working on a project like that ! Very nice.
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Dr. Rob
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by Dr. Rob »

Stef Duma wrote: Thu Dec 16, 2021 2:33 pm Sensational reel, Always a tough reel to find, did the two stolen reels ever turn up?

I seem to recall that one was a one off.
Yes, it did. It was (there was only one stolen) recovered many years ago and now resides with a collector in Sweden. It wasn’t a one-off either. That seems to be some kind of internettal folklore that just lives on, that’s all.

.
Robert Janssen
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Eric J
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by Eric J »

Absolutely incredible! I’ve been thinking about making a fly reel (which should be much less complicated) and you have given me the inspiration to try.
Thank you for sharing your story and photos.
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m3040c
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by m3040c »

:shock:
mike cass,,, if you can't collect it, it must be food
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kyreels
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by kyreels »

Fantastic reel, congratulations. It kind of blows the mind on what is possible. Not sure if you want to share it, but the mystery to me is how you translate the specs and tolerances to the lathe for all those parts. I have seen the computer lathes do it, and I have seen others do it for smaller parts. I assume you had another reel that you constantly measured off of. No blueprint or diagrams? Seems close to magic.
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Nick in NY
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by Nick in NY »

Incredible work! Keep it coming... would love to see you make a large version as well as your version of other makers. Beautiful job BRAVO
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by mark bumgarner »

Yeah its a year plus since last post but this is so absolutely REMARKABLE I just had to comment. Makes a guy want to become a machinist. I am in envy of your craft. "MY LORD'
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klonder
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by klonder »

My!!
Can I ask what paint and prep you used?
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Dr. Rob
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by Dr. Rob »

Sorry for delay in replies. Got kinda caught up in the Christmas holidays and all that. Sorry. Personal pet peeve is people who don't follow up on their own forum threads, so...
kyreels wrote: Fri Dec 17, 2021 3:56 pm Fantastic reel, congratulations. It kind of blows the mind on what is possible. Not sure if you want to share it, but the mystery to me is how you translate the specs and tolerances to the lathe for all those parts. I have seen the computer lathes do it, and I have seen others do it for smaller parts. I assume you had another reel that you constantly measured off of. No blueprint or diagrams? Seems close to magic.
Well, not really a problem. In some cases it may be wise to diligently document and scale every single measurement, but in this case I just wasn't interested. I am very familiar with these reels already, so what is to wonder about? Just do it, and go with the harmony or the spirit of it instead. Besides, not all measurements are suitable for scaling, since they become impractical, or may change for reasons of convenience. The gear ratio for example, is greatly increased in order to provide an actually more useable reel.
Having said all that, I do not have an actual reel of this era, and so relied a lot on photos from various angles in order to get some of the details right and proportions balanced. Our own resident John Taylor has been very helpful in this regard.
klonder wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 8:49 am My!!
Can I ask what paint and prep you used?
Thanks
Midway Tommy D wrote: Thu Dec 16, 2021 1:21 pm I've seen you talk about fabricating parts, etc. in the past, but holy cow Dr. Rob, that is spectacular! :bow: Did you anodized it or is painted & clear coated?
Actually didn't have it anodized. Was intending to, but I don't have my own anodizing setup as yet, and in order to get the color absolutely perfect (important!!) it is good to send the anodizer a few samples to do tests with. And of course there are no extra samples of a one-off job or work of art. It also becomes a matter of the anodizing company's start-up cost threshold.

I spent a horrible amount of time looking for the perfect shade of paint, both online and in several stores, but it just wasn't working. Was sitting at a traffic light, drumming my fingers on the steering wheel, pondering how to solve this, when the solution sort of presented itself. That car in front of me was absolutely perfect in color! Exactly the shade I had been looking for, perfect level of metallic. Awesome! Unfortunately I lost that car in traffic, but not before I could get the license number. So I kept an eye open for cars with the right color, and armed with a list of license plate numbers and VINs, went to an auto service center. The thing is, those guys are connected to a database that can give the exact color code of almost any vehicle. And sure enough, three of the suggestions I gave them were exactly the same color code. Then that must be it, I said.
So if y'all recently seen someone prowling your local parking lot staring intently at cars and writing down license plate numbers, don't worry about it... It was just me, looking for the perfect blend.

I don't really have any concerns about how well it will hold up. Auto paint is very durable, especially with the two-part hardened clear coat, and I probably won't use the reel very much anyway.

.
Robert Janssen
Sweden
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Midway Tommy D
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Re: Admiral 4.0

Post by Midway Tommy D »

I don't really have any concerns about how well it will hold up. Auto paint is very durable, especially with the two-part hardened clear coat, and I probably won't use the reel very much anyway.
Well it sure is pretty! :bow:
Love those Open Face Spinning Reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco)

Tom DeLong, NE
ORCA Member - 2027
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