Trial and error learning & ORCA friends

[Reelman2]

How many of you remember the first reel you ever took apart and then had trouble getting it back together again. I remember the first 1131-A S. Bend reel I ever took apart. When I tried to put it back together again it wouldn't go. All the parts were there but it still wouldn't go. I kept trying for what seemed like hours but with no luck. The anti-backlash bar was the problem. I finally figured out that you have to put the front plate on just short of the screw hole and then turn it slightly and then the anti-backlash bar will work properly. Well I just finished with another project that took me several days to figure out. I have a Hunter reel by Chamberlin Cartridge & Target that is a quick apart freespool model. Again, the parts were all there but I still couldn't get the freespool to work. I finally figured out that the spring loaded part of the spool gear was gunked up and wouldn't operate like it was supposed to. After a thorough cleaning and lubricating it works great. I want to thank fellow ORCA members with advice that helped me solve the problem. If only we knew before taking something new apart what we know now how much easier it would be. That is why it is so important for us ORCA members to share our knowledge and past experiences. My hats off to each of you who have helped someone in such situations.

Bill Lemay

[Terry Battisti]

Bill,

Yes sir, I do remember the first reel I took apart. It wasn't pretty. It was a Penn Monofil 25. This was around 1974 and I was about 10 years old. I didn't take it apart because it needed anything.....I took it apart because I wanted to see how it worked, much like my clock radio and various other things around the house. LOL.

My problem putting the reel back together had to do with the bridge, yoke, anti reverse dog and dog spring, and the clutch springs. Seemed every time I tried to get the thing together, springs would fly and the yoke and bridge would explode. I wrestled with that damn reel for days before it went back together.

Then at 14 I started working at a tackle shop. We did custom rod building (my job) and reel repair. I watched the owner tear down some Penn reels and the solution to putting those reels together became obvious. It was all in how you took the bridge and inserted it into the sideplate 90 degrees off mark and then rotated it into place holding the yoke, eccentric jack, and compressing the clutch springs. Too easy.

I will always hold the ten years I worked at that shop dear to my heart. The men that worked there took this young snot-nosed kid, who wanted to learn, and taught me so much. They also started my love for old tackle.

Thanks Bill for bring back this memory for me. And thank you to Bob and Dave for having faith in that young boy.

Terry

[klonder]

Help should always be welcome but figuring out mechanical stuff on your own with maybe just a helpful hint has always been the most fun for me. I just choose simple reels!

[Paul Roberts]

Oh m’gosh! Each reel is a puzzle of some sort or another. There’s almost always something to troubleshoot. Many come to mind. The first one?Hmmmm… I do remember one that seems to have made an impression on me: My brother dismantling his Heddon spinning reel 40plus years ago. He never did get it back together and the parts sat in a box in the storage shed until it eventually disappeared. I still cringe at the thought.

I’ve had a lot of help along the way. In particular, ORCA folks have gone out of their way to aid and assist me with some of the projects I’ve tackled, even sending me parts to complete them. Also, the tutorials some have posted have been enormously helpful. Some mechanisms are not intuitive just by looking at them, at least for me. The fixed anti-reverse on the Langley spinners Tom helped me with by posting photos comes to mind. Then there’s the ORCA library…What a great resource!