New Reel making project..

[Watermole+]

Spurred on by some of the insane prices being asked for an original, I have just started building my own take on a Henry Coxon type, Aerial reel.
I always liked the idea of a lightweight, non-metallic drum and this will be of modern, synthetic materials, but still retaining a wooden backplate and brass 'star back' reinforcement. I will also include one-or two ideas of my own in this, by way of "improvements".
I would stress that this is absolutely in no way intended to be a direct copy or something to be passed off as an original, just a usable reel that resembles and hopefully, will cast and fish like one.
I have already part-made a trial backplate from strip mahogany to 4" diameter and will post some pics. of the build, at a later date, when a little more progress has been made.

..However, I now need your help-please!
Having never seen one, I am a bit unsure as to the best drum width. There seem to be quite a variation here, from 3/4" up to a full inch or more,-and would like to know the optimum width between drum plates for casting and practical fishing, based on a 4" diameter backplate.
A second question is; are both drum plates the same diameter and thus smaller than the backplate, as the pictures on google images suggest? -Or is the recessed inner plate of smaller size to give the reel a more balanced look?

Any help on other dimensions will be very helpful..

Thanking you all in advance,

wm+

[Vole]

It might be worth PM-ing the members whom you know own or have used these, just to make them aware of this thread.

This is going to be quite something; my keyboard is wincing, because it knows it's going to get dribbled upon when the photos start to appear. Good hunting!

[Watermole+]

Many thanks Vole-really appreciate the encouragement, however, that's the problem..I have never seen one and don't know anyone who has one, let alone someone who not only has one, but knows how to run a vernier around it, so a lot of this is going to be a matter of 'guesstimating' dimensions!
I have downloaded quite a lot of pics. from google images and have been studying them avidly; it looks like a few people have already made their own versions, so it can't be too difficult....can it? We shall see...

Watch this space!

[Snape]

Maybe contact Badger1
http://www.traditionalfisherman.co.uk/v ... =42&t=1765
and you'll have be logged into Facebook to view this but some lovely photos of the Coxon
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 509&type=3

[Watermole+]

Let's get this project under way then without any further ado..

This is a completely new venture. Apart from making a fly reel, I have no experience in the field of scratch building reels-particularly when it comes to the fine art of making a centrepin, so please bear with me when the inevitable mistakes occur.
I thought it might be more interesting to do this as a step-by-step and will include as many pictures as possible as we go along, but if it gets a bit boring or repetitive, please say so. Your criticisms and advice-particularly from the more experienced and skilled craftsmen out there, will be most genuinely welcome..

The object is to make a fully-functionable, all-purpose centrepin, loosely based on the successful Coxon Aerial of a century ago.
Machinery at my disposal is as follows; A rebuilt 1954 Myford small lathe with home made attachments for hand operated radial-and face drilling, a 500w electric drill in a drill-stand, which serves as a very rough milling and drilling machine, a good bench vice, a small universal vice, a small surface plate and dial test clock and a selection of various hand tools, as normally found in the workplace of most handymen, including cutting and soldering equipment.

As you all know, the reel consists of two principal parts, the revolving drum and the backplate to which the spindle is concentrically attached. As I am not sure of certain dimensions of the drum-or spool, I am going to make the backplate first.
This was historically made from a single piece of hardwood, but as I don't have a suitably sized and seasoned piece, I'm going to fabricate it from a strip of 38mm x 7.5mm hardwood, as bought from the wood mouldings selection from my local B&Q and already in stock, as it was a bit left over from a past D.I.Y job!!

The first step was to mark out 24 triangles on the strip as illustrated, using a square and set-square..



..which were then sawn up and numbered.



Each piece was then carefully sanded on the 30 degree edges to ensure they all form a circle-or two circles in fact!



This was done by glueing together with "Araldite". I like this glue very much, have used it for many applications and never known it to fail, if prepared correctly.
It was important to ensure that each circle was dead flat on one side, so I assembled them on a piece of glass, which is usually reasonably flat. A piece of greaseproof paper underneath each assembly prevented them from sticking to the glass. I used a small piece of cocktail stick as a central point.
Here are the two assemblies complete.



Each was then sanded down on the 'flat' side by rubbing against a sheet of sandpaper on the surface plate (the piece of glass would have been good enough) and then glued together, off-setting the joins by 15 degrees-or thereabouts. I used several clamps to ensure they did not separate anywhere..



..and left them for two days to make sure the glue was fully cured-or unlikely to move before releasing the clamps.



The next stage will be to use the lathe to turn the glued assembly to size. I'm aiming to produce a nominal 4" reel.

..More soon....

[Mark]

This is absolutely brilliant wm+, I wait with anticipation for the next instalment. :hat:

[Snape]

Awesome stuff wm+ can't wait for part 2......

[Scott Thompson]

Very interesting, good luck with this project and please keep us informed every step.

This might help http://centrepins.yuku.com/topic/377

[J.T]

Great stuff WM+. :thumb:

[Vole]

Good grief, you don't hang about, do you?
I love the idea of the composite backplate, it should be stable for decades. Great stuff.