Hardy Conquest

[Timothy Claypole]

John,

Congratulations on acquiring a thing of great beauty and value! Regarding your question above, I defer to others with better skills in this matter.

However, in my limited experience, as there is no grub screw I have made an executive decision to leave the boss well alone on mine! Having read something that Nobby wrote on the forum, I believe one needs a small hammer and nerves of steel to make adjustments to the set-up (FYI I have neither).

Enjoy using the reel John. When the rivers fine down a bit I'll be out looking for grayling with mine.

Best,

TC

[John Milford]

John,

Congratulations on acquiring a thing of great beauty and value! Regarding your question above, I defer to others with better skills in this matter.

However, in my limited experience, as there is no grub screw I have made an executive decision to leave the boss well alone on mine! Having read something that Nobby wrote on the forum, I believe one needs a small hammer and nerves of steel to make adjustments to the set-up (FYI I have neither).

Enjoy using the reel John. When the rivers fine down a bit I'll be out looking for grayling with mine.

Best,

TC

Looking at mine Timothy, I concluded that a tap on the copper 'nipple' might do the trick.

However, like you, I'm not sure I have the sang froid to attempt it!

(The 'play' is minimal. I've resolved to leave well alone).

I know I'll get the boss re-fitted - it had to be assembled somehow, but I'm positively rueing taking it apart!

[Watermole+]

John,

Congratulations on acquiring a thing of great beauty and value! Regarding your question above, I defer to others with better skills in this matter.

However, in my limited experience, as there is no grub screw I have made an executive decision to leave the boss well alone on mine! Having read something that Nobby wrote on the forum, I believe one needs a small hammer and nerves of steel to make adjustments to the set-up (FYI I have neither).

Enjoy using the reel John. When the rivers fine down a bit I'll be out looking for grayling with mine.

Best,

TC

Looking at mine Timothy, I concluded that a tap on the copper 'nipple' might do the trick.

However, like you, I'm not sure I have the sang froid to attempt it!

(The 'play' is minimal. I've resolved to leave well alone).

I know I'll get the boss re-fitted - it had to be assembled somehow, but I'm positively rueing taking it apart!

You are both quite right to leave well alone.
I would never normally disagree with Nobby-certainly never on anything MItchell-but in this case I do.

Hitting with hammers-small or otherwise-and reels do not go together.

The end cap is bronze not copper and factory set to give minimum spindle end-float and like the central grub screw on other reels should never need altering in the lifetime of the reel. Hitting and deforming the internal domed end can easily be a shortcut to irremediable damage.
If, however, the amount of end-float knocking becomes intolerable, you can lap off a little from the face where it screws down which will reduce the distance between the spindle and cap.

@John Milford; There is a little trick to reassemble the boss/spring/lever.
Place the drum face up on the bench with everything cleaned. Sitting it on a loose pad of soft cloth usually stops it from moving around.
Position the relaxed lever and spring with a minute dot of light grease to stop it moving off.
Put the furthest screw from the lever through the hole in the cap and locate into the threaded hole.
Allowing the cap to move off position, do this screw up until the cap is just about movable then, holding it down, move the cap upwards against the spring pressure until it is central and the lever can be located....Do not release the finger!
Locate other screw-or screws and do all up lightly.
If the spring or lever jumps out of position when you do it, undo all and try again.

With a little practice, you can do this right every time-first time!

Apologies if this seems complicated; it's not as difficult as it sounds.

-and hoping that it helps.

wm+

[John Milford]

Thanks for the reassembly tip wm+!

It's all back together now, ready to put some line on it.

[Moley]

Nice reel. Reliable and easy to use. Fatty thinks of it as a slightly upmarket Trudex. All components seem to be very well made with reasonable tolerances. Hence my agreement with the sage advice given by Watermole. Just don't be tempted to strike a reel with a hammer unless like Basil Fawlty you think it needs 'a damn good thrashing.'

Not only would hitting the reel in any way result in tears, it could very likely exacerbate the problem to the point where the reel is no longer useable. For those of a ham fisted nature, such as myself, strike old ally too hard and the whole reel can shatter or at the very least crack, not something you really want to do!

Glad to hear reassembly was achieved with hopefully a lesson learned with regard to Hardy Reels, think once, think twice then think again and leave it. Perfection in a reel of such age is never going to happen, just live with the imperfections, as a good wife does with her spouse....unless of the Matron old skool of harsh treatment.

As ever,....

Moley

[Watermole+]

That is a very fine condition example of this reel John-and pleased to read that all went back together OK.
Apologies if my previous post sounded like a lecture..I assure you that it was not meant to. It's just that I have seen perfectly good reel parts ruined when they never needed to be.

The reason for not hitting the end of the bronze cap is that it becomes domed and mates perfectly with the spindle end on the inside in use. When you deform this by causing a 'flat' spot outside and consequently in-, the gap is indeed closed but no longer matches the end of the spindle, so after a while, the last state becomes worse than the first!

When you have the cap off, you can if all else fails, remove a little of the alloy material by gripping a broad flat, 2nd cut file in a vice (with pieces of card each side if you do not have vice jaw pads), lubricating with a little light oil and pushing the inner face of the cap up and down along it, frequently changing the position of the cap so that it does not take off material from one side only (Caution..the side with the slot will require almost no pressure to remove metal). Finish by rubbing it along a piece of wetted, finest wet-and-dry paper on a piece of glass or other flat surface.
If you have a micrometer or Vernier calliper, measure the overall thickness first, so that you can check the amount of material being removed-and don't be too enthusiastic, or you could take off too much.

Wash the cap off with solvent and try it for end-float again. You can omit the spring when doing this, just fit the lever.
Be careful that you do not take off too much or the lever will jam in the slot in the cap. Should this happen, you can carefully deepen the slot with a small needle file.

Again, this might sound complicated, but it is quite easy to do.

wm+

[John Milford]

Apologies if my previous post sounded like a lecture..I assure you that it was not meant to.

Very detailed and helpful advice, such as yours Watermole, is what makes this forum such a great place. Thanks again.

I think my Hardy Fred Taylor Trotter will be the natural companion for my new reel. I can feel a grayling session beckoning, once the frosts start to bite.