Ambidex bail arm fixing?

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Kev D
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Ambidex bail arm fixing?

Post by Kev D »

I was at a customer's today and he kindly gave me a rather tatty Ambidex reel. I've cleaned and oiled it and it works far better than it looks.
The only flaw is the inevitable line groove in the half bail arm.
Does anyone know if it is possible to remove the arm from its brass fitting so that I can fit a home made one? I have a few old reels that might furnish donor bail arms or I could go down the bent bed spring path if the old bit can be removed.
The same customer showed me a wierd float that I regret not photographing but will post a crude sketch in the tetminal tackle section
In order to shoot some close-ups, wildlife photographer ,the late Len Scapstillon, lured the orca to him by dressing as a seal.......

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Watermole+
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Re: Ambidex bail arm fixing?

Post by Watermole+ »

It rather depends on how old your particular reel is Kev. I have a very early one with the shallow spool and unplated, finer wire bale arm and this is soldered into position. If yours is one of these, you can separate the wire arm from the brass mounting by firstly removing from reel, degreasing and heating until the solder is molten and the arm should then pull out.

The later models with the plain, chromed arm may be different. You could try a very local heating where it joins the brass to see if it is similarly soldered..

I have made replacement arms from Stubs 'silver steel', which is can be hardened, but you will need to keep it oiled after use to prevent rusting and also, you will not be able to re-solder back without losing the hardness, so it will have to be secured with 'Loctite'.

The best stainless to use is Duplex 2205 which is very tough and even impervious to salt water.

Hope this is of some help..

wm+

"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? Yet one of them shall not fall without your Father knoweth" ..Jesus of Nazareth, King James AV

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Wallys-Cast
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Re: Ambidex bail arm fixing?

Post by Wallys-Cast »

I have changed a couple of them, early and later versions and they were all simply soft soldered in place.
I have made new ones from various sizes of stainless welding rod which polishes up like chrome so it certainly looks the part but how long it will last under constant use I don't know, probably just as long as the original did but as most of these reels only get occasional use these days it could possibly last a lifetime.

The hardest task I found was getting the shape of the bail wire exact and fixing it in it's final position dead right. It is a lot easier if you have another similar reel at hand to copy.

Interestingly I have seen these wires almost cut right through and others on what appear to be well worn reels without a scratch. They may have already had replacements of course as they were readily available from Youngs but I wonder if it was the old braided nylon picking up fine sand/dust that caused most of the damage.

Wal.

Kev D
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Re: Ambidex bail arm fixing?

Post by Kev D »

Gentlemen,thank you. A close look thr brass tube holding the steel arm does show sign of solder.
As you said it's unlikely to get hard use once fixed but it will be usable!
I resurected a grandchild's poundland reel by Aralditing a sleeve of brass from a .22 cartridge over the line-groove. Again not a permanent solution but easily replaced and I did wonder if a crimp-sleeve designed for steel cable might be a possibility. Think I'll go for a comlete arm now it looks like removal is possible.

Thanks again.
In order to shoot some close-ups, wildlife photographer ,the late Len Scapstillon, lured the orca to him by dressing as a seal.......

Kev D
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Re: Ambidex bail arm fixing?

Post by Kev D »

Thanks chaps for giving me the confidence to attack the bail arm with a bit of heat. And the SS welding rod tip.
I (noted for my regular quote of "I don't care what it looks like as long as it works.") surprised myself at the outcome. The reel does't look so tatty to me now I've removed the spilt Dulux paint spots and it is all (so far) working.

Strangely I bought an Ambidex from bay of temptation a couple of weeks ago .The arm on that isn't brilliant but I'll see how the one I've made works before I take a blow torch to another reel.
20190803_181644_resized.jpg
Is the plastic cap on the handle spindle a standard part?
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In order to shoot some close-ups, wildlife photographer ,the late Len Scapstillon, lured the orca to him by dressing as a seal.......

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Wallys-Cast
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Re: Ambidex bail arm fixing?

Post by Wallys-Cast »

Excellent job Kev. The plastic cap is not original, it should have a large headed chromed screw.

Image

Wal.

Kev D
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Re: Ambidex bail arm fixing?

Post by Kev D »

Thank you.
20190803_182723_resized(1).jpg
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In order to shoot some close-ups, wildlife photographer ,the late Len Scapstillon, lured the orca to him by dressing as a seal.......

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Wallys-Cast
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Re: Ambidex bail arm fixing?

Post by Wallys-Cast »

Kev, I forgot to add the screw is used on many other Youngs reels, it is used to hold the spindles to the backplates on most of their centerpin reels and some of the fly reels use it to secure the spools.
The Ambidex also has a chromed sleeve covering the prodtruding handle shaft.
Wal.

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