Wasn't there lately the question: Why a lathe? Well,...

[OldTackle]

Hey chaps,

let me explain first. I remember that there was lately a discussion about why you would need a lathe. This was more concerning about float making than what I do, but a lathe is just a wonderful tool.

I bought this tiny little reel for a friend of mine and unfortunately it was in a very sorry state. There were parts missing and damaged and misaligned. The reel I found in Italy and it is very, very rare because it only was produced for 5 years. But the internal mechanics make me wonder why. In my opinion it is the best micro match reel I have ever seen so far. And just a delight in use.

From the first picture you can see they there is an additional worm shaft. This makes the spool movement 4 times slower than usual. Usually one turn of the winch makes the spool go up and down again. Here it is 4 turns resulting in a better because more "parallel" line lay.

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Unfortunaltely there was a copper washer missing underneath the gear-wheel and here comes the lathe into play. I took a copper plate of 0.25mm thickness and punched a circular plate out of it. Then I flattened it using a hydraulic press. Some wax was used to mount it on a cylinder to drill the hole.

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After polishing it on 2500 and 4000 diamond grid it was ready to serve.

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Nothing really fancy you think? There is more.

[OldTackle]

There was an additional bushing missing. larger in size and supposed to turn to minimize material abrasion at the movable parts. Here you see how great DAM produced their reels in the past. This bushing I had to rebuilt out of stainless steel to keep it original.

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What wonderful things you can create with a lathe and a little knowledge:

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Here it is back where it belongs:

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Without this part the spool has free movement or "play" on the axle and sits too low resulting in a big misalignment of the line lay.
Here you see how it is supposed to work properly:

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I hope you like these internal views of our traditional treasures.

To the new owner: Sorry my friend. I had to show that! I will send it over to you next week because I plan to send you a little surprise more

[St.John]

Very very nice! Lathes are the 'poodles particulars' as far as I'm concerned. I am currently on the lookout for a decent one that I can spin up a reel on. Brilliant!

[WoodBurnerMatt]

Hey Chris,

That is a really lucky friend! Amazing work Sir.

WoodburnerMatt

[Nobby]

Nicely done!


What a fascinating reel...twin cranks effectively. Giving 'level-wind' type line-lay. Brilliant!

So what make is it???

[OldTackle]

Nicely done!


What a fascinating reel...twin cranks effectively. Giving 'level-wind' type line-lay. Brilliant!

So what make is it???

Nobby, Sir. It is a DAM. I wrote it in the text. There is one called DAM Quick 110 Microlite but that one is a complete different reel. The one here is a DAM Quick Microlite. It is a bit smaller than a 110, more comparable to a Mitchell 308 but with the much nicer mechanic and building materials. It was only produced from 1961 to 1966 and then production stopped. When you compare the internal you clearly see that the planetary gear system must have beaten this one in production costs. That is maybe the reason why it was only produced for such a short while. Very sad. This little one has very quickly become my favorite fixed spool reel. It comes with a metal spool instead of the plastic one of the 110. But their spools match. The Microlite I own myself is still in original condition and this "repaired" one goes over to my friend with a couple of other DAM's. In my opinion a must-have, Nobby, but very hard to find indeed. Especially in good order.

[Nobby]

What a revelation. It's a superbly engineered reel.

[OldTackle]

Nobby, Sir.

Maybe some size comparison? If the reel wouldn't go to West Yorkshire you might have had the chance of asking my friend to handle it a bit. A pity that I wasn't able to send him the reel before Redditch. You maybe even met him there.

Here are two pictures comparing the reel in size with a Mitchell 308 Prince. A true pity that they so barely show up for sale in trusty condition. Regarding my last example I wouldn't trust people on the evil bay anymore any when in my life. It is a true waste of money and time. Not meaning the reel isn't worth all that effort, of course!!

Here the pictures:

[Tengisgol]

Wonderful thread chaps!

[Nobby]

Ah, now I see the whole reel it is surely a DAM, even without reading the name! So it'll have a good clutch too then?

It would be interesting to see an image of a spool filled with line to see how that worm drive does its job.