cork drag material for fly reels

Started by monkutare, April 16, 2010, 05:53:38 PM

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monkutare

I have an Old Florida fly reel with cork drag. I have been using Cal's Drag grease on it but if I fish for about 4-5 days, the drag starts to squeak and get jerky. This reel has an open drag system. What would you suggest to clean and lube the cork?

CarolinaCustomReels

I don't have much experience with cork drag washers, but perhaps specialized musician's cork grease is what you're looking for. It's used on the cork in clarinet joints to make them easy to assemble and ceate a good seal between the sections.

Evan

alantani

cork drags are tough.  if they can easily be replaced with carbon fiber, please do so.  otherwise, it might help to cut radial lines into the cork every 3 to 5 degrees to break up the "suction."  that might work.  alan
send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!

Phinaddict

The secret to cork drags is SuperLube. it works great.

Also, the factory, (and Abel reels), used Neat's Foot oil.
Most tack supply stores have it for leather harnesses, etc.

I have 2 Old Florida reels, a 66 and 77. They ROCK. On par with Abel reels at half the price.
Discontinued now, but nothing matches them when you compared dollar for performance.

A buddy of mine uses Neats foot and Graphite powder
and he never has problems... and he puts a lot of dorado on the hook.

The Two Rules of Success:
1. Don't tell everything you know

Hardy Boy

x 2 on the super lube oil with the Teflon. Its what is recommended by Islander reels for the cork drags on their reels. I buy it now in the 4 oz bottle. You can also "rough" up the cork with a wire brush it it is glazed and really smooth . I used to put graphite powder on cork but don't bother anymore as its messy and does not seem to make a difference. Don't use drag grease as it makes them sticky. A lot of the reels have the cork pushing against the back of the spool which is aluminum; carbon fiber drags would quickly wear on the aluminum so I would not recommend in that application. Some of the newer mooch/ fly reels are now using a CF stack with stainless washers which gives a more robust drag system.


Cheers:


Todd   
Todd

jurelometer

#5
[updated to not recommend using mineral spirits to clean cork- Better to use something less aggressive that has less of a risk of damaging the binder holding the cork granules together. IPA seems to work well enough for me.]

I mentioned some of this on the Old Florida tutorial, but will add a bit more detail here.

I don't think that the cork itself glazes.  Most likely, the glaze comes from lubricants getting contaminated and hardening up.  I prefer a quick scrub  with a toothbrush and isopropyl alcohol a small amount of mineral spirits, but this could be risky, especially if too much is used or it sits too long.


I don't know if grease on cork is really that bad an idea.  Tibor still uses grease,  Old Florida did as well.  Hayden reels used Cal's on the their cork. 

Cork has to have  lubricant on the surface.  If not, it can get sticky, and in extreme situations even start burning. 

Oils are better for not attracting contaminants, but do not last that long.  If the oil has PTFE/Teflon,  I am curious about how long the Teflon stays on the cork surface,  as keeping Teflon powder suspended in a liquid that is not moving is supposed to be a bit tricky. 

I think  that neatsfoot is fine if that is how the drag was lubricated when you bought it it, and you stay on top of it.There are plenty of Abel reel haters out there, mostly because the cork/neatsfoot dried out and the drag got very jerky.  They sell their Abels, and buy a new "sealed" reel.  Which they then hate in a couple years when salt water gets inside and fries the one way bearing :)

Greases will last a very long time, but will absorb contaminants and possibly water and get sticky.  The key with grease is to clean off all the old grease and apply as little as possible.

I use Cal's myself,  and like it better than neatsfoot.  If you don't lather  it on, it just starts making pig squealy noises at higher RPMs when it is time for a refresh, but still works pretty well. 

I keep saying that I am going to look for a more modern, more moisture resistant synthetic grease, but I never get around to it.

Agree with Todd on carbon fiber replacement for cork.  Hayden had a carbon fiber drag plate option, but their spools were type III anodized,  much harder than typical type II.  Also cork absorbs vibration  well, so a replacement job with carbon fiber might make the drag a bit chattery if the tolerances on the reel were a bit on the generous side.


Just another opinion FWIIW,

-J