Drag washers made of leather...

[ijlal]

I run a small online tackle shop over here, and also sell used rods and reels when I can get hold of reasonably good quality stuff.

A couple of months back, I found an old Penn 113 in aparently good condition. As a rule, I always open up used reels and service them before selling them to my customer.

The reel's drag was performing awfully. I found the stock washers (most probably after wearing out with use) had been replaced with bakalite washers! 

Now, we don't get reel parts over here, so I did some research, and found that leather drag washers were also used in reels once upon a time. I ended up making leather washers and replacing the bakalite ones. I was surprised how smooth the drag became, even smoother than the stock washers in my own (US made) Senator 113!

My question is how would leather perform in long fast runs? Would they be able to bear the excessive heat? I intend replacing horrible, sticky, rubber-like washers in my small bottom fishing Okuma Convector CN20L with leather.

Anybody has had any experience with leather may kindly advise pros and cons...

Thanks!

[alantani]

they will probably not last very long.  let's see if we can work something else out. alan

[Bryan Young]

Leather washers, dry and new will be smooth.  When heated up during a long run, these washers are prone to glazing (I think that is what is is called), and will harden up over time.  The result is not a very good and inconsistent drag.  If you add more heat, and like most big game trollers, when the reel gets hot, the reel gets splashed with water.  Then the leather washers will absorb water and expand, again changing the drag, and between this will start to have what appears to be sticking as some of the drag will be wet and the other part dry.  As the drags heat back up, water will evaporate, then you will loose some drag.  It becomes a game to find the right drag and you will be constantly adjusting the drag.

As Alan has recommended in all rebuilds, replace the drags with greased HT-100 carbon fiber.  You cannot go wrong with these. 

[ijlal]

No denying the effectiveness of HT100!

Leather was used as the only readily available material at that time I could think of. By the way, I have read leather should be oiled like felt washers; does that change the results a little?

Thanks!

[wallacewt]

suede leather was best at the time,italian calf,oiled with sewing machine oil,still works,im going back 50yrs.still better than canvas or cork in my opinion.rangoon cane rods,straight ones twice as dear as bent ones,heavy rose wood side cast reel,were best of the best,if you wanted to grease them just dunk them in the ocean.easy enough to throw a 4oz sinker a 100yards.i used to practice on the football field and throw the lead over the cross bar at the other end.caught a lot of fish so did everybody else.here we are 2010,its all complicated isnt it.  

[Fishead]

The old penn sqidders had leather washers from the factory,I still have some in my parts bins.I have cut & used them in many of my small reels.They work well on reels up to 30lb class with star drags.I douse mine with teflon grease and have gotten several years out of them.That is fishing for bottom fish 90% of the time with a tight drag.After time,they do flatten out and need replacement.For the most part,they are more of a pain in the butt then they are worth.I have swapped all my leathers out for the HT -100 or carbontex with cal's grease on them.They seem to be much more durable,especially with fast running surface fish.