D.A.M. puzzle

[oc1]

This thing looked shiny, metal and cheap on the auction site.  Got what I paid for. Please speak up if you know anything about them. 




It may be from the late 60's or early 70's, but that's just a guess.  I thought it would be German made but evidently D.A.M. had already started farming production out to Japan.  "Rust free stainless steel" is embossed in the side plate but "D.A.M. International" is on a poorly placed sticker so this same reel probably exists under different brand names. 

The reel was fished with but not very hard and probably not in saltwater.  But, someone took it apart and forgot how to put it back together.  It did not work.  The eccentric knob was backwards, the main gear was upside down, and who knows what else.  Some of the obvious problems are that the yolk ramp and handle are slightly bent but will be easy to straighten, most of the drag stack and spacers are missing but can probably be replaced, the dog spring is missing.  I doubt there is a schematic but will ask the new owners at D.A.M. 

This thing is really built though.  The only plastic is the handle knob and two little red tits on exterior lock nuts (ornamentation).  The frame, side plates, posts, spool, star, handle, main gear and pinion appear to be stainless but with many brass parts and bushings inside.  More small parts than a comparable Penn including seven 'E' clips.


I know where all the parts were when it was opened up, but am not sure which ones were installed incorrectly and exactly what is missing.  It's a puzzle. 

-steve

[mike1010]

That's a handsome reel.  I wonder why the designers leaned on e-clips so heavily.

Mike

[oc1]

Not sure Mike.  For me, 'E' clips are an accident waiting to happen.  But they do hold things in place until the side covers are installed.  This has no bridge so you need fewer fingers to put it together. 
 
I don't think the main gear is supposed to be upside down, but it's a puzzle.
-steve

[sdlehr]

Actually the bridge is kind of built into the inside side plate.... and you've got a post that looks like it wants an E-clip just hanging out in left field empty....

[Tightlines667]

Actually the bridge is kind of built into the inside side plate.... and you've got a post that looks like it wants an E-clip just hanging out in left field empty....

That must be the post for the missing dog spring. 

[oc1]

Thank you Sid and John.  I thought that post must be for the drag spring too but have not yet figured out what that spring looks like.  Might be a flat spring.



It has a two piece eccentric.  The plate part fits snuggly and securely onto the barrel part.  It has an odd shape so the plate cannot touch the ramp spring.  The previous owner had the barrel turned 180 degrees and the plate on upside down.  So, it would not fully push the ramps under the yoke and, as a result, the pinion would not fully disengage.  To squeeze a little more height out of the ramp he bent it and put the eccentric knob on backward so it did not contact the side plate and would move a tad further.  Got that straightened out.

The problem all started when the reel was dropped or hit by something.  The handle knob was at six o'clock when that happened.  The blow was enough to bend the handle and bend the gear sleeve axel.  The axel is riveted onto the side plate but the rivet is still secure.  With the gear sleeve at an angle the main gear put pressure on the pinion.  With sideways pressure on the pinion it rubbed on the spool shaft, somewhat scoring the shaft and, undoubtedly, making a noise and degrading performance.  That was probably the impetus to dismantle the reel and it all sort of went downhill from there.  I bent the gear sleeve back a little which made a big improvement, but the gear sleeve will have to be taken off the gear sleeve axel to finish the job. 

The main gear has a cut-out to accept a brass drag washer with the little ears on it.  I only have the brass washer that grabs the gear sleeve so a crude steel one with ears was made with a hand grinder.  It will do for now.  I had one carbontex washer about the right size and another that was trimmed to fit.

Still need a thin sacrificial washer under the main gear, bellevilles and spacers up top.
-steve

[bluefish69]

can't see the pictures

[sdlehr]

I can't see how the dog spring attached to that post is going to work to force the dog onto the ratchet. It will force it away from the ratchet in that location.

Will the clutch work properly without the spring as it is now? Maybe that is the AR dog spring...?? This is like a jigsaw puzzle.

Sid

[swill88]

Looks like a wire spring in the post groove and shaped like a safety pin could push out the back of the dog (into the teeth).

The recent post of the pen wire used on a Penn reel looks similar.

steve

[oc1]

It won't work without a spring Sid.  Tried that.  You are probably right about the safety pin Steve.  I made a flat spring from a piece of spring steel sheet and it works fine, but will rust and does not explain the groove and rounded top on the post. I'll try to make a safety pin from some stainless hard wire leader material.


It sort of works now with the caveats that the dog spring will rust, the crude steel drag washer would need to be lapped, and it needs bellevilles and spacers on the gear sleeve.
http://www.raingarden.us/snap/DAMv.mp4
This reel has the same spool dimensions as a Penn 9M although it feels larger in your hand.  So, the capacity would be about 275 yards of 15# mono.  I'm thinking the gear sleeve and drag washers are about the same size as a Penn 9 too so I'll open up this one to check.


There are a couple of things that really bother me about this DAM reel.  If the bushings are removed form the outer side plates you can see that the ends of the spool shaft are not exactly centered in the holes.  The spool shaft is not loose when the outer bushings are removed because the shaft is supported by a large brass bushing on the inner left side plate, and is supported by the pinion on the right side.  So, when the outer bushing are installed there is some binding on the spool shaft.  I do not know if this is an inherent design flaw or if it reflects the fact that the reel was damaged and may be warped. 

Look at the screw to the far left in this photo of the inner left side plate.  The screw can not be tightened down all the way because it hits the raised portion of the side plate.  This screw secures the rear cross bar and the corresponding screw on the inner right side plate is the same way.  All screws are accounted for and none have a smaller diameter head to fit in the small space.  This is definitely a design flaw.  It would have been easy to correct but they just did not bother to do so.

I hate the riveted posts throughout this reel.  ABU does that too. A riveted post in a thin metal side plate is just asking for trouble and if a rivet is loosened or bent you may have a problem that cannot be fixed.

In my ignorant opinion, this reel is not designed or built as well as a Penn #9.  Someone who knows more about reel evolution would know if the design was copied from elsewhere, or if it has innovations, or if it is an evolutionary dead end.  Its just a puzzle to me.

[mike1010]

It almost seems like a prototype or an early production sample.

[swill88]

Tile explains his wire spring here:

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=16511.msg172122#msg172122

[oc1]

I have no idea Mike, it's a puzzle.  There is some discussion in the current thread "HELP anyone ID this reel?" that may be relevant here. 
http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=16591.msg173344;topicseen#msg173344

Thank you for that link Steve.  Won't pen springs rust?  That link reminds me to mention that the level wind wire on this DAM reel is loose in the line guide body.  It moves back and forth a bit.  Might as well try the Super Glue trick.

-steve