ACRYLIC Knobs work in progress.

[Cortez_Conversions]

Lou,
We need to talk!
Tom

[STRIPER LOU]

Thanks all for the comments and messages. If I didn't get back to your PM's I apologize and will get to them or answer your questions here.

John and Andy, I have been making them available to the locals on a custom basis. About a dozen and a half or so are out and being tested.
I doubt if I will inventory much of this material as its costly and I'd have more money going out then coming in.
Also this is a busy time for me with tackle and of course fishing becomes my top priority. I also have some continuing short production runs on my machines.

Dan, they feel pretty good. The nice part about being custom is it can be tailored to your needs. Say if you had a jigmaster and used it for diamond jigging I can cut a broader radius to suite.

Dominick, the size for the round knobs at the moment are more suited for reels say jigmaster and smaller. 1 1/2" dia x 7/8 to 1" wide. 2" material is available but it isn't cheap. The minimum order requirement for the thick Acrylic is stiff! I am working on getting some 2".
Material is coming from 2 suppliers. One supplies rounds and requires a skim cut to true and the other supplier has squares which require extra work. Looking for a 3rd source.
Everything is done on conventional equipment which makes it somewhat time  consuming.

Ted, there are a bunch of styles in the works. I have some T bar styles that are absolute knockouts! I will post them as this project goes along.

Anglingarchitec, no offense taken. Trying to get opinions is all. There are tons of aftermarket aluminum knobs available out there. We all love them and buy them. Accurate's been using them for years. If your doing some serious fishing they are not IMHO the most comfortable.
I don't think these acrylic's are any more slippery than those and I can tell you that on a cool morning you'll probably be more happy with these than a hunk of metal in your hand. The guys fishing the river are already giving me feedback and all looks good so far.
I'm also looking at possibly putting some type of stippled finish on the OD.

All that being said, you can take a plain jane reel and throw an aftermarket handle and one of these custom knobs on it and it looks like a new machine. Believe me the pictures do no justice to this stuff and the colors are truly amazing!

I also need to purchase a bandsaw and a serious dust collection system. The fine dust from turning this stuff is killer and will give you a cough like you wont believe!
If you have any other questions post them here as it may help others.
Thanks and best regards,  ..  Lou

[STRIPER LOU]

You can also PM me if necessary.
..............Lou

[Bryan Young]

I wonder if you could repurpose some used bowling balls to cut down on some of your costs?  They are cheap used and if the shell is thick enough you could get a bunch of round handles from it. 

[Dominick]

I wonder if you could repurpose some used bowling balls to cut down on some of your costs?  They are cheap used and if the shell is thick enough you could get a bunch of round handles from it. 

This is what I love about this site, always thinking.  Good suggestion Bryan.  Dominick

[STRIPER LOU]

Not a bad idea Bryan. Some available with nice colors but these Acrylics are hard to beat. The other thing that adds to the cost is no cnc machinery. Everything done old school. Ok but, takes longer.
I think if the wife saw me cutting up old bowling ball's she'd think I've lost it!!!! Might be an old blue swirl one around here someplace. Now where am I going to chop this thing up?
Thanks,  ..  Lou

[Tightlines667]

At least one ORCA member has been cutting up cue/Billiard balls to make handle grasps.. stranger things have happened.

[Bryan Young]

My son is into recycled art. Nothing can leave our house. It comes back in as some kind of art something. So I'm always thinking of repurposing junk. One man's junk is another's treasure.

[broadway]

Great Job on those, Lou! Let me know if they go for sale... I'd take a few off your hands for some shelfies I've got.
Awesome stuff!
Dom

[gstours]

Are you doing some with an offset of 20-30 degrees?  Cant wait to see em finished.   

[STRIPER LOU]

Gary, I am doing some T bars with an offset. 20/30 deg is pretty stiff isn't it? That's for crankin in those big butts, huh!!!
........................Lou