180 Lt tackle bay; Extra light casting reel; light tackle casting; Baymaster

[xjchad]

Nice!  Love seeing all the info on these reels, great ideas to keep in mind!

[mo65]

The old handle's a "2689",  stamped just like that, sans the quote marks. Smallest Penn knob I ever seen.
Gfish

  I don't think that's a Penn handle Gfish, Penn's handle number on conventionals is always 24-something. I like your handle WAY better...great work!

This'ns got the got the 30-180"S" stand( no clamp holes, so what makes it a saltwater stand?).

   The saltwater stand's "foot" was wider, to fit saltwater rods, and the freshwater stand's foot was more narrow.

[Tightlines667]

I believe the freshwater stand also has bent feet to raise the reel up off of the rod.

[Gfish]

The old handle's a "2689",  stamped just like that, sans the quote marks. Smallest Penn knob I ever seen.
Gfish

  I don't think that's a Penn handle Gfish, Penn's handle number on conventionals is always 24-something. I like your handle WAY better...great work!

Yer right! That handle is a miniature replica though,- the number is the only thing not "Penn-like".
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[Rivverrat]

  OK, nobody's interested in the first question,^ I'll try another. 

  My 180 has a steel main gear...would it be noticeably smoother with bronze? No need for extra strength here, looking for a more fluid feel. What is the "feel" of a damaged gear? Maybe my steel gear is worn/damaged. 

Fred, in his post is right about steel on steel gears. However there is another way that also works well & can work well in hushing noisy gears. If you talk with many long range fishermen or people who worked on boats you will some times hear them talk about how a new reel feels smoother after a big fish or two. This same thing happens with revolvers as they are fired over time. Not quite but kind of like an action job. Whats taking place is the the steel on all surfaces are wearing smooth with opposing parts meshing & fitting together. 

If parts are tight on your reel set your drag as heavy as you can while still aheiving smooth drag. Tie line to something heavy or fixed back up pulling line off reel reel up & repeat as needed. You could use polish compound it's not needed. But if you do you'll need to go slow. All my Baja / US113's received (stainless gear set) this treatment & came out noticably smoother with less gear noise than prior.

Using lay out fluid before & after has shown the gear teeth to fit better afterward... Jeff   

[Alto Mare]

  OK, nobody's interested in the first question,^ I'll try another. 

  My 180 has a steel main gear...would it be noticeably smoother with bronze? No need for extra strength here, looking for a more fluid feel. What is the "feel" of a damaged gear? Maybe my steel gear is worn/damaged. 

Mo, I have noticed on these smaller gears the brass or steel fee about the same. I believe it's related to its size., when you jump to the larger size, as the 5-500, you could really feel it then.
These are 8-10 lb reels, no need for the ss sleeve or steel gears... with that said, all of mine have both .

Sal

[mo65]

Nice!  Love seeing all the info on these reels, great ideas to keep in mind!

   Yes...lots of valuable info here...I learned a few new tricks while stumbling through the little 180. It's interesting that the roughness I was feeling in the gear was actually caused by this gear sleeve in the photo. To this date, it is the only sleeve I've encountered that was damaged so bad. Replacing it was instant gratification...bye bye growl.