LT Willis Tasman reel

[Rothmar2]

Hi All,

I recently got this classic LT Willis "Tasman" reel handed to me to clean up and preserve for a client. This reel has been passed down from a couple of generations of the owners family, and was used in our local waters mainly to catch bluefin tuna and albacore. It had however been put on display at their family shack for many years, and the owner wanted it shown a little love as he was worried it might be deteriorating. (As you will see, he need not have worried).
   First impressions were it was in pretty good condition for its age (Australian postwar manufacture but probably no later than early 1950's). I sent some emails to Ed Pritchard (in the US) and Warwick Doncaster (Australian Fishing Museum) to try and get some additional information on Leo T Willis, but apart from what they already had posted on their websites, they didn't have any further details on him or his operation.
As can be seen, this reel was in a very clean state, some minor patina covering all the chromed marine bronze external surfaces.











I had a bit of a conundrum as to just cleaning the outside of the reel or opening it right up and going through the internals. On closer inspection a couple of problems were immediately apparent, there was a distinct wobble in both cheeks of the spool, but there was no contact with the side plates due to the wobble. It didn't appear as though the spool shaft was bent though. The crank arm had a slight twist to it and a couple of the harness and turnbuckle eyes were also bent.
I decided to try and disassemble the reel as much as possible, but if I encountered any difficulties in doing so, I would not force any parts to go further.
Surprisingly, I was able to break the reel down almost completely, as someone in the past had greased or oiled most of the moving parts, and fastenings. The grease used at that time was going hard however, and in some cases took a bit of work to remove. As I don't have a U/S cleaner, I soaked greased parts in diesel and used a fine paintbrush or toothbrush to remove the old grease.
To get to the gears/drags and A/R dogs, the crank, star and a lubrication cap need to be removed.





As you can see, the star has a roller thrust bearing under it. As the reel has no clutch to free-spool the reel, you simply wind back the star, to release the drag. This roller bearing makes increasing and decreasing the drag very smooth. The pitch on the gear sleeve is very fine as well.

Next, remove the knurled bearing lubricator, and 4 screws to remove the cover plate, which reveals the internals



Pure simplicity!

The drags and main gear slide off the sleeve, the drags are on both sides of the gear. The washers are made from what appears to be some sort of gasket (probably asbestos based) material. The metals were surprisingly thin, less than 1mm thick. There is no spacer sleeve, and the top washer facing the star is a bronze top-hat type, no Belleville's. The fine pitch on the sleeve makes for a nice gradual increase in drag tension.



The bridge plate is huge, and solid. Double  stout A/R dogs, engage simultaneously. The lubricator at the top of the spool bearing recess is quite cunning. You pack the bore of the bridge mounted part, and the cap with grease, and screw the cap down. This can be done with the reel fully assembled. There is a tiny hole that passes into the bearing recess, and admits the grease to the spool bearings.
You can also see that the post screws fit into machined recesses on the bridge plate rim. The fit is amazing, and I wondered whether these post screws were  made in house.



The reverse side of the bridge, look at the extra support for the gear sleeve post!
The tapered outer race of the spool bearing is still in it's recess. The bearing does not press all the way into the bottom, there is a lip which prevents it from bottoming out in the bore. The lubricator hole passes through that step, so the annular space under the outer bearing race will be kept filled with grease



The right end of the spool, with the pinion gear removed. This photo was taken prior to cleaning the grease off. The pinion has a round key/locator, and there is a central screw that holds it all together on the spool shaft.



I didn't want to force the bearing off the spool shaft, for fear of damaging it, just to see the securing arrangement of the spool cheeks onto the shaft. Pretty sure all spools of this vintage were all 3 piece construction, amongst most, if not all reel makers of this time. I didn't strip all the line off the spool either. I did however pull enough of the line off to find a beautifully executed splice of the green coloured line onto a white coloured line of the same gauge. I wish I had of photographed it. The line that was on the spool, did still feel like it was in good condition. This was the first time I had ever handled vintage line of this type.



The left end plate, showing the clicker arrangement, very sturdy. The same bearing as the right end of the spool. You can see the mounting screw for the lubricator for this bearing, located centrally in this plate.



I was able to extract the left end spool bearing off the shaft to clean it properly. To all of you guys in the US, can anyone fill in any technical or historical details of these bearings? I have never seen these before.



The reel foot, was also a very solid machined single piece of chromed brass or bronze, easily 1/2" thick. I should have taken a photo of it on its own.

I cleaned all the exterior pieces with a soft cloth, and a diluted vinegar solution, with plenty of elbow grease to bring back the shine. I then scrubbed the parts in warm soapy water, then a final rinse in clean water, and allowed it all to dry.

On reassembling the reel, I used all "modern" lubricants, Corrosion X oil, a marine grease thinned with Corrosion X for the bearings and gear teeth, and thinly coated all the internal surfaces with a paint-brush and the marine grease, to the point it was barely noticeable. All fastenings were replaced with thinned grease and just snugged up, not tightened down. The reel also came with its period correct rod, which was getting restored elsewhere, and hopefully I will be able to get some photos of the rig fully assembled when it's all done.




So here is the reel all shined up and back together. I'll add, that I also wiped and buffed the outsides with wax to keep the shine.









If anyone who has ORCA membership, or who has any further information on Leo T Willis they could share, the owner of this reel would be very grateful for further learning the origins of this reel.

Thanks for looking!

[Wompus Cat]

Thank you for showing the Teardown and Absolute Beautiful restoration.

[Dominick]

Nice work as usual.  Dominick

[Swami805]

Very clever solid design, great job on the rebuild, Thanks

[Brewcrafter]

Wonderful walkthrough and an awesome job! - john

[oc1]

Wow.  What a workhorse!  Love the oilers.  How could someone make something that rugged and beautiful, and then fade away without leaving much history?.  Wonder how many he produced all together?

Line is died cuttyhunk Irish linen.  By the mid-1950's (if not sooner) it would have been replaced with dacron or nylon.

[mhc]

Nicely preserved Chris - it looks as good and original as it would have 70 years ago. I like the advice stamped on the handle nut "OIL OFTEN"
I had a quick google search when I first saw it and didn't find much either, only that his reels were highly regarded at the time (1930s to 50s) and now sought after by collectors. This link antique fishing reels has a few photos of a Tasman and a couple of other models.

Mike

[54bullseye]

Pretty and solid made reel but I am gonna say not nearly enough drag to match the rest of the reel !! You did a great job on the clean and lube tutorial  A++++++++  Thanks for showing !   John Taylor

[Reeltyme]

Now that's a true family heirloom! Beautiful job on the clean up. Thank you for the thread!

[Tiddlerbasher]

Lovely restoration Chris

[Rothmar2]

Hi Steve, thanks for filling me in on the line type. Apparently the reel has never had Nylon or Dacron spooled on it. The owner thinks the last time it was seriously fished was the 70's.
Such a shame the spool cheeks were warped, it would be a hoot to take it fishing one last time, especially as we are currently having a cracking tuna season in our waters at the moment.
John, I agree, the reel is overbuilt for the drag I was able to get even with the spool emptied to its current level. Mind you, there was no way I was going to force anything, but I still feel, the drag could be buttoned right down to put out a fair bit of tension on the line, even with a full spool. The gears are certainly very solid, and made of quality steel.
Thanks for all the kind words, it certainly was an interesting project. Looking forward to hopefully seeing it mounted back on its restored rod.

[Sharkb8]

Great resto thanks for showing

Kim

[thorhammer]

thats some good work Chris, and a nice piece to see!

[Bill B]

Outstanding restoration Chris!  Did you ever determine whether the side flanges were just warped or blown out like mono does to a three piece spool?  Bill

[oc1]

If you get a chance to see the restored rod then snap a picture for us.