Main Gears in Senators

[Caranx]

What are your preferences for for main gears in the 113h and 114h's.
Steel, stainless steel or bronze/brass?

[coastalobsession]

Stainless. Regular steel wont last long

[Makule]

Stainless will "work harden" as it's used.  That is, as the surface is worked (cut, filed, abraded, etc), it will get harder and harder, to the extent that it becomes very difficult to wear out.  Regular steel  doesn't have that same quality, nor does brass/bronze.  Of the three, bronze/brass is the softest and will wear the fastest.  The other side of that coin is that the pinion gear must be made of the same material or wear will be uneven.

[Norcal Pescador]

Stainless steel if the pinion is stainless. Actually, stainless anytime.

[Alto Mare]

You won't find a reel smoother and quieter than the brass alloy gear,however, I prefer stainless steel gears. These gears will always feel rough and noisy, but  will last a long time. I've never seen a pinion gear in brass

[Makule]

You won't find a reel smoother and quieter than the brass alloy gear,however, I prefer stainless steel gears. These gears will always feel rough and noisy, but  will last a long time. I've never seen a pinion gear in brass

Agree.  Brass and bronze have a kind of "self lubricating" property (doesn't mean they should be run dry) so they are smoother and quieter than steel.

Even the very old Senators had steel pinion gears (I think some of the old Templar reels had brass/bronze pinion gears but that's another story).

Gears feel rough because of the way they are cut (square corners).  You could make them smoother by rounding the sharp corners, but that's essentially wearing the corners and kinda defeats the purpose of using stainless.  Alternatively, you could try polishing the gear teeth so they are super smooth and slide against each other more easily (if you're really into making them smooth).  If you're looking for strength, SS is the way to go (there may be some other exotic metals you could have custom made gears from that may be stronger) and they won't rust like the regular steel.