Sometimes, Small Things We Never See — Are What Makes Quality

[foakes]

Small observation that I wanted to share —-

Restoring the last of a group of DQ Champion '01 reels that belong to a Salmon Fisherman up outside of Anchorage, Alaska.

"This was one of the first King salmon caught with my 3001, using a Pixie and a steel leader. The Pixie came with cheap hooks but I learned to replace the immediately. This was caught from shore on the Kenai river after a 45 minute fight and weighed 41 pounds. Thanks for looking after them."


Underneath the Bail Arm is a recessed round steel piece.

This interacts with and makes contact with the Stop Lever to trip the bail into the closed position.

Most internal trip spinning reels have something similar to this —- not unusual.

But here is the intriguing part —-

Most everyone else makes these bail arms out of some sort of graphite or plastic material —- salesmen say it saves weight.

But D.A.M. makes theirs out of metal (cast aluminum) —- then does a steel insert under the bail mount —- so that this small part of the reel that is used on every cast —- will last nearly forever.  It will not degrade, get worn down, crack, or fail like graphite plastics.

Small thing —- no one sees it (except for the guys here on our site) —- and a company could easily get by without doing this.

Sometimes, the small things you don't see —- make all of the difference in a reel remaining serviceable and capable through multiple generations —- instead of a reel breaking after a few years and needing replacement.

Pride in design, craftsmanship, engineering —- with no drama or bragging —- just solid results when fishing.

Quality starts with doing the small detail things that no one ever sees.

Best, Fred

[Shellbelly]

As an apprentice, I was taught that very concept.  Later, as a foreman, I was griped at for being too slow.  Even later, as a project manager, I was scrutinized for the costs of labor and materials.  For some "strange" reason, my customers and I shared respect and confidence.  I wasn't unique.  I knew dozens of craftsmen across many, many trades.  All had a concept of legacy.

Craftmanship and disposable don't belong in the same room.  I believe a certain facet of craftmanship has long passed on but its results are still there.  The new normal is to build something that works phenomenally for just long enough so the consumer will buy another one when it fails.  Impress, fail, replace, repeat. 

I try not to participate.  I use a percolator. 

[happyhooker]

Attention to detail is a positive I ascribe to.  Detractors call such people "detail men", and always think they are too slow.

Frank

[akroper]

My son works in the construction trades.  When discussing a job with a client, he explains that there are three aspects to a job:  time, cost, and quality.  "You can do it quick and cheap, but it won' be done correctly.  You can do it quick and correctly, but it won't be cheap.  You can do it correctly and cheap but it won't be quick.  You can never do it quick, cheap, and correctly."  Oddly enough, quick and cheap is the least popular choice.
My other son is a master tile setter and stone mason who works on million dollar + homes.  He is one of Frank's "detail men."  They both are Old World-type craftsmen, and have more work than they can handle.  They both know other workers who scratch for work because they don't give a crap about leaving any kind of legacy.
 

[Gfish]

Yeah, there's many kinds of spice in life for us, one of my favorites are "real" craftsman and their products. If only I could afford all my stuff to be made by these guys.

A tangent, but perhaps relevant; I worked in a tool rental yard many years ago. The worst customers were the contractor's. Uptight, in a constant hurry, nasty, dissatisfied. Some of the younger ones seemed to be using meth. Returned everything dirty, tried to get out of paying for clean-up. "Time is money"! Ever since then, I've abhorred the idea of hiring them for anything.

My Dad was my model. He made a lot of stuff around the house. Didn't care how much it weighed as long as it was tough and could be taken-apart for repair. Was surprised when he finally broke-down and bought a pop-rivet gun.