Smoothing Penn Free-Spool Lever Movement

[Dragalioun]

Evening folks, I currently have a few reels of the Jigmaster, Surfmaster, and Peerless (9) variety and I've noticed something as of late:
The free spool lever almost universally feels a bit "rough", meaning there is a bit of resistance while turning the lever and easily being able to stop it in the middle of its travel and stay there.
My main question is if this is normal or not? The two reels that have it (A jigmaster and the 9) the least (meaning very little resistance/likeliness to stop in the middle) are the ones who to me feel like the least used, leading me to wonder if its just too much use (wear) or what not.

Also 2 random questioms I've been wondering about which may be affecting the movement:
1. what side of the yolk should be facing the spool in an assembled reel (part number side or empty side)?
2. Should one side of the yolk have a grooove in it where (I presume) the ringed part of the pinion rides on? If I recall correctly, some of the yokes have had it and some havent, so I'm curious. Picture (from my favorite reel, the 100 surfmaster) should clarify what I mean


 

Likely novice questions but I'm here to learn from the experts, even if it means making a fool of myself at times. Thanks!

[Swami805]

You can file a little bevel in the leading edge of the yoke to make it slide a little better. I think the groove in the yoke is wear from the pinion

[Dragalioun]

You can file a little bevel in the leading edge of the yoke to make it slide a little better. I think the groove in the yoke is wear from the pinion

Last night I was working on the surfmaster and tried doing that, it definately helped and it feels pretty alright now. I wonder if buying a new yolk might help it a bit, especially if that groove is from wear as you say

[thorhammer]

Agree with Sheridan, 100. Note- those particular model's yokes have been more or less stamped for the last 80 year or so, so over time tooling gets changed and ya might have some that more bevel than others due to tool wear. The bevel side of yoke should face the jack ears. As Swami says, you can perhaps chamfer a bit to smooth it out. I've had reels I had to take apart and tune on several times to fix this, especially if building a reel from parts either new or donor or a combo (like a used chromed jack and a new SS yoke, for example)

John

[Surfrat]

Yolks are cheap and available. I would buy a new yolk if you plan to use it. The groove is from wear.

Please post a few pictures of the inside showing the spool lever.
If the free spool feels a bit "rough", you can add a few drops of oil and grease it. It is hard to give suggestions without seeing a picture. It is possible it has salt buildup and dried old grease.

[Dragalioun]

Agree with Sheridan, 100. Note- those particular model's yokes have been more or less stamped for the last 80 year or so, so over time tooling gets changed and ya might have some that more bevel than others due to tool wear. The bevel side of yoke should face the jack ears. As Swami says, you can perhaps chamfer a bit to smooth it out. I've had reels I had to take apart and tune on several times to fix this, especially if building a reel from parts either new or donor or a combo (like a used chromed jack and a new SS yoke, for example)

John

You can say that again, when I was making one really nice Penn 9 using two that I bought before, I had to assemble and disassemble that reel a good dozen times and mess with/change around parts before I got it to feel really nice. Took some time but definately worth it!

[Dragalioun]

Yolks are cheap and available. I would buy a new yolk if you plan to use it. The groove is from wear.

Please post a few pictures of the inside showing the spool lever.
If the free spool feels a bit "rough", you can add a few drops of oil and grease it. It is hard to give suggestions without seeing a picture. It is possible it has salt buildup and dried old grease.

I usually take lots of pictures while working on my reels but funnily enough, I dont have any of the dissassembled eccentric lever, I'm pretty sure I took out the eccentric itself and cleaned it out but I'll send what pictures I have. Let me know if they dont offer enough insight!

[MarkT]

The brass yoke gets worn by the stainless steel pinion. They make stainless yokes for the Jigmaster and 113h. I don't know if the jiggy yoke fits the others.

[Shellbelly]

Funny, I've been dealing with a pinion yoke issue for two hours today.  Wound up replacing 4 parts in the process.

You should also check the bearing while you're in there.  When wear starts somewhere, it can affect other parts.  You might fix the immediate problem but still have a sleeper waiting to get you later.

If you haven't done so before, go to Mystic Parts and wander around the site.  You'll find some stuff you need and plenty of info on your reels and parts. 

I still use those peerless #9's and all the peer models.  Well, 109 not so much anymore. 

[Dragalioun]

Funny, I've been dealing with a pinion yoke issue for two hours today.  Wound up replacing 4 parts in the process.

You should also check the bearing while you're in there.  When wear starts somewhere, it can affect other parts.  You might fix the immediate problem but still have a sleeper waiting to get you later.

If you haven't done so before, go to Mystic Parts and wander around the site.  You'll find some stuff you need and plenty of info on your reels and parts. 

I still use those peerless #9's and all the peer models.  Well, 109 not so much anymore. 

I've been considering buying lots of stuff for my Surfmaster for a while but it very quickly becomes a game of "while I'm here, I might as well..." and the price goes very high very fast

I have bushings from a flea market Jigmaster I got which looks pretty bad but at least on the gear side, looked/felt basically unused so hopefully its bushings are just like that. No yoke I could swap in easily but I've been considering trying to buy/trade for a less used Surfmaster (for future parts and just hopefully less worn out parts). Maybe I'll find one soon or just buy a yoke on Ebay/Mystic Parts

[Shellbelly]

You are well on your way to the "stacked plastic bin" world of reel parts.  Then comes the mil surplus filing cabinets.  After that comes furniture for your reel display, and finally, additional square footage.

You'll be fine.  It'll be fun.  There are storage experts here, too.  We're all good at acquiring things we don't have room for and finding those few square inches to put them in.  

[Dragalioun]

You are well on your way to the "stacked plastic bin" world of reel parts.  Then comes the mil surplus filing cabinets.  After that comes furniture for your reel display, and finally, additional square footage.

You'll be fine.  It'll be fun.  There are storage experts here, too.  We're all good at acquiring things we don't have room for and finding those few square inches to put them in.  

Already have the covered in reels drawer top, just a few steps away 

[thorhammer]

I have several dozen 9,209,309 plus a couple 109's and mag 10 and 210. Lots of times you can find them at a yard sale for five bucks, usually with level wind missing, and I disassemble, clan in sonicator, and box

Agree with Sheridan, 100. Note- those particular model's yokes have been more or less stamped for the last 80 year or so, so over time tooling gets changed and ya might have some that more bevel than others due to tool wear. The bevel side of yoke should face the jack ears. As Swami says, you can perhaps chamfer a bit to smooth it out. I've had reels I had to take apart and tune on several times to fix this, especially if building a reel from parts either new or donor or a combo (like a used chromed jack and a new SS yoke, for example)

John

You can say that again, when I was making one really nice Penn 9 using two that I bought before, I had to assemble and disassemble that reel a good dozen times and mess with/change around parts before I got it to feel really nice. Took some time but definately worth it!

them in the parts boxes. Still use the 9 and Mag 10's frequently. For dang certain trying to put a reel together out of the parts bins can be challenging on those, lol.

[Gfish]

There's alota things that can be "off" in the Penn eccentric/yolk/pinion system. I've had problems with the e. Jack bumping into the bridge screws for example. Recently I had what Packrat and Sal referred to as "pinion tilt", which caused too much friction between the inside of the pinion and the spool shaft, while in free spool. This can affect casting distance(easy to tell; turn handle in free spool and the spool spins too). Can't seem to solve that one.
Definitely something to play around with. I did solve a problem like yours the other day, by changing-out the e.jack from an aftermarket stainless steel one to a well used brass one. Where was the SS e.jack hanging-up? Couldn't tell, because the only way to test function is by full reassembly in which case you can't see what's going-on.
Interested to see what you come up with.

[Dragalioun]

There's alota things that can be "off" in the Penn eccentric/yolk/pinion system. I've had problems with the e. Jack bumping into the bridge screws for example. Recently I had what Packrat and Sal referred to as "pinion tilt", which caused too much friction between the inside of the pinion and the spool shaft, while in free spool. This can affect casting distance(easy to tell; turn handle in free spool and the spool spins too). Can't seem to solve that one.
Definitely something to play around with. I did solve a problem like yours the other day, by changing-out the e.jack from an aftermarket stainless steel one to a well used brass one. Where was the SS e.jack hanging-up? Couldn't tell, because the only way to test function is by full reassembly in which case you can't see what's going-on.
Interested to see what you come up with.

For now I got it to feel more or less good on the Surfmaster through some softening of the edges on the yoke and jack, but I cant do much else aside from buying a new yoke/jack to experiment with (I really want to get this reel to feel as smooth as possible, which I think I am working on slowly but surely