No drag on a Vintage TED WILLIAMS 535.38490 Sears Roebuck Casting Fishing Reel

[thehorseman@bellsouth.net]

New guy here! First, thanks for the add!
So where do I begin.
I first bought the Sear reel Model 535-39971. All I did was remove the handle for a cleaning. When putting it back on I lost the drag. It's like there is now a gap ,the handle is not tight. You would think a washer is missing but it's not. This reel has the button freespool feature in the handle.

So, I looked for another reel to see if that would help me figure out what happened.
I purchased a Ted Williams Model 535-38490.
I removed the handle and yep ........ it did the same thing.
I have worked on reels for some time now and this issue has me baffled.
I can't believe I now have two nice reels with the same issues.
NOTE: They were both working fine until I removed the handles.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Many thanks
Michael 

[alantani]

welcome!!!!  not familiar with these at all.  hopefully someone will be.   

[Bryan Young]

Looks very interesting. I wish I saw one of those reels before. Good luck I hope someone out here can help you out.

[oldmanjoe]

  Does the drag wheel tighten toward the handle to create drag on this model ?

[thehorseman@bellsouth.net]

The drag wheel will only turn clockwise. It's like a gap was created when I removed the handle and that's what's stopping the drag from working. No loss parts as I have two reels that are a like doing the same thing.

[oldmanjoe]

If you turn it counter clock wise does it work than ?   Another though also is hold the spool and turn the handle to make sure it is not in free spool mode .

[thehorseman@bellsouth.net]

I tried that too. What's crazy is all I did is remove the handle on both reels. When I did   It's like it locked up the drag wheel to where it only spins in a clockwise movement. The threads move with it so I can't change the depth of the threads and that's why there is no drag.

[oldmanjoe]

Ok   Take another picture , I think you don`t have the handle on the same shaft as the star wheel .   The washers and handle have key to mate to the shaft .   The handle should hold the shaft while turning the drag wheel going by the pictures .

[thehorseman@bellsouth.net]

The handle is on the shaft with the star drag, but it's like there is now to many threads for the last washer to tighten. Somehow the shaft with the keg is longer with no way to eliminate threats to get the last washer on the outside to tighten the handle to the shaft that turns the spool

[oldmanjoe]

Ok  Just to be clear , the big solid washer only fits on the smaller shaft with the nut ?

[thehorseman@bellsouth.net]

Correct

[oldmanjoe]

If you hold the handle and turn the drag wheel to tighten against the handle , you should get it to work .     The black washer on the handle is the drag washer .  That in turn drives the solid washer .

[thehorseman@bellsouth.net]

It should but it doesn't. One would think it's that simple. Someh the drag wheel shaft is now to long not letting the handle do its job.

[thehorseman@bellsouth.net]

Also the fact that both reels are having the same issue leads me to believe it's something simple but I sure can't figure it out.

[jurelometer]

Looks like the reel is a rebadged Shakespeare.

I think Joe is on to something.


Check out this video at around the 7:20 mark.  The star is reverse threaded and presses the drag against the handle arm (instead of against the main gear as in a typical star drag), so the handle is supposed to be floppy until the drag is tight.  Strange...

So the parts have to be in order, the keys have to be aligned and slipping, the cap nut has to be all the way down.  It seems unlikely that the inner shaft shifted out simply by undoing the handle nut, as this shaft has to be able to resist the clamping load from the drag in this direction.

Just by looking at the video and your photos, my first guess is that the reel is behaving normally, and the drag just needs to be tightened.  My second guess is that it is a bit tricky to get the cap nut all the way down- and it needs a few more turns (or the handle arm is not lined up with the flats on the shaft).  My third guess is parts are out of order on assembly or keys in parts are not aligned.

If you want a manual/schematic, you might need to dig around the interwebs a bit, make friends with an ORCA member, or shell out $40 for an annual ORCA membership.  They might well have the manual, at least for the Shakespeare version.

Let us know what you find out.  Sure is an interesting reel.  I am curious as to how the freespool and drag mechanisms work.

-J