Reel for spooling

[JasonGotaProblem]

Ok so the idea was I wanted to be able to set an ideal drag pressure that was unrelated to how firmly the spool is gripped. The plastic spool the line arrives on is a poor drag surface. So I took a cheap reel and cut the skirts off the spool save for the two tabs I kept that hold the ridges on the spool of line. The length of the spool shaft is what stops me from being able to use it for really large "filler" spools of line, but a longer shaft would address that. Bottom pic is the actual order of the pieces I have on there. The tape is over a steel sleeve I used the tape to build up to desired diameter close to that of the ID of the spool of braid. It keeps it from wobbling. I use a washer to keep it from hanging up on the vise, how tightly it's gripped in the vise plays no role whatsoever in the line tension that's all set by the drag on the butchered spool. It only needs to be right enough to keep the tabs from slipping out. But the washer from the reel that's keyed to the spool shaft is important because that's what the drag squeezes against.

(The spool I cut has the mono line on it that came with it. I never removed it because it's not in the way. It plays no role in the process.)

[Congerslayer]

Interesting! definitely gives me ideas! Not too far from a design I had in my mind, if I were to get the right shaft I'd actually just need a spare spool and drag knob, definitely gonna try to build something that works in a similar way, probably not before my upcoming Trip to Brazil but afterwards. I'm thinking as long as the connection between the plastic spool and the spinning spool, or another similar drag unit, hold there should be no real limit to how much resistance could be used(just on the drag system itself) and maybe I could connect something like a stainless rod to connect both spools, so it's removed and the spool can heat up without the line ever getting heated. Actually that reminded me, I have a broken Penn Spinnfisher 9500 laying around that I could butcher, that thing actually is capable of about 30kg of drag, unlike the 10500 which only produces 15kg, I'll see what I can do with that. To prevent wobble on a much simpler set up I used to just cut a piece of pipe that barely fit in the spool, worked like a charm.

[UKChris1]

When I only fished dacron or nylon mono I could normally work direct from the manufacturer's spool (with a damp towel and a second person the apply resistance as necessary) but modern PE braids need to be packed pretty tightly.

For my 50W, 80W and 130 reels I load the PE braid pretty tightly from the manufacturer's spool onto a 12/0 Everol - super smooth drag - and then wind onto the destination reel uder a lot of tension. Yup- forearm cramp, thumb cramp, wrist cramp but the line won't bury itself in use and it does build up my Popeye winding muscles. I find I can't get enough tension direct from the maker's spool to wond the line directly onto the destination reel.   

I could use a 12/0 Senator but the Everol does a great job.

For smaller reels, I'll press a 9/0 Senator into service and use less tension.