Wavy-Spring-Belleville Washers

[Swami805]

I've been fishing deck hand rods my whole life, never had a failure   Caught all kinds of fish. For 40lb line and up use a reel seat, below that if properly tightened they work fine

[Classtime]

Aye. The schematic of the 501 shows an 8-60 where my 501 has a 18-505. My 501 that began this thread has a #18-505 on top of the drag stack inside the reel and a #8-60 outside the reel between the spacing sleeve and the star.

(My first Jigmaster was on a solid glass rod with a reel seat and all the kool kids had cork tape or tuna cord deckhand rods.)

[jurelometer]

I thought the wavy washer was to help with the drag not backing off.

Not if you are using anything but the lightest drag settings. I know that this seems a bit counter-intuitive, but it is friction on the thread faces that holds them tight, and a spring does not increase the friction from the same clamping  load.  It doesn't magically multiply the load, it simply compresses while transferring the load.  Put some springs under your shoes, stand on a scale, and you will still weigh the same as with the springs in you hands.

A spring only helps if you are barely just past the borderline of applying any clamping load. The spring load requires more  rotational travel of the star to undo the same clamping load. It also helps if the load is so light that backlash (i.e., backplay from the gaps between the thread faces) comes into play.

This is the same principle behind why those "lock" washers (those round spring washers with a slit in them that we see at the hardware store) don't really "lock" a nut securely. Any spring travel not removed from tightening will eventually cause the clamping load to decrease as the spring fatigues over time.  This is also why you will not find lock washers on your car wheel lug nuts, or any other serious piece of machinery where parts need to stay connected with anything but very light clamping loads. 

-J