Fun DAM Quicks to Restore

[foakes]

Although I have thousands of parts for the DQ S.W.68 & DQ 250 Standards —- I seldom get to work on them.

These little reels are funky looking to a lot of folks —- but when we get inside of them, and if we know anything about materials and engineering design —- these will both surprise and amaze us in their strength and design.

D.A.M. had been around since the late 1800's, as a fishing tackle manufacturer.  This spinning reel was first introduced in 1938.  During WWII, the factory was destroyed.

After the War, certain mechanical industries were prohibited from any manufacturing without prior Allied authorization —- to prevent weapons manufacturing.

The City of Berlin was split up into East & West (Russia operated the East, and the other US & European countries the West).  The West was split up into (4) quadrants, each with numbered sections.  This was to prove the origin of products being manufactured, and the inspection process.

D.A.M. (Stands for Deutsche Angerate Manufaktur, or translated — German Fishing Tackle Manufacturer).

The section where D.A.M. Quick resumed operations in a new Berlin plant was designated —- S.W. 68 (Southwest Quadrant, #68).  So to make paperwork and inspection simpler, D.A.M. just renamed their reel a S.W. 68.  Came out in 1954.

Client sent these (2) in to me for full restorations and service.  Lots of old black, sticky grease.  It had to all come out, see what I was working with —- replace any worn parts, reassemble and tune using modern synthetic greases and oil.

Cleaned up all parts, replaced left & right bail springs, installed new spring caps, drags, one spool, one bail mount arm, and a few other small items.  Both turned out well.

The owner intends to fish these, then eventually to hand them down to his kids.

These reels are unlike any other spinner, and they do need a few specialized tools, a proper sequence of disassembly, and a little knowledge of their operation and peculiarities (some screws are reverse threaded, etc.).

All parts inspected, cleaned, burnished —- inside and out.

They both work like watches —- and are great testaments to the resilience of the German engineers.

Best, Fred

[Midway Tommy]

Neat old reels. I've got a 3 or 4, including a mint Quick-O-Mat. They're interesting to do a complete service on.

A full fledged tutorial on one would sure assist the novices.

[oldmanjoe]

     I know that it is a good reel , but the shape / box look kills it for me .  A brick with a spool on it ..

[happyhooker]

Gregg did a breakdown with a lot of pics on one of these a few years ago for our AT site.  One look tells you they are old timers, which only adds to the ambiance IMHO. I obtained that same reel (I think) last year from him (thanks again, gfish).  Planned to test it out on some buffalo or carp at a dam tailwaters I like to fish, especially in the late spring, but it had been popcorn fart dry for so long i didn't think any water would be coming over the dam, so.... However, got 2 in. of rain last week, so I'll probably try to get over there next week sometime.  If you want a fish to test a reel out on, a bigmouth buffalo will separate the men from the boys.

Frank

[Fishgolfman]

The rebuilt sw68 was put to a "test". That is a 2 inch countdown rapala.  Reel performed admirably!! Lol

[foakes]

Here is an ad from a 1955 copy of Field & Stream —-

70 years ago!

Best, Fred

[akroper]

What do you think, Mr. Oakes?  $32.50 in 1955 is worth $388 today. Could this reel be manufactured and sold for $388 today and make enough profit to keep it in the market, or would manufacturing cost be too great?

[foakes]

What do you think, Mr. Oakes?  $32.50 in 1955 is worth $388 today. Could this reel be manufactured and sold for $388 today and make enough profit to keep it in the market, or would manufacturing cost be too great?

Just doing the math compared to the parts necessary, I would expect that these could be manufactured identically to 70 years ago, and make a profit from dead cost off the assembly line to the retailer who buys at wholesale cost.

However, on most reels today, the retailers expect and are encouraged to get a 80% to 100% profit from what they pay to retail.

The real question might be —- would there be a market for this reel today?  Honestly, no.

These have a value as a historical & early well engineered reel that helped to usher in the era of open-faced spinning reels.  These were first introduced in 1937.

When anglers started to enjoy the performance, convenience, and the ability to cover more water quickly and efficiently —- with no backlashes —- spinners really caught on.

But today, after over 7 decades of thousands of more advanced spinning reels, that have more features, and are sharper-looking —- these most likely would not sell well in today's market.

But as a historical piece, they will both appreciate in value, and some folks will fish them for nostalgia reasons.

But nostalgia doesn't pay the bills.

Best, Fred

[happyhooker]

Well, I got out last Thursday to my nearby dam tailwaters to test out my Standard 250.  No big carp or buffalo, but ran into some small-medium sized northern pike (what we call "northerns" around here).  Satisfied with reel operation.  Got some typical looping issues on a few retrieves, similar to what I get on all spinning gear when I don't pay attention to the line spooling after the first couple of handle cranks.  The drag operated flawlessly for what seems like, at first glance, a pretty simple drag setup.  No casting issues.  One thing I found was that the operation and location of the AR lever near the base of the crank is very handy; you can stick out a finger and flip the lever one way or the other with ease & speed. All in all, a good experience & enjoyed my morning out.

Frank

[JeffG]

Morning all!
    Is the drag click gear pressed onto the spool shaft? I do believe mine rotates so obviously it doesn't click when pulling drag.

Thanks
Jeff

[foakes]

Morning all!
    Is the drag click gear pressed onto the spool shaft? I do believe mine rotates so obviously it doesn't click when pulling drag.

Thanks
Jeff

There is a tiny set screw with a beveled point that attaches the click gear to the spool shaft, Jeff.

Check to see if yours is broken, missing, or pulled back.

I can send you what you need at N/C.

These reels were meant for every part of the reel to be fully serviceable.  Plus, these were manufactured before "pressed on" parts became much of a thing.  The German engineers did not understand that concept.

Best, Fred

[JeffG]

Morning all!
    Is the drag click gear pressed onto the spool shaft? I do believe mine rotates so obviously it doesn't click when pulling drag.

Thanks
Jeff

There is a tiny set screw with a beveled point that attaches the click gear to the spool shaft, Jeff.

Check to see if yours is broken, missing, or pulled back.

I can send you what you need at N/C.

These reels were meant for every part of the reel to be fully serviceable.  Plus, these were manufactured before "pressed on" parts became much of a thing.  The German engineers did not understand that concept.

Best, Fred

Thanks Fred, I'll check as soon as I get a chance.

Jeff

[DougK]

thanks for showing these Fred, handsome reels..

D.A.M. (Stands for Deutsche Angerate Manufaktur, or translated — German Fishing Tackle Manufacturer).

I love the very literal German company names.. used to work for Software AG, Software Aktiengesellschaft, means Software share company, does what it says on the box - software company traded on the stock market.