Thinking of converting a 12lt

thunnus69 · September 26, 2012, 01:53:13 PM

Any thoughts about converting a 12lt to fish 50# braid? Cals does this (their super12) but I have no experience with CAls. Cost is $160 but I picked up the reel for $137 in good used condition. Does Alan or anyone in the community do this kind of work.

Also CAl charges $40 extra for "double dogs". Is this worth doing with the conversion?
Thanks,
Joe

LTM · September 26, 2012, 07:41:34 PM

Thunnus,

Interesting name, how do you pronounce it? Anywho Cal Sheets is god for International reels and know the world over by pro saltwater fishermen. Alan has a post on "blueprinting" that's great, that should net you the results that your looking for. You wont believe the cost for the parts (piece of tubing from the hobby/hardware store) to effect "blueprinting". Someone will comment/referr you to the process.

Hold on for more info,

Leo

day0ne · September 26, 2012, 09:02:26 PM

Quote from: LTM on September 26, 2012, 07:41:34 PM
Thunnus,

Interesting name, how do you pronounce it? Anywho Cal Sheets is god for International reels and know the world over by pro saltwater fishermen. Alan has a post on "blueprinting" that's great, that should net you the results that your looking for. You wont believe the cost for the parts (piece of tubing from the hobby/hardware store) to effect "blueprinting". Someone will comment/referr you to the process.

Hold on for more info,

Leo

Sorry, but I have to disagree (a lot). Alan's post was on improving freespool and had little to do with "blueprinting" or the work Cal does on the Super 12's. Larger drag, machining,etc, all cost money. The $160-$200 only covers the Blueprinting. The price jumps to $325-$350 for the blueprinting and the 2 speed conversion. For 50lb, the double dogs may not be totally needed, but I would probably pay $40 for them. You could probably sell the reel for the total you would have in it ($337 ) but adding the 2 speed conversion makes it not as good a deal

redsetta · September 26, 2012, 09:08:33 PM

G'day Thunnus,
There's a bit of info about Super 12s here: http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=4593.0
There's also a rundown on spool sleeves here: http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=1167.0

QuoteAlso CAl charges $40 extra for "double dogs". Is this worth doing with the conversion?

If it's within your budget, absolutely

Hope that helps.
Good luck, Justin

LTM · September 27, 2012, 01:15:18 AM

Thunnus,

My bad for being vague. In this section you'll see a post by Alan titled "cutting a bearing sleeve". in the comments to the tutorial Alan speaks of some of the process' of blueprinting and my addressing the bearing sleeve only was misleading. Glad dayOne step in to clear things up. You may want to read the post I mentioned to get more info as to whats involved.

Leo

thunnus69 · September 28, 2012, 12:22:32 PM

Thanks again everyone for the links and comments. I do plan on sending the 12lt to Cals for his super 12 conversion and then building a rod for it.

alantani · September 30, 2012, 05:29:32 AM

check the specs on a super 12 and compare them to the new penn 12 vsx. they might be pretty close!

thunnus69 · October 01, 2012, 01:22:20 AM

Thanks Alan. Quite a site you have here.
Take care,
Joe

thunnus69 · November 09, 2012, 12:55:00 AM

Just got off the phone with Cal Sheets. He recieved my reel and asked me some questions. More importantly he explained some things which made the phonecall all the more worth while. We talked about fishing in Costa Rica (my stomping grounds) for roosters and sails. He expanded my knowledge about internationals and about the work he's going to do on my 12lt. One thing I thought worth mentioning was that he is not able to "double dog" my reel without converting it to a 2 speed (cost $350). Super 12ing it with the bigger drag he will give me up to 18 pounds of drag at strike with a decent progression but wont be able to give me 1 or 2 lbs on the lower end, makes sense. When I told him about how I would fish this reel he said I could probably get away without the double dog, however he said he has seen a few over the years get shearred off when fighting big fish such as bluefin tuna. At $350 I said I'd be into a new 12vsx which started another conversation about those reels. Apearently he'd tested a prototype of that reel and talked to me about those. Great guy who really knows his stuff.

obeckmann · January 02, 2013, 04:47:38 AM

So what was Cal's thoughts on the vsx reel?

alantani · January 04, 2013, 10:09:29 AM

he seems to like them. i had a chance to talk to him briefly at the long beach trade show. he is a very gracious man.

thunnus69 · March 04, 2013, 11:18:30 PM

Just got my 12 LT back from Cal Sheets. He Super 12'd it adding a second dog as well. Two speeded it and put a bearing sleeve in and blue printed (28# at strike). I started with a simple blue print order and basically ended up having him do everything to it that he could including a new handle and topless Tiburon frame. The sleeve adds a ton of free spool. I'm very happy with his work.