Spinning Reel Expert

[hilljon]

I am conducting some research into older spinning reels, particularly mechanisms (oscillate sliders, transverse cams) that convert rotation of the crank to back-and-forth linear motion to distribute the line evenly about the spool.  I would love the opportunity to speak with someone who has a lot of knowledge about the evolution of the inner workings of the spinning reel in this regard.  Thanks!

[alantani]

we've got some guys here that are pretty sharp when it comes to spinners.  i'm not one of them, though.  what models have you looked at?

[philaroman]

off the top of my head:

• Shimano introduced worm-gear oscillation on their better models around '90;
• Daiwa "borrowed" it;
• stainless worm GOOD;
• pot-metal disc/slider BAD;
• Okuma's EOS is re-hashed, dressed up "old science" (albeit, perfectly functional)

that's the extent of my "expertise"   

[paal]

You need to go to this web page and read some of the reviews. Great insight and great attention to details not found elsewhere.

www.alanhawk.com

[Robert Janssen]

Yes, i second Paals recommendation of Alan Hawk's website. Very detailed. A lot of good info. However, there is not a great deal of variety. So many spinning reels are so like one another that original thinking seems to have died.

There are many very knowledgeable historians at the ORCA (old reel collectors association) website. Try there. Some of them know all about Alcedo, Carpano et Pons, Holliday, Gar Wood and other great reels.


I may recommend using the Patent Office archives as well- that's where you'll find the right things. Don't expect anyone to just serve up the answers though- it takes a lot of diging, even if it is a lot less now than when one had to go there and leaf through the documents manually.

I pay a great deal of attention to reel history myself. However, i'm not too good with spinning reels. I do have a couple myself that are a bit different, notably a Sea Martin (which died a horrible death*) and a Tap 451. Both use levelwinding / oscillating mechanisms that work very, very well but with alternative thinking.





*That is my reel in the picture, after a million hours of painstaking restoration work. One time shortly after, me and a friend went for a summer afternoon fishing on the lake at his cabin. I had to leave early, so i left the gear there and took off. A few days later, i get a txt msg from him that says my bag smells funny, haha. WTF? So it turns out he wanted to play a joke on me and put the squid we used for bait in my bag, and left it there. Thing is, he didn't know that i'd just left for a week's vacation...
Oh good god, the stench..! Jezus H f'n Jehosophat, the stench... there is no rescue from a stench like that, ever. You gotta send in guys with space suits and bury it somewhere deep. They even had to divert airplane traffic from the deadly stink cloud. Here is a picture of the site... not even birds sing there anymore...

[Dynamo]

Thing is, he didn't know that i'd just left for a week's vacation..

That's pretty hilarious!

[Robert Janssen]

Idunno, man... he is the one who had to deal with it. I'm pretty sure it wasn't all chuckles.

.