DIY LEVER DRAG CF WASHER

[LTM]

I would like to rebuild the drag washer to some of my lever drag reels.  The factory no longer makes drag discs for this reel.  The challenge is finding drag material thick enough for the application. Only ONE surface will be needed, the other side will be epoxyed to a metal surface.  The thickness of the drag material ONLY on a new disc is 2.0 mm, the thickest CF material Ive been able to find is 1.4 mm. One of two possible solutions that I have thought of is to glue TWO 1.0 mm washers together to obtain desired thickness.  Or the second possible solution would be to glue a 1.4mm thick cf drag to some sort of sub-strate material that is very even/flat in thickness and wont deform under pressure and heat that I can HANDILY fabricate to the correct thickness. I have no idea of what kind of material to use as the sub-strate.

Any ideas/suggestions?

Leo

[wallacewt]

hi leo
if that was me id glue two laminated 1.omm cf washers to gether.
gd luck

[LTM]

Thanx Wallace, Im considering that. However, Im concerned about seperation under pressure and from heat. May give it a try.

[Djamiller]

I've thought about doing exactly this for the penn 45gls. What reel are you working on?

[LTM]

Some old Daiwa LD30H & LD50H lever drag reels to extend their usage/life span since the factory no longer has replacement drag washers and has long since discontinued the reel.

[locknut]

I have just done this with some 6/0 Duel reels I had a Stainless steel CF plate laser cut and glued the Carbontex to it. Worked great you just need to supply the laser cut guys with a pattern.

[wallacewt]

hi leo
a few years ago i glued washers to gether,as well as
washers straight to gear  plate,cant remember
which reels and never had any problems.
i know i did the tld series.
also glued cf to cork (abu,s)then glued cork to gear.
some are on this site somewhere.
just make sure,no glue on the face of cf
glue wont seep through the laminated cf
cheers

[Djamiller]

3m makes a spray on glue that's often used for automobile headliners, trim, and such. I can't remember the name of it but I think that would probably be your best bet for applying an even coat of adhesive that won't bubble up in any spots and won't squeeze up over the carbon.

[Tiddlerbasher]

I've used JB Weld Original with CF - it works fine and doesn't soak through the fibres. It is also very heat tolerant (over 500F ). It also works well with compressed Kevlar (with which I'm experimenting).

[LTM]

Thanx guys for your responses, all will be taken into consideration. My other challenge that I have is drag thickness. The factory "cork" type fiber is 2.0 mm thick. The thickest carbon fiber I can find is 1.4 mm. Without having a plate (which the fiber washer will be mounted to) custom made and using what I got. Any suggestions on how to make-up/build-up the difference of 0.60 mm to bring the 1.4 mm drag thick drag to 2.0 mm thickness? This is my major obstacle to overcome.

Leo

[LTM]

Locknut, what did you use for glue?

Leo

[alantani]

the adhesive that was recommended to me was loctite depend 330.  very expensive, though. 

[LTM]

Thanx Alan, any idea of how/what (if necessary) to use to make up the 0.60mm difference in drag material?

Leo

[alantani]

you may not have to.  try it with just the drag washer.  you have have enough "tolerance" in the reel that the drag will still function with less height. 

[Robert Janssen]

The choice of adhesive here is quite important. Very few adhesives have the ability to withstand the temperatures that can arise in drags. Regular epoxies like Araldite for example, are seldom good to more than roughly 100 degrees centigrade and thusly are not to be recommended. Common contact cements and cyanoacrylates are likewise usually not adviseable. It can matter though, depending on application.

Below is the temperature / strength diagram for Loctite 330.



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