15 different colors with holes reamed, face cut 60 deg angle/radius blend, and 1st phase polish. This particular face cut is what the locals seem to like although I have a bunch of other styles in the works. Some of the guys like more of a blend radius and others seem to like more of the angle showing. I like them both! The colors are spectacular when fully polished. Purple/bronze, golds, coppers, they all look amazing and it becomes hard to choose. Easier to pick when you decide what color reel they're going on.
Next is to make the spinner tubes, knurl, and epoxy. With this tube in place you can cut the shape of the other side holding from the tube itself. When other side has been cut and counter bored, its time for the final polish.
Next is to turn and tap the shaft and assemble.
The first 4 pics shows some of the colors.
The final 4 pics shows a blue/black pearl knob on one of my rebuilt, narrowed, Monofils.
These are Sweet little reels and one of my favorites for bottom fishing. I'm open to comments and suggestions. Always looking for input to make improvement's. I took a bunch of these to the Fishing Expo a month or so ago and the response was overwhelming.
regard's, .. Lou
Here's the Monofil with blue/black pearl knob.
Yes Lou I have a suggestion.. Forget our conversation today and tell what it takes to get those knobs for my Cortez reels!!! Those are spectacular and true art my man!!!
Loving those knobs! Beautiful work and combinations! Please tell us these are for sale! Purple and Black? Green and Silver?
Andy
Serious talent Lou! Spectacular colors. How do they feel in your hand with that shape?
Lou, love em. What is the size of the knob when finished? It is hard to tell. Dominick
That is a head turner Lou.
Do you make other shapes like a pistol grip type knob ?
Ted
Spectacular.
Wow!
Beautiful!
Best,
Fred
Beautiful work, Lou!
They are beautiful, no offense meant, but they look slippery.
That's just the high polish shine.
Amazing!!!!! True Talent!!
Lovely work Lou :)
Stunning pieces. Would love to get my hands on some of this stock to do some knobs of my own.
Lou,
We need to talk!
Tom
Thanks all for the comments and messages. If I didn't get back to your PM's I apologize and will get to them or answer your questions here.
John and Andy, I have been making them available to the locals on a custom basis. About a dozen and a half or so are out and being tested.
I doubt if I will inventory much of this material as its costly and I'd have more money going out then coming in.
Also this is a busy time for me with tackle and of course fishing becomes my top priority. I also have some continuing short production runs on my machines.
Dan, they feel pretty good. The nice part about being custom is it can be tailored to your needs. Say if you had a jigmaster and used it for diamond jigging I can cut a broader radius to suite.
Dominick, the size for the round knobs at the moment are more suited for reels say jigmaster and smaller. 1 1/2" dia x 7/8 to 1" wide. 2" material is available but it isn't cheap. The minimum order requirement for the thick Acrylic is stiff! I am working on getting some 2".
Material is coming from 2 suppliers. One supplies rounds and requires a skim cut to true and the other supplier has squares which require extra work. Looking for a 3rd source.
Everything is done on conventional equipment which makes it somewhat time consuming.
Ted, there are a bunch of styles in the works. I have some T bar styles that are absolute knockouts! I will post them as this project goes along.
Anglingarchitec, no offense taken. Trying to get opinions is all. There are tons of aftermarket aluminum knobs available out there. We all love them and buy them. Accurate's been using them for years. If your doing some serious fishing they are not IMHO the most comfortable.
I don't think these acrylic's are any more slippery than those and I can tell you that on a cool morning you'll probably be more happy with these than a hunk of metal in your hand. The guys fishing the river are already giving me feedback and all looks good so far.
I'm also looking at possibly putting some type of stippled finish on the OD.
All that being said, you can take a plain jane reel and throw an aftermarket handle and one of these custom knobs on it and it looks like a new machine. Believe me the pictures do no justice to this stuff and the colors are truly amazing!
I also need to purchase a bandsaw and a serious dust collection system. The fine dust from turning this stuff is killer and will give you a cough like you wont believe!
If you have any other questions post them here as it may help others.
Thanks and best regards, .. Lou
You can also PM me if necessary.
..............Lou
I wonder if you could repurpose some used bowling balls to cut down on some of your costs? They are cheap used and if the shell is thick enough you could get a bunch of round handles from it.
Quote from: Bryan Young on March 16, 2016, 05:22:39 PM
I wonder if you could repurpose some used bowling balls to cut down on some of your costs? They are cheap used and if the shell is thick enough you could get a bunch of round handles from it.
This is what I love about this site, always thinking. Good suggestion Bryan. Dominick
Not a bad idea Bryan. Some available with nice colors but these Acrylics are hard to beat. The other thing that adds to the cost is no cnc machinery. Everything done old school. Ok but, takes longer.
I think if the wife saw me cutting up old bowling ball's she'd think I've lost it!!!! Might be an old blue swirl one around here someplace. Now where am I going to chop this thing up????
Thanks, .. Lou
At least one ORCA member has been cutting up cue/Billiard balls to make handle grasps.. stranger things have happened.
My son is into recycled art. Nothing can leave our house. It comes back in as some kind of art something. So I'm always thinking of repurposing junk. One man's junk is another's treasure.
Great Job on those, Lou! Let me know if they go for sale... I'd take a few off your hands for some shelfies I've got.
Awesome stuff!
Dom
Are you doing some with an offset of 20-30 degrees? Cant wait to see em finished. ???
Gary, I am doing some T bars with an offset. 20/30 deg is pretty stiff isn't it? That's for crankin in those big butts, huh!!!
........................Lou