About a month ago I made some small shelf to store reels but it was a poor design that some time reel on edge fall off when pulling middle reel out , couple days ago I saw a picture Foakes hang reel on board that gave me an idea to add some sample square wooden stick to hang the reel up .This gave me lots more space and reel won't fall out
Keith had something like that. His complaint was that they'd fall unexpectedly, he made it sound quite frequent. Maybe Fred's setup works better.
Having tried most every type of storage and display system for spinners —- so far, this has worked out well over the last 25 years.
This is just 1/4" white pegboard with tool holder loops.
My main shop is small, and I had no more space —- but needed a quick & easy complete example of the reels I worked on primarily, at hand, not out in the other shops, or at the bottom of a large bin.
This is attached to the doors of the cabinet I shot together 15 years ago. Nothing fancy —- just a quick and effective, and most importantly for me —- an easily accessible and organized system.
It is hinged, and behind it I keep organized large tubs of reels to restore some day.
Nothing falls when grabbing just one reel. Plus, it gives me a good visual of parts that might be needed for a restore. The board has about 50 DAM Quick reels —- which are what I consider the quality and worthwhile ones from between '54 to '89.
Best, Fred
Nice way to store & show them off but I sure as heck wouldn't want to have to constantly dust the darn things off. ;D
QT you are quite the engineer!Fred,I envy your display board...Me too Tommy all my shelfies are in cotton bags tucked away.
Quote from: Midway Tommy on September 15, 2025, 05:55:01 AMNice way to store & show them off but I sure as heck wouldn't want to have to constantly dust the darn things off. ;D
These are not really a display for anyone but me. And for me, they are the most common DQ's that I work on.
It is handy for me when building a new reel from parts —- to just pull one down then use it as a model of what one should look like when completed.
I gave up collecting many years ago. Now it is just building out reels, repairing and servicing reels, and trying to put a dent in 450,000 DQ parts.
Transitioned from working on any reel that came across the benches —- to just 5 top quality brands of spinners. Much more manageable.
The ABU Cardinal stuff, Penn stuff, & Mitchell stuff is organized —- but I do not have the room to set them up like the DQ's.
As for the reels, that are not restored to new as of yet —- I just toss them into bins of 25-30 in a bin.
The reels I build are meant to be used by others worldwide, not by me, or even collected to look at by me. Just my style.
After I build a new reel, it goes into a breathable cloth bag that is tagged as to the reel ID. Then just tossed in a bin.
Best, Fred
Quote from: jgp12000 on September 15, 2025, 11:21:00 AMQT you are quite the engineer!Fred,I envy your display board...Me too Tommy all my shelfies are in cotton bags tucked away.
Once I get them serviced & pretty I want them to stay that way as long as possible, or until they are used. Mine are in display cabinets behind glass doors. That way I only have to dust the outside of the cases now and then, and my wife takes care of that most of the time. She's a real sweetheart! 😉 🥰
For a long time i store reel in a big plastic box , no dust but easy to get damage from many reel on top of other .Also when I need it I have to spend long time to find it . Store reel in glass case is nice but I have no case like that
I like your design, but like Jason described I too had issues with this design. When I went to retrieve a reel you have to twist it parallel to the rails and inadvertently I would bump into an adjacent reel sending it to the floor. Doing this more than once and damaging a reel, I changed design.
I now use a 1x1xN or 1x2xN inch board where N=length (you decide) with 1/2" slots routed every 3" on the backside and mounted directly to my shop's wall. The reels foot slips down through the routed slots. Here are some pictures.
The first picture shows a routed slot on the edge of a single reel mount. The second photo is the example of the mount on a 4x4 table leg. The other 2 photos are illustrations of reels hanging on the wall.
I threw these together very quickly as I needed to unpack some boxes from a move and I didn't care about the appearance in the shop. I just needed to be able to see what I had collected over the years. All "Fishers" at one point or another -- some will see new homes.
The original spacing of 2.5 inches in Example1 seemed too tight, thus in example2 photo (bottom) I decided 3" spacing was better. The depth and width of the router slots should be adjusted for the reel's foot.
With Quang's wood working skills this design could be greatly improved.
Good design Ijwill98 . I still have 30 Mitchell reel in the box , will do that way some time