Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Conventional and Bait Casting Reel Rebuild Tutorials and Questions => Penn International Tutorials and Questions => Topic started by: alantani on February 11, 2022, 06:49:20 AM

Title: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: alantani on February 11, 2022, 06:49:20 AM
Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX

ok, so here's the problem.  you want to fish your brand new penn international 20 visx as a 100 pound line class reel.  to me, that means 30 pounds of drag at strike and 50 pounds at full, with a nice, easy, linear progression from free to strike.  you set the drag at full to 50 pounds, no problem.  but where does the lever hit 30 pounds?  yeah just past the bait setting, way at the beginning of the quadrant, barely past the "number 1" mark.  for the reel that you see below, the number 1 setting was actually 26 pounds of drag in the stock configuration.  not really ideal.  changing out the bellevilles is not an option here because the slope of the cam is too steep at the beginning.  so what to do?  it's simple, really.  you have to grind down the cam.  

i've done about 50 of these free hand.  it was an hour long process.  i think i've figured how to make it right, the first time, every time.  drill presses are too slow, so you need a dremel. i have an old model 395 type 5.  

(https://alantani.com/gallery/36/1_11_02_22_6_00_03_3634139.jpeg)

dremel makes a really nice stand, a model 220 work station.  https://www.amazon.com/Dremel-Workstation-Portable-Drilling-Perpendicular/dp/B00068P48O?th=1

(https://alantani.com/gallery/36/1_11_02_22_6_00_04_36341181.jpeg)

dremel makes a 540 cut off wheel and you can use the flat side to grind.  https://us.dremel.com/en_US/products/-/show-product/tools/540-1-1-4-cut-off-wheels-5-pack

(https://alantani.com/gallery/36/1_11_02_22_6_00_01_363391677.jpeg)

and most importantly, you can get a tilting milling table from ebay for $60 to adjust the angle.  

(https://alantani.com/gallery/36/1_11_02_22_6_00_01_36339163.jpeg)

i tried to clamp down the cam but couldn't make it work easily, so i ended up just holding it flat on the table with my left hand while i worked the dremel lever with my right.  i set the milling table to 3 degree, then ground down one side of the cam at a time until the "bait stop" indent was just barely left.  after installing the cam, i checked the drag.  here are the results.  the drag is nearly linear from free to full.  

(https://alantani.com/gallery/36/1_11_02_22_6_00_07_363451918.jpeg)

(https://alantani.com/gallery/36/1_11_02_22_6_00_07_363451855.jpeg)

(https://alantani.com/gallery/36/1_11_02_22_6_00_06_36343461.jpeg)

here is the final product on the left and the original untouched cam on the right.  it's not much of a difference to look at, but it makes a huge difference in the reel.  

(https://alantani.com/gallery/36/1_11_02_22_6_45_53_36347131.jpeg)

(https://alantani.com/gallery/36/1_11_02_22_6_45_53_363481512.jpeg)

(https://alantani.com/gallery/36/1_11_02_22_6_45_54_363492040.jpeg)

3 degrees, gentlemen.  i don't know about any other reels.  all the times before, this has always been done free hand.  it's going to take time to figure out the other reels, even other penns, but it's 3 degrees for the penn 20 visx.  

now to get back to the 150 reels in line in this stupid garage that i have to service.....   :-\
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: Ron Jones on February 11, 2022, 06:55:02 AM
If you only have a backlog of 150 reels your doing good!

The Man
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: mo65 on February 11, 2022, 10:31:40 AM
   Great work Alan! I don't think I could live long enough to service 150 reels...HA! 8)
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: thorhammer on February 11, 2022, 11:44:05 AM
What are you doing in the garage at 330 AM???
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: Donnyboat on February 11, 2022, 03:33:17 PM
Thanks for the tip Alan, do you ever sleep, if so I think that brain of yours would still be ticking over, keep well, cheers Don.
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: Hardy Boy on February 11, 2022, 04:20:04 PM
Nice!! Would that work on an okuma like my andros ?? It ramps up really fast also. I'm down to a back log of only 20 or so................ good problem to have.


Cheers:

Todd
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: alantani on February 11, 2022, 04:33:05 PM
the andros ramps up way too fast because the bellevilles are too stiff.  if you change them out, the range will be much more reasonable.  i'll figure out what the are and get you a set. 
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: Rocket Dog on February 11, 2022, 04:41:01 PM
Alan, of the ones you did how many rejects did you have? Thank you for sharing Maestro!
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: alantani on February 11, 2022, 05:03:12 PM
the ones that i cut by hand were all pretty close, so they went back into their reels.  it's just that the profile was not as clean and even as this one.  i'm pretty happy with this.  really nailed it!!!!   ;D
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: Hardy Boy on February 11, 2022, 06:10:33 PM
Quote from: alantani on February 11, 2022, 04:33:05 PM
the andros ramps up way too fast because the bellevilles are too stiff.  if you change them out, the range will be much more reasonable.  i'll figure out what the are and get you a set. 

Thanks for that. that would be great. Other than that it is a nice little reel.


Cheers:

Todd
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: CooldadE on February 11, 2022, 09:00:59 PM
Maybe Penn should read your post ... and do something about it !
It's not like those reels are cheap $$$

Cool

Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: CooldadE on February 12, 2022, 05:43:40 PM
Does the MK-20llSEA have a similar issue ?

Cool
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: alantani on February 12, 2022, 08:10:26 PM
no, the makaira is basically fine, straight out of the box. 
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: alantani on March 10, 2022, 04:33:51 PM
The 50 VISW cam was 5 degrees.
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: MarkT on March 10, 2022, 04:45:27 PM
Linear is good!  Accurate should try that!  Does the bait stop still work with that tiny indent?  Can you grind the indent back to how it was?
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: alantani on March 10, 2022, 05:13:06 PM
that tiny indent for the bait stop is actually now better.  it's a clear click.  you can't miss it. 
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: foakes on March 10, 2022, 05:49:38 PM
The Doctor at work!

Best, Fred
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: Bill B on March 17, 2022, 05:26:26 AM
And this is why Alan has a 150 reels in the queue. Bravo Zulu Boss!  Bill
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: Solid72 on April 26, 2022, 04:24:45 AM
What would the drag curve be on a 12 and 16 VISX.  Mark Romero is installing them and I was wondering if the freespool will allow a knife jig from 250g or sinker rigs to drop easily?
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: alantani on April 26, 2022, 03:10:23 PM
I just ground down a set for mark and mailed them just before we hit the road. It's looking more like 4 degrees for the visx's and 5 degrees for the Fathoms and Torques.  You should be able to get 30 pounds at full with the 12 visx and 40 pounds with the 16 visx. From zero to full should be a smooth progression on both.
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: Solid72 on April 26, 2022, 06:29:53 PM
Thank you
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: CooldadE on August 03, 2022, 06:41:08 PM
Quote from: alantani on April 26, 2022, 03:10:23 PMI just ground down a set for mark and mailed them just before we hit the road. It's looking more like 4 degrees for the visx's and 5 degrees for the Fathoms and Torques.  You should be able to get 30 pounds at full with the 12 visx and 40 pounds with the 16 visx. From zero to full should be a smooth progression on both.

So the VISX 16 needs help right out the box also ? What about the Mak 16 SEA ?

Cool
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: alantani on August 04, 2022, 12:24:15 AM
the mak 16 is good.  the cam of the visx 16 needs to be ground down.  also gotta replace the handle grip for the visx16.  it's way too small.
Title: Re: Grinding down the cam of a penn international 20 VISX
Post by: Trixkelly on August 21, 2022, 06:16:41 PM
Awesome work sir. I love how you got your setup perfected for consistent repeatable results. Plus those dremel cut off wheels are deadly.