Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Greetings folks,

I just picked up a couple of old Penn conventional reels. One of them is a 114H, the older design with the 5 posts and "boomerang" shaped dog spring. The drag washers looked original and were a challenge to remove at all. The drag material is quite baked, practically ceramic feeling. I'm taking it that the drag set needs to be replaced. True?

The schematic for the reel mentions that when using the new stack of 5 fiber washers, rather than 3 thicker ones, you might have to throw in an extra metal washer to get the spacing right. Has this been the common experience? Is there anyone that sells the original thickness washers where this spacing wouldn't be an issue? Is that a bad idea?

Oh, and on a side note, I can't seem to get the pin out of the gear sleeve (?). I may have to try harder, I guess.    However, I shot a little Reel-X oil into the sleeve's top and it freed up nicely, and is probably usable. How hard should I try? The reel is not that important to me, but I'd like to do it as right as is practical.

Many thanks ahead of time.

There is a good chance the old washers contain asbestos, get rid of them and replace the drag stack with the 5 CF and metal washer set. You might have to put a extra keyed washer on top of the drag stack.
 Here is the set you need.
https://www.mysticparts.com/PennParts/Parts/6-114HSP.aspx

Support the gearsleve and drive the pin out with a punch.

Thanks for your response, Keta. I tried using what would probably best described as an awl. It does come to a point, and seemed to get good purchase. I suppose there is some chance that I mushroomed the end if the pin is brass. Hopefully not. Other Penns I've worked on had the pin come out much easier. I have a set of very small watchmaker's sub-punches that I can try. I just don't want to break them, as they aren't easy to come by. I'll give that a shot.

On the asbestos content, they did have that look and feel to them, and is why I didn't blow out debris as I removed them.

Do you know anything about the necessity for the extra metal washer? My plan is to call Smoooth and ask if it is the case. If so, I'm sure they sell them individually. Thanks again. Cheers.

yeah, just get the full carbon fiber and metal 114h drag kit from mystic parts.  also, order a #6-114 drag washer to go under the main gear instead of the hard fiber washer.  don't forget the small tub of cal's drag grease. 

for the gear sleeve, just use a 1/8th pin punch and give a careful whack. please keep us posted.  alan

Thanks, Alan. I'll see if I have a 1/8" punch around. I have most of the tub of Cal's that I bought last year, so I'm set there. Thanks again.

BTW, your wrench worked great...again. Cheers.

@alantani,

Strangely, I can't seem to find a straight 114H set. There is an HSP, and another non-"H" part number.

Call Smooth Drag, Dawn will help you.

This link will take you to what you need from Mystic, less the 6-14 under washer Alan mentioned.

https://www.mysticparts.com/PennParts/Parts/6-114HSP.aspx

And this link is for the 6-114 for under the main gear.

https://www.mysticparts.com/PennParts/Parts/6-114.aspx

Thanks,Lee. Cheers.

Rats. I just lost a nice, verbose post as I tried to attach an image. Oh well...

The gist is that I got the pin out by using a nail, with the sleeve supported on an inverted watchmaker's anvil.

I don't have a service that enables me to provide urls for images. I used to, but I grow weary of being batted around, and milked, by the tech bros and their various companies. That said, if there is a way to attach an image from my computer, I'm open to hints as to how to do it with this website's methods.

I know, I'll post a url to a page that shows what I used. It's a retailer with whom I have zero affiliation, FWIW. The image even shows an inverted anvil/bench-block.

Oh, and I ordered the parts from Smoooth. I also bought a drag set for the other reel that I got recently, a Squidder 140. The washers were wafers and, as with the 6/0 114H, it was stored with the drag locked down tight for many years.

Anvil

the bottle left has an "add files" button.  you can download a photo there.

OK, now I see. I'll remember that in the future. I probably should have figured that one out. Thanks, Alan.

BTW, I'm sure that the 1/16" punch would have been a perfect fit. Sadly, the smallest punches I have in my non watchmaking toolbox is 3/32". Missed it by thaaaat much. Thanks again. Cheers.

So now I await the arrival of the drag washer set. Fingers crossed they get here tomorrow.

Out of curiosity, was there any possibility to have used the old washers, aside from the danger of the asbestos content? Admittedly, they didn't seem like they'd get a lot of bite on anything with them being as baked as they were. And they were nearly fused to the metal washers. I'm just curious about whether they were usable to any extent when they are in such condition. They still had good thickness, they were just well burnished. Cheers.

Greased CF is far superior.  You could probably "save" the old drag washers but you will have a much better and smoother drag with CF.

Thanks, Keta. It's a question that I should have asked earlier,as I really won't be doing much with the reel anytime soon. Oh well...improving things is good. Plus, it's mostly fun and interesting to work on these old reels. Thanks again for your help.

Beautiful country up there in Klamath, OR. I passed through on the way to a little town called Bonanza to visit with some friends. Dang, that was all of 15 years ago now. I also have friends who live in Ashland. Again, nice country up there. Cheers.

Alan and Bill  were up shooting sage rats (Beldings ground squirrels) last week and we were shooting in the Bonanza area.