Reel Repair by Alan Tani

 What glue are you using for glueing carbon fiber to aluminum plate in lever drag reels .

i've used West Marine GFlex 2 part epoxy to glue an Avet drag washer back to the spool.   No issues.

  Thanks for the reply!   Funny thing is I just tried J B weld 2 hours ago , I will know in 22 hours if it works .

please report back with your findings

the best stuff is loctite depend 330.  it's expensive and difficult to use.  the last time, i used a simple 2-part epoxy. it worked, but i told the guy to get back to me if it fails. 

Quote from: alantani on June 06, 2026, 03:39:03 PMthe best stuff is loctite depend 330.  it's expensive and difficult to use.  the last time, i used a simple 2-part epoxy. it worked, but i told the guy to get back to me if it fails. 

I have done this repair on exactly zero reels, but as someone who plays with adhesives, i have some questions:

Curious as to what makes Loctite 330 the best.  It is an acrylic with a maximum operating temperature of 212F according to Loctite.  It is also a flexible bond, which doesn't seem particularly desirable where shear strength will be the greatest challenge.  Loctite positions this as a good multi-material adhesive which is  a plus.

Expoxies are going to do very well in terms of bonding stainless steel or aluminum to bare carbon fiber (drag washer surface).   Typical epoxies will have a max operating temp around 250F, which would include the West Systems G Flex, which is also a flexible adhesive.

Just going with the materials and usage requirements,  I would have looked for a high temp epoxy (some readily available products include high temp flavors of JBWeld and Permatex) that support temps over 400F, had high shear strength ratings (rigid not flex), and strong resistance to lubricants and water.  Also want something that is not too thick of a paste that  it makes it difficult to get a flush fit for a flat final surface.

i am probably overthinking it, and any adhesive that gives you a flush fit and a reasonable amount of shear strength is going to be good enough.   Although the drag surfaces are going to risk getting up over 200F, it is going to be for a matter of minutes and not continuous operating temperature.

[Edit: maybe a bit of flex is not too bad.  Drags go  back and for between lower and higher compressive loads.   Since there is probably some spring/compressabilty in the drag washer itself, the adhesive might stay  bonded a bit better in the long run if it is not too rigid.   Dunno]

-J

  J B weld , strength of 5020 psi and 550 degrees fahrenheit  .    I have cooked J B to 475-500 degrees a few times already , it works .

I am trying the twill weave here , I did not have a big enough piece of plain weave .
The original brake disk is Ferodo brake pad , Organic material with a little metal strands.

I will make another disk to try another material and do testing .   I was able to pick up another drag lever with the thrust bearing for more testing drag ramps

   Once I get all my ducks in a row , I will do testing.

I have megapoxy 69, I give it a couple of days to set, once the 2 parts are mixed, and applied you can move the carbon fibre into position easy, I then place some weight on it, megapoxy is good to work with, its not as runny as araldite, cheers Don.

Quote from: jurelometer on June 06, 2026, 06:04:18 PMCurious as to what makes Loctite 3030 the best.  It is an acrylic with a maximum operating temperature of 212F according to Loctite.  It is also a flexible bond, which doesn't seem particularly desirable where shear strength will be the greatest challenge. 

that i didn't know.  somehow, i had the idea that accurate or avet used this.  that's gotta not be the case.  this was so long ago. thanks for the correction!!!!!

Quote from: alantani on June 06, 2026, 11:12:52 PM

Quote from: jurelometer on June 06, 2026, 06:04:18 PMCurious as to what makes Loctite 3030 the best.  It is an acrylic with a maximum operating temperature of 212F according to Loctite.  It is also a flexible bond, which doesn't seem particularly desirable where shear strength will be the greatest challenge. 

that i didn't know.  somehow, i had the idea that accurate or avet used this.  that's gotta not be the case.  this was so long ago. thanks for the correction!!!!!

It could still be what one of the smaller manufacturers use.  They make baffling choices some times.  If you are a small machine operation that decides to get into reels as a side business, you are probably very good at machining- but material science... meh.  It is very fast setting- which would be  a plus for a manufacturer. And it may be good enough, which is good enough.

There are two sides to the drag washer, and only one can be slipping at a time.  The side with the lower coefficient of friction is going to slip.  So contradicting myself a bit on shear strength, any adhesive might be sort of good enough in terms of grip strength.

Having better long lasting adhesion probably comes into play in preventing saltwater corrosion - we have the potential for saltwater intrusion causing crevice corrosion and even some pretty horrific galvanic corrosion if the substrate is aluminum.

Here is the 330 TDS;  Check out the heat strength and aging charts, plus the note on chlorides:

https://datasheets.tdx.henkel.com/LOCTITE-AA-330-en_GL.pdfbExcluding saltwater intrusion causing horrific corrosion..

The more I think through this, the more I am wondering if the effectiveness as a sealant under operating conditions is more important than the effectives as an adhesive.

-J

This again...

Spent a long time typing a decent post about this, only to have the system log me out, post gone. Fun. Not inthe mood to do it again.

The story is, IIRC, which i probably do, is that Alan had an aquaintance who worked at Henkel Loctite, phoned him and asked what to use. This aquaintance, having likely no understanding of the nature of the application, suggested Loctite 330, and Alan went for it.

I, on the other hand, have been pointing out for about a decade, that 330 is NOT suitable, mostly based on the horrible temperature curve. Next to useless.

No manufacturer uses 330 for this.
(Added caveat: since the advent of AI vacuuming up information from the internet without consideration to context or truth, maybe some guy in a faraway factory somewhere googled this question, got fed 330 as an answer and fell for it and uses it. Idunno, i don't care.)

Oldmanjoe, you will find JB Weld absolutely stellar for this application. As you see however, careful attention must be paid to dosage, as the adhesive easily bleeds through the cf fabric.

I myself have long since grown weary of thoroughly exploring and discussing the rabbit hole of adhesives, thermosets and thermoplastics, TGs and films. I have done innumerable tests of dozens of materials and variants, over decades. It wasn't worth it. But i have learned a great deal about it.

However, this being the internet with long-term memory problems, the subject regularly reappears for a new cycle.

Below, testing a drag washer and friction material i made to 260 degrees C / 500F. Absolutely excellent. And nearly ten year old post about the same thing.

I like that drag washer  Robert  .  Question if I was to make another drag washer with solid material , tiegher weave and than cut out slots in the material , would it be worth my while ?

   Would I see higher grip and better heat transfer ?

And Yes I did find your post , that swayed me to use J B weld .
https://alantani.com/index.php/topic,22795.msg255059.html#msg255059

Nobody believes me about this stuff,,, it's the closest thing to a mig welder in a epoxy and you can sand and shap it,,,I have taken a soda can and glued it over a hole in my exhaust it lasted 1 month it's not designed for that,,,,

A broken fog light I'm fixing now,,,next step is a light coat of bondo so I don't take to much of the epoxy off,,,this stuff should handle the heat on drag washers better,,,

Quote from: oldmanjoe on June 10, 2026, 12:59:33 PM...if I was to make another drag washer with solid material , tiegher weave and than cut out slots in the material , would it be worth my while ?

  Would I see higher grip and better heat transfer ?

No, not really.

That cool turbo look actually came about as the result of convenience, or frugality. I was making several sets of gigantic drag washers for the reels i was making.
I just got fed up with all the leftovers that i started cutting them into segments instead. Much more efficient.

And in the case of the test washer above, advantageous, since any deficiency in the bond would have been immediately apparent.