Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Hey, everyone.... Hope all's well-

Being the hardheaded Irishman that I am, we really don't want to crawl out of the fishing days of my youth and blaze into the modern era of multi bearing, exotic material, esoterically flamboyant realm of today's 'I'd rather look good than catch fish'surrealistic art form.... DISCLAIMER: I am NOT attempting to poke at anyone with a judgemental stick, and fo support the freedom of 'to each their own'. Soooo, please, nothing personal toward anyone, their own opinions, or otherwise.
And, I DO flaunt some late model gear, such as my King Salmon rig, a Daiwa Ballistic LT4000D-CXH hanging below a Daiwa North Coast SS M/H Fast 7'-10" rod. Soooooo....

I've got a couple of fairly well stocked parts sources for 1960's vintage Pflueger,Penn,and Shakes( my favorite!) OF spinners, but....we've run into a couple of roadblocks...
First,we just picked up a pristine appearing Sea Wonder 2090,in the box,with docs,and wrench. The supplemental doc regarding the running change order for the 'Bail Trip Brake' (Ref. X29). We contacted the Seller, and after a round of pleasantries, we queried as to its functionality....well,after a 10-15 minute wait,he got back to me and said it worked. At least for two bail firings....then the handle went into free spin. He then pulled the gear housing cover and revealed the issue, photos and all....the level winder pinion split in half, and retainer clip nowhere to be found. From our perspective, it was the catastrophic destruction of a component directly due to a negligent maintenance schedule.That old OEM grease over the years had the petroleum distillates evaporated away, leaving globs of the paraffin wax component in its tracks. Set the bail,fire it, crank a couple of revolutions and,'Gee,it works,but man is it stiff!...let's try it again!'...well,second time was NOT a charm.... it was a catastrophic defcon one event!

We shopped the web for the pinion and retainer, eventually finding 2 NOS gears, but no retainers. Before we hit the jackpot with one of our sources, we contacted Mike's Reel Repair via email, and shortly thereafter from a really nice young lady who informed they couldn't help, but referred me to a fellow who's name,I think, was 'Dick' and told me to call him, and say to tell him Mike's referred me. Well,we messed up and forgot to doc his name and number, and here we are....we did re-contact Mike's but haven't heard back as of yet.

The Point: would anyone here happen to know who this fellow is?....supposedly, he has,or has access to, the parts for Maroons and Greys, and apparently is a Shakespeare guru,and a heavyweight over at ORCA...and that's our next stop.
If anyone here at RRbAT could please inform of any other prospective parts sources for my beloved 1960's Shakes 2052,2062,2080,2090, and 1969 EB reels, we would be eternally grateful and hold any helpful individuals
with highest of esteem.

We kindly thank you, in advance, for any help, time, and consideration you may afford me.

Kind Regards-

Tim

Hi Tim —-

Dick Janak, a great guy!

Dick's Rod and Reel Repair, 10 Pamal Lane, New Paltz, NY. 12561
Phone: (845)-255-5874, rjanak@hvc.rr.com

Best Regards, Fred

I'm with you TimboW, the old metal oriented stuff is the best. I've never seen a pinion gear like that except on bait casters and conventional's. So, it's a level winder part. I like the metal looking "bail trip brake" from the supplemental, that looks pretty sturdy.
 "OF Spinner" means ocean fishing?
Might have been Foakes(Fred) here, or someone else, that stated if an older reel comes to you and it's real to difficult turn, STOP! That "paraffin wax" you described might wreck something. That level winder pinion would be the last thing I'd guess at though. Maybe a good thing that it broke now as it looks pretty degraded.
Tim, your post was real "Lace Curtain, upper crust, refined, writing". I toned down some of my response post, as I'm tempted to sometimes go the complete opposite direction when I read something like that. I get triggered, and get real lower class crude for my own fun. So if I ever do, don't be offended.

I believe "OF" refers to an open face spinning reel.

What generally breaks on these due to dried up waxy grease —- is the softer oscillation block.

Just like restoring a vehicle, boat, or aircraft that hasn't seen usage in many decades.  Disassemble, clean all parts, reassemble with modern synthetic greases and oils.  Don't play around trying to get the grease to "loosen up" —- it never turns out well.

Best, Fred

Matsreelrepair.com has some Shakes parts

Mat is a great guy!

I was strongly considering buying that 2090 since it came with the original box & paperwork, etyc.    Whew, glad I passed on it. Those old Spin and Sea Wonders are hard to find parts for. 

Maroons and Greys sounds like a British regiment or pub!