Reel Repair by Alan Tani

What makes one of these DAM Quick Reels last a couple of lifetimes?

As I am starting to wade through the backlog of reels for members and clients worldwide yesterday —- services, restorations, and new builds —-

For many of us on Alan's site, we already know the answer.

For those who may not know —- just take a look at the overbuilt parts in my hand, and then the rest of the parts.

Aircraft grade aluminum bodies, steel shafts, phosphor cut bronze gears, steel gears, simple and effective for large fish as well as their intended target species.

No excuses, no shortcuts, just some of the most capable and best values in reels ever produced.

These always and continue to amaze me.  Dead "0" tolerances and no slop to a Mil.  These two reels are around 43 years old.

Built and completed a few this morning.  Here are a couple.

Best, Fred

Two beautiful reels ,It's harder and harder to find now

    I will say these reels are built to last , quality parts throughout .    The fit on these reels are tight with paint  ,down to the millimeter . 

 

My 221 that you built for me is one of the sweetest reels I own Fred. All others are judged against it. It's caught plenty of bass at a local pond I go to.

Taking my 110 and 220n to Mammoth Lakes for week tomorrow. Thanks to Fred and others here for the help in getting them up and running. I know the 220n is probably overkill but I'll be ready for anything,lol.

These reels, and a few others like them of the same era, are unlikely to be made again in the future,  It was a different time back then.  Quality reels, and a lot of other things, were, back then, made to last because it was anticipated that they would be maintained and repaired as needed to last pretty much indefinitely. Contrast that with what obtains today: fairly decent level of initial functionality, but not a whole lot of anticipated longevity, and when the functionality becomes compromised, just toss it and buy a new one.  Rinse and repeat into the future, so to speak.  It does not make economic sense to spend much money and try to maintain/repair a low or moderate priced reel.  Reels aren't the only thing.  I still have a 30-35 year old RCA TV that I actually paid money once early in it's life to have it repaired.  This was a nice 19 in. CRT TV that cost around $300 when I got it. I think the repair was $30-40.  Today, I can buy a 43 in. flat panel TV for about 1/2 that money that will give me a great picture and a lot of viewing satisfaction, but if it craps out, I doubt I can find a TV repair person, and even if I could, the cost to repair would be so high as to dictate just buying a new TV. If you get 3 years of service out of such a TV, it cost you $50 a year to watch the tube, which I consider a good deal, and then you buy a new one no hassle.  It is just the way the times work nowadays.

That being said, my old DAM Quick, Shakespeare and Mitchell reels are things I can work on myself, due to a little learning effort on my part and help from folks like the ATers on this site. They are built well enough that I don't fear them going bad on me too often in the middle of fishing.  And, I get a lot of satisfaction from using such quality gear.  But, they had to be good at the start, and that's where they differ from too much of the new stuff you can get.

Frank

You'd be hard pressed to find a mid-range priced reel nowadays, that can be handed down multiple generations. Any ideas?

The 1202 is my current go to reel for carp float fishing. A real beauty. I use a number of DAM Quicks including a 220n, 220p, 2002 and 331n. All give the reassuring feeling that were I to hook a passing Dutch barge (not likely at the moment with Western European rivers at near record lows) the barge would lose.

I am not familiar with the 220p?

Quote from: jgp12000 on August 23, 2026, 10:38:52 AMI am not familiar with the 220p?

These were a rare European version that incorporated the best features of the classic 220, 220N, the Championship series of reels, plus the "02" series.

Hybrid Build: Combines heavy-duty internal drive systems with classic styling. 

Series Context: Part of a specialized European market lineup that included the 220P, 330P, 440P, and 550P.

They included mostly Championship "00", 01, "N" engineering and parts.

One of the distinguishing features was a throwback to the traditional non-skirted spool that set within the rotor.  But this spool incorporated the near features of the "02" series of reels.

I did a writeup on these back somewhere in 2021.  https://alantani.com/index.php/topic,34071.0.html

Pretty cool reels.

Best Regards, Fred

Caught by my son this morning with a Dam 110.

Nice Rainbow, Russ!

Getting your son started out right.

How is the weather over at Mammoth?

Best Regards, Fred

Perfect weather Fred. Not too hot for this time of year. A little windy in the afternoon. But beautiful.

Yeah, love that area. The name, did they find Mammoth bones there?

I was prejudiced against skirted spool spinners, perhaps seeing the cheap graphite stuff made that way. Then I bought some of the Penn Spinfishers from an estate sale(Bryan Young, say the name, Gfish and he lives-on) from a former member. Disassembly-rebuild showed me the better design quality there-of. Especially The drag and bail systems. Much better than the old school round rotor reels(3-r's, ha!). Now I have the DAM 3000. Probably the best spinner I own.

Yeah, love that area. The name, did they find Mammoth bones there?

———————-

There was a mining company called Mammoth Mining Company in the 1870's, I think.

That name stuck to the area.

Great part of the Eastern Sierras.

We explore from about Sonora Pass South on 395 to as far as the Bishop area.  Mainly stay around Bridgeport —- know it very well.

Best, Fred