Spooling a conventional with braid and no spooler....

[RowdyW]

Using all these Rube Goldberg setups might work good enough on smaller reels but making a mistake on a larger reel & getting a loose spot with a monster on the line & have it dig in solid only leaves you 3 options. Let go of the rod, Get your knife quick & cut the line, or Go body surfing behind a monster.  

[FatTuna]

Using all these Rube Goldberg setups might work good enough on smaller reels but making a mistake on a larger reel & getting a loose spot with a monster on the line & have it dig in solid only leaves you 3 options. Let go of the rod, Get your knife quick & cut the line, or Go body surfing behind a monster.  

That's why I pull off the topshots whenever I buy a used reel. I never assume the guy before me did it correctly. In this scenario, it would have been a disaster......

[day0ne]

This is what I used to build my spooler. It can be used with hand cranking.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Bees-Knees-Reel-Spooler-/291174432223

[RowdyW]

This is what I used to build my spooler. It can be used with hand cranking.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Bees-Knees-Reel-Spooler-/291174432223

Where is the line guide? How will it measure the drag? Not much better then Lee's setup but more money. Probably will work with mono but not with braid.

[FatTuna]

I have the bees knees spooler too. It's really good for the money. It has greased carbontex drag washers inside the housing. It puts out a uniform drag. I mounted it to a wooden board and I drive my truck over the board. It works well. I haven't tested to see what kind of max drag I can get out of it. The biggest issue is cranking it in under heavy load.

Dacron and mono are no problem. I still haven't tested it with braid.

It's way better than the homemade setups that I've built in the past.

[day0ne]

This is what I used to build my spooler. It can be used with hand cranking.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Bees-Knees-Reel-Spooler-/291174432223

Where is the line guide? How will it measure the drag? Not much better then Lee's setup but more money. Probably will work with mono but not with braid.

Works  great with braid! If you are spooling by hand, why would you need a line guide? You measure drag with a scale, as usual. As stated, I use it as part of a power winder, but it can be used to hand wind. Watch the film!

[Tiddlerbasher]

If winding by hand use one of these - a re-cycled sic rod tip:





Save your fingers

Better still make one of these:





No more tired arms and hands

[Keta]

This is what I used to build my spooler. It can be used with hand cranking.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Bees-Knees-Reel-Spooler-/291174432223

Where is the line guide? How will it measure the drag? Not much better then Lee's setup but more money. Probably will work with mono but not with braid.

What I have to use works but a line winder works much better. The balls tend to heat up and melt the spool when spooling anything over a 30 so I have to stop.  I have used it to spook Penn 70's.    I use a bent butt and harness to hold the reel and a vice to hold the tensioner.  The best I can say about it is it works better than nothing.  

Works  great with braid! If you are spooling by hand, why would you need a line guide? You measure drag with a scale, as usual. As stated, I use it as part of a power winder, but it can be used to hand wind. Watch the film!

With tensioning on a spool the drag increases as the spool empties.

[FatTuna]

If winding by hand use one of these - a re-cycled sic rod tip:





Save your fingers

Better still make one of these:





No more tired arms and hands

Did you build that winding machine? That device looks amazing.

[Tiddlerbasher]

Yup I did. It was an on going project for a couple of months. It did need 'beefing up' in a couple of places, it's surprising how much stress is generated on the various parts. Now it will spool line with up to 20lb of drag (usually 10lb in practice). And it will accept just about any reel size (except maybe Daron's Everol) both conventional and spinner. I also use it for stripping line on the bigger reels. It was certainly worth the effort

If your interested there is a full description here:
http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=11452.0

[Keta]

Jerry Brown says 10# is all that is needed to properly load Spectra on a spool.  Your handiwork is very impressive.

[FatTuna]

I'm reading your thread now. That device is a work of art.

[Tiddlerbasher]

Thanks guys -didn't mean to high jack the thread

[FatTuna]

Thanks guys -didn't mean to high jack the thread

You didn't hijack, you provided the solution.

[Tiddlerbasher]