500/501 jigmaster

[alantani]

i use a carbontex drag washer under the main gear and either three penn or carbontex drag washers inside the main gear, and grease all four washers. 

[Gfish]

The bottom side of the gear has been a corrosion magnet for me and some gears offa used reels I've bought have pitting from past problems. Since I wanted as little friction down there as possible, and a thrust bearing-like effect from that special washer material( delrin or phenolic), I didn't lube it in the past. Now I do. Gears are expensive.

[Rusty hook]

I have brown plastic looking bearings on one of my Jigmaster-where are they from? Seem very smooth.

[Darin Crofton]

I have brown plastic looking bearings on one of my Jigmaster-where are they from? Seem very smooth.

Rusty, I believe those are Newell bearings, I have one reel that has them too, and yes they're very smooth!

[broadway]

Yep, sounds like the Newell bushings. Keep them on there. They're smooth!
Dom

[Fishy247]

Yep, sounds like the Newell bushings. Keep them on there. They're smooth!
Dom

X3. I think they're pretty hard to replace also!

Mike

[Chuck]

Anyone recognize this jigmaster gear? I got it on a jigmaster 500 from eBay and have 5 others(mostly jig 500 or 501) but this is the first I've seen that has an indention on the underwasher side. It also seems like it could be stainless as it's much shinier than other steel gears I have.

Other question. This is the only reel I have that I can just slightly shift the spool towards the right plate which causes it to bind. It did this with the plastic soool it came with as well as another aluminum that does not do this in the other 500/501's. I did not compare the pinions to see if the one it came with matched my others yet. Is this an upgraded/aftermarket gear or did some jig masters come with the indention from factory.

Other than it not coming with only 1 upper bridge screw(I just put one from my other reels to test it) it's in very nice condition after a deep clean(which had what appeared to be caulking or something as lube, it was horrible to scrape off!)

[Chuck]

Sorry forgot to post the pocs

[alantani]

newell made a gear with an undercut like that, but that does not look like a newell gear.   

[Alto Mare]

That is an earlier Penn gear. Run into a few, especially Surfmasters and Squidders.

Sal

By the way, those are chromed steel gears and not stainless steel.
They're very durable unless the chrome peels off.
Actually they would still be durable if that happens, but you would need to deal with rust.
I do see the chrome starting to wear, a good coating of grease would keep them nice.

[Ron Jones]

I have one or two of those. I always thought the undercut allowed Penn to use one size undergear washer for the smaller reels and Jigmasters.

Ron Jones

[timosuna]

I know this is a very old thread but I'm posting this here anyway.  Seems like some jigmaster nuts on this one. 

 I have an old early jigmaster.  Took it down and it's got clear plastic looking washers in place of the drag washers.  Is this something factory or did someone try to replace the drags with whatever they had laying around?  Reel did not turn very well.  Box is the green surf guy box marked 500M.  It has the undercut main gear. Unmarked left side plate.

Thanks in advance for your time!
  Tim O

[foakes]

Someone's attempt to change out the drags, Tim —-

After a complete cleanup and restoration, my recommendation would be CF drag washers with Cal's drag grease, plus a greased CF as the under gear washer —- or a Delrin, non-greased.

The CF's are available through Bryan, Mystic, Smooth Drag, or Penn.  All are solid contributing members of our site.

Best, Fred

[Maxed Out]

 Hi Tim, like Fred said, those aren't stock drag washers. You say it came in the green 2-piece box ? That is a first year only box (1959). The correct jigmaster for that box would have a sticker on the headplate instead of the stamped logo. The 500M means the correct reel for that box originally came with a metal spool. Most likely a 3piece chrome spool

[timosuna]

 Thanks for the replies gentlemen. 

  I had a couple packs of old Newell drag sets laying around so I put one of those in.  Pic of the box is attached.  The reel foot and the crossbars as well as the spool show pitting. Someone left old nylon line on it and it held the salt etc...   Sideplates and side metal (handle, drag star, shift lever, etc...) are great. I ended up with two reels and the box.  Both reels are same vintage. The other reel is a bit more rough.