Underhead 501 jigmaster

broadway · August 13, 2018, 06:43:14 PM

Mike,
I thought you were gonna shape the leg to be the reel seat, but I see your narrowness issue.
I also now realize I asked a silly question as the holes that are for the reel foot are going the wrong way for a rod clamp, duh, Dom!
If you made a new "leg" (I'm sure its a ton of work) wouldn't that help in bringing it closer to your finger for guiding the line, and may look pretty sleek, too.
Whatever you chose I know this is gonna be an epic creation.
I'm hooked,
Dom

mhc · August 18, 2018, 11:43:48 AM

A quick update on this project - the hand filing was always going to be slow but I've made some progress (Lou spotted it early on when he said "I think it might keep you busy for a while!"). I've shaped the spacer rings enough to able to try a test fit with a spool and side plates.

I borrowed the foot off of my Cortez squidder to test mount it on a rod.

The black foot looks a bit out of place on the stainless 'stand' but I think it looks OK when mounted on a black real seat.

It looks like the leg will be short enough to be able to lay the line with a finger under the fore grip.

So far so good - it feels a little awkward as you would expect but I'm thinking it will work.
Now it's back to the files to finish shaping the frame parts.

Mike

Alto Mare · August 18, 2018, 01:47:19 PM

Always exciting watching your progress... beautiful craftsmanship!

Sal

xjchad · August 18, 2018, 02:00:16 PM

This is great Mike!
Looks awesome and I'm sure it will work as good as any of the multi-hundred dollar ones

broadway · August 18, 2018, 03:09:22 PM

Making some good headway on a one of a kind project... looking good bro!
Keep it up,
Dom

Dominick · August 18, 2018, 08:18:58 PM

I like it. Great work. Keep going. Dominick

oc1 · August 19, 2018, 02:24:09 AM

You're amazing Mike!
-steve

Rothmar2 · August 19, 2018, 02:41:46 AM

Looking the biz now. Getting all the upgrades put in down the track?

mhc · August 19, 2018, 08:15:18 AM

Thanks for the interest and encouragement guys, I did some more filing today and will post a couple of photos at the end of this post.

Quote from: Alto Mare on August 18, 2018, 01:47:19 PM
Always exciting watching your progress... beautiful craftsmanship!

Sal

Thanks Sal but I'm not sure about the craftsmanship bit - there's more freehand work to do on this and things will start getting a bit untidy.

Chad - Thanks, I'll be happy if it works as well as a normal 501 - the Accurates and Jigging Masters are a few classes above this experiment.
I don't know about amazing Steve, I'm just a hack messing around with other peoples designs. Your work on custom centrifugal brakes and clutch systems a while back was amazing, I'm still scratching my head over that!

Quote from: Rothmar2 on August 19, 2018, 02:41:46 AM
Looking the biz now. Getting all the upgrades put in down the track?

Chris, I'm thinking I'll use a set of black Penn plates with the 4 dog bridge I made and a set of your stainless rings. I'll see how it goes and maybe put in a set of 4.8:1 gears, if it's really good I'll give it a white handle!

As I said earlier, I've made some progress shaping the frame parts - filing and grinding material to help reduce weight.

There's a fair bit more to do to finish the frame and tidy it up but I'll be out of town this week - maybe more progress next weekend.

Mike

STRIPER LOU · August 19, 2018, 01:47:58 PM

Mike, for the complexity of this project, you've made some outstanding progress!

Finish work is so time consuming and can be pretty tough on the hands. The final filing and polishing can take a significant amount of time to bring the project to the next level.

I applaud your effort and very much looking forward to the final product. Without a doubt, ... excellent work!

....................Lou

swill88 · August 19, 2018, 02:00:14 PM

Great looking project. I'm wondering how to control the spool an a cast?

Steve

oc1 · August 19, 2018, 09:30:34 PM

Steve, I think those contraptions are only used for deep dropping off a boat. Someone here showed a Japanese factory built model.
-steve

mhc · September 01, 2018, 10:00:34 AM

Thanks guys, I think I need to go to 'finishing school' to get a finish half as good as the spectacular finishes Lou achieves on his work. Steve, I think Steve oc1 is right about underheads usually being used for deep drop fishing from boats, although there is a youtube video of a guy casting with an Accurate mutant GT. He is relying on the reel's cast control by the look of it;

I've been chipping away at this and have finished shaping the frame components and semi polished them;

Front;

Back;

Front view of the assembled frame minus the foot;

Back view;

from above;

I've sanded down the heads of some stainless screws to fit Penn side plates;

and cut a 75 mm long piece of 18 x 6 mm stainless for a foot;

When I've finished the foot the reel should be ready to put together and test.

Mike

Donnyboat · September 01, 2018, 12:10:29 PM

Hi Mike, its coming up good, thanks for showing us, you have spent a lot of hours in with the polishing, well done cheers Don.

mhc · September 02, 2018, 05:54:58 AM

Thanks Don, it always takes me longer than I think starting out.

I finished a stainless foot for the stand today. I started by squaring up the piece of 18 x 6 mm I had cut earlier;

To start the underside groove in the foot, I drilled a series of shallow 4.3 mm pilot holes along the center line at 8 mm centers. Two of the holes are through holes for the mounting screws.

I then expanded the holes with a 10.5 mm bit;

Filed the material between the overlapping holes;

Marked and ground a taper at each end;

Shaped the taper with files;

The under side cleaned up a bit with a 1/2" sanding drum;

and the top side;

Next up is screwing it all together.

Mike