Collecting B-Grade Spinning Reels

[festus]

Here's one more I have no idea where it came from??? Pflueger 1022.  I'll post a partial walk through later.

[Crow]

Seems those "waifs & strays" will find you , somehow, doesn't it !

[festus]

Seems those "waifs & strays" will find you , somehow, doesn't it !

Yep, got my share of mules, bastards, illegits, and mediocres. 

[mo65]

   Here's one that screams early 80s. The age of cheap bearings(if any at all), rear drag, and flashy body graphics. Kids like me couldn't wait to get one of these things for Christmas, only to find out later that we liked our old reels better. I'm glad I bought this thing though, because taking it apart I learned a few things, and learning never gets old.
   Popping off the side plate we see the standard 80s fare...cast gears...stamped parts...in a fairly simple design.



   This bearing has a plastic retainer. I don't know if that is why this reel feels a bit rough, or its just from wear, as this reel has been used. What I do know, is that I have reels with absolutely no bearings that feel much smoother.



   Every reel mechanic or enthusiast has that one thing that makes them want to throw the reel right out the back door. For me...it's these tiny retainer clips...sheesh!! They add serious time to removing the main shaft, as opposed to a simple screw or pin.



   I guess you have to look at it like the manufacturer. Nobody is going to service this thing, if it busts, they'll toss it and buy the latest model. Well guess what Shakespeare? I serviced mine...and never even lost a retainer clip...thank you Jesus for magnetic screwdrivers.



   Corrosion is an issue for freshwater reels too, as can be seen in the pic below. I don't know if this line roller was meant to spin free, but it does now!



   Now we come to the learning experience. This is how the drag stack came out of the reel...and it just doesn't look right. The washer between the drag shaft and keyed metal(indicated by green arrow) is doing nothing. The blue arrow points to a keyed metal that is grinding against the drag spring. Neither of these points make sense. I couldn't find a schematic for this particular model, but many similar models have the metal washers arranged as eared/keyed/eared, not keyed/eared/keyed, and this would be correct. I have no idea what Shakespeare actually put in this drag stack, but I'm going to correct what I have here to work with.



   I also noted when looking at schematics that most of the period Shakespeares used Rulon drag washers. These drags looked like old Smoothies though, and when I broke out a Penn 113H Smoothie, my suspicion was confirmed.



   First up, a Delrin washer replaces the brass washer between the reel body and drag shaft. I took the brass washer and placed it before the drag spring.(yellow arrow) The Smoothie that was pulled from between the drag shaft and first keyed washer is placed between the last keyed and the brass washer.(purple arrow) All moving surfaces are now flanked by a proper friction disc. This lesson has me taking a second look at Smoothies, as the drag on this reel is now fantastic!



   At the end of the day, it is what it is, just another mediocre B-Grade reel. But...like I said earlier...I learned a few things by opening it up. Knowledge hides in strange places.

[Midway Tommy]

Well done, Mike! Shakespeare sure went down hill during that time frame. 

[Crow]

Good job, Mo !  Now that you've done a rear drag, it won't be long before you tackle a "bait feeder" !!

[oc1]

Mo, thank you for the education about Rulon.  I'd never heard the name before and never came across green drag washers.  However, someone here showed photos of green Ambassadeur washers about a year ago.  Was the grey speckled material used in Penn drag washers also Rulon?  Some of us were calling those "asbestos" washers without knowing what they were really made of.
-steve

[mo65]

Hi Steve,
   The green washers I pictured aren't the Rulon...those are Smooth Drag Smoothies. Some previous owner must have replaced the Rulon with those. Rulon comes in a big variety of formulas and colors. Many consider them the best drag washer material of all. Here's a helpful link:

      https://www.tstar.com/rulon

[oc1]

Oh, OK.  Sorry for mixing it up.  I guess Dawn would be the one to know what the green washers are made of.

I made the mistake of first looking at the Wikipedia article listing different Rulon materials.  One of them is "green speckled, bearing grade with noise dampening characteristics" so, I'm going, that must be it.  Wrong.
-steve

[mo65]

I made the mistake of first looking at the Wikipedia article listing different Rulon materials.  One of them is "green speckled, bearing grade with noise dampening characteristics" so, I'm going, that must be it.  Wrong.
-steve

   Yeah...I saw that "green speckled" comment on Wikipedia too...but I've looked everywhere for a picture of that rulon 957 and can't find one. From what I can gather, Rulon is a plastic, and in pics appears smooth. Maybe Philaroman can comment on this...I seem to remember him knowing some info on Rulon.
   The Smoothies are a more fibrous material. I know the guys said the old Smoothies tended to get sticky in high drag settings on conventionals, but in these lower powered spinning applications I'm seeing no problem. 

[foakes]

Over the years, I have pulled apart a few reels where knowledgeable guys had used Rulon for drags.

The discs showed absolutely no wear -- or very little, after some pretty aggressive offshore long-rangers.

I just put them back in with no grease -- since they are self-lubricating -- then serviced the rest of the reel as usual.

Makes either a good drag stack, or just for an under gear washer.

Similar to Sal's favorite -- Delrin.

Good product!

I belong to a few engineering tech suppliers -- just to stay up on innovations, not because I am smart, or anything --

Here is a description from one source -- the interesting thing to me, is the term: no "slip/stick" at low speeds.  Which reportedly means -- no erratic motion at low speeds.

Maybe worthwhile exploring further?

Best, Fred

RULON® LR (FILLED PTFE) – MAROON

Material Information

Rulon® is the brand name for Saint Gobain's reinforced PTFE. Filled PTFE offers a combination of high compressive strength, a low coefficient of friction, chemical resistance, electrical insulation, and excellent abrasion and corrosion resistance without the need for lubrication. These materials can run from -400º F to 500º F with or without lubrication, which makes them ideal for use in bearings or seals. Rulon® material specifically is known to have the unique property of no "slip stick", which means it has no erratic motion at low speeds.

Rulon® LR is the most widely used grade of Rulon®. It offers high wear resistance, low friction, good electrical properties, and chemical inertness. It can be bonded to nearly any surface to provide wear resistance and reduce friction. This makes Rulon® LR a great material for sleeves and flange or thrust bearings. It is available in a maroon color in the forms of strip, rod, and tube.

[Gfish]

Good info. Fred, thanks.
Anyone remember the "Dragenstein" posts we did about 2015.  Just before I came to allentani.com, I did a search on drags cause I was using the "Tackle Tour" site for reel research, and they had a chart for drag performance giving values for odd sounding parameters that I couldn't understand. No help on the Tackle Tour test values, but a
pretty good technical read. The author did alot of testing on light to med. sized spinning and baitcasting reels with his "Dragenstein" machine and found that rulon tested the best: tocatchafish.blogspot.com.

[happyhooker]

PTFE is Teflon by another name.

Frank

[TRS]

mo65

Here is a spec sheet I found appears more olive in color, there were several other Rulon materials listed as green or turquoise

[oc1]

Not to keep beating this dead horse, but aren't we concerned about our "stick-slip"?

Rulon® J is an all-polymeric reinforced, dull gold colored PTFE compound that operates exceptionally well against soft mating surfaces such as 316 stainless steel, aluminum, mild steel, brass and other plastics. The unique "shaft friendly" material is also low in friction and wear and self-lubricating.

Rulon® J has one of the lowest coefficients of friction of most reinforced PTFE materials. This makes it ideally suited for start/stop applications where stick-slip must be eliminated. The tribological properties of this material also make it suitable for both bearing and wear component applications.
https://www.plasticsintl.com/shop-by-material/rulon-j

-steve