Bantam 1000 SG

[mo65]

  Looking around the Shimano section I see there are no tutorials stickied for the vintage baitcasters...that's hard to believe. I had this yard sale find torn down and half restored before I knew it, or I would have taken more pics. As far as I'm concerned...Shimano never needed to advance design beyond these reels. I'm sure some Curado fan is out there choking on that comment...HA! Oh what the heck...I like Curados too!  
  The first pic is what it looked like when I got it home. A bent handle, bent drag star, and lots of dirt. Second shot is the parts all cleaned and prepped. Last two photos are the finished product. 50 cent very well spent!

[foakes]

Solid work, Mike!

Those are top quality and long-lasting little baitcasters.

Best,

Fred

[Gfish]

Yup.
The bent star and handle on yours reminded me of my first baitcaster; a~Shimano Bantam Black Mag-? Sorry, can't remember the model name, but the design was excellent IMO, however the parts were flimsy.
I managed to not bend my handle, but one time, the star got bent in the middle of a hook-up: "hey!, every time I try'n gain some line on this fish, the drag lossens up!" The star was hittin the cast control knob with each crank a the handle.
I got a Chronarch SF 100, great bass reel, but I'm extra cautious with it. The SF system was a good engineering addition( pinion supported on either end by bearings, so no spool shaft friction) for better casting.

[festus]

Great job, Mo65, what a bargain for half a dollar. 

My first two low profile baitcaster rebuilds on this site were the BantamProMag 100XSG and the BantamMagPlus 250SG.  I have no clue how they differ from your's except one of them has a gold exterior.  Both of them outcast a practically new Quantum KVD100H I sold this past week. I'm sure they'll outlast that KVD.

[mo65]

Great job, Mo65, what a bargain for half a dollar. 

My first two low profile baitcaster rebuilds on this site were the BantamProMag 100XSG and the BantamMagPlus 250SG.  I have no clue how they differ from your's except one of them has a gold exterior.  Both of them outcast a practically new Quantum KVD100H I sold this past week. I'm sure they'll outlast that KVD.

   The early Bantams were all about the same construction, just minor differences like bearings/bushings and spool capacity. Those two of yours are the magged variety, which I tend to prefer, even though the gurus all say the early non-magged models are better.

[oc1]

I think the Bantam marks an important turning point in reel evolution.  Shimano was a bicycle company and got their start in the reel business through collaboration with Lew Childers from Alabama.  Shimano manufactured the first Lew's Speed Spool which was the first palming asymmetrical baitcasting reel.  The asymmetry was a matter of form following function.  Before that all baitcasting reels were round reels. The Speed Spool also had the first reel with disengaging levelwind.  This meant that the worm gear, line guide and idler gear did not have to move when casting so casting distance improved. 

The collaboration with Lew probably fell apart when Shimano began designing the Bantam.  Childers had Ryobi take over manufacture of the Lew's Speed Spool and Shimano introduced the Bantam at about the same time.  Soon after, Childers was killed in a plane crash and Ryobi discontinued the Speed Spool after a couple of years.  The Bantam incorporated the Childers innovations and further improved on them by making the reel lighter weight, more compact and more comfortable to palm.  The Speed Spool was asymmetrical but did not have a particularly low profile so you can say the Bantam was the first truly low profile reel.  It was not just a flash in the pan either.  The round reels are still around, but asymmetrical low-profile baitcasters have become the norm and even ABU had to come out with their own versions.
-steve

[Robert Janssen]

Well written, oc1. Very thoughtful, and quite accurate. This was very much the springboard that propelled Shimano into the big bright future. (I think they were making reels before that, but nothing worthy of greater notice)

Somewhere right in there is where Fred Archer fit in too... if he was the one who connected Lew with Shimano, or if he was with Lew but stayed with Shimano when Lew died... or something..?

But yeah... this is where it really began for them, and others.

[oc1]

Thank you very much.  From ifish.net:
Captain Fred consulted with the first graphite rod material manufacturer, for an upstart company, Shimano, on the development of their first baitcasting reel, the Bantam 100. Then he joined them full time and wound up vice president in charge of the fishing tackle division. He was credited by none other than The Wall Street Journal as "making the difference at Shimano". Much more a designer and innovator than an administrator, many of the products and features that he came up with are industry standards today.
-steve

[vilters]

Great post, love and still fish my bantams, didn't know any had bearings, that makes them even better, as i have had to periodically disassemble and lube the bushings for castability. great post on the history oc1, thanks for that.

[DougK]

Great post, love and still fish my bantams, didn't know any had bearings, that makes them even better, as i have had to periodically disassemble and lube the bushings for castability. great post on the history oc1, thanks for that.

I may have committed sacrilege of a sort.. got a Lews BB-1NG (the mag version) and liked it so much, decided to try ceramic bearings to replace the original bushings.  Got some 3x10x4 mm ceramic bearings Abec 7 from China for $15 the pair.
Noticed: runs much more freely, also now makes slight rattling noise on retrieve. Distinctly longer casts, noticeable with both a light spoon, and very much further with a big plastic jerkbait.

Then bought another two of the reels, one has bushings and the other bearings. I need to clean up the one with bearings and see how it compares to the ceramics..

[mo65]

I may have committed sacrilege of a sort.. got a Lews BB-1NG (the mag version) and liked it so much, decided to try ceramic bearings to replace the original bushings.  Got some 3x10x4 mm ceramic bearings Abec 7 from China for $15 the pair.
Noticed: runs much more freely, also now makes slight rattling noise on retrieve. Distinctly longer casts, noticeable with both a light spoon, and very much further with a big plastic jerkbait.

Then bought another two of the reels, one has bushings and the other bearings. I need to clean up the one with bearings and see how it compares to the ceramics..

   You should also try polishing the bushings on that third reel, then compare polished bushings, the stock bearings, and the ceramics. Many times polished bushings will achieve the casting improvement without all the noise.

   

[redsetta]

Great thread lads - really enjoyed the history.
I agree Mike - bushings (particularly sintered) are underrated I reckon!
Thanks for the post, Justin