Shakespear Beaulite German Dam

Donnyboat · March 28, 2020, 03:51:38 AM

I every one, hope your all keeping virus free, I brought a Shakespear Beaulite trout reel, made in England, I started stripping it, I see on the inside of the back plate, SFM1, & on the inside of the spool it has GERMAN DAM DT5F, would anyone have the schematics for this reel, as I took the cap of the front of it, there was a spring clip & a lever dropped out, not sure how they fit back in, also the trout line on it is about 3/64th thick any idea what wt line that could be, cheers Don.

happyhooker · March 28, 2020, 09:48:17 PM

Snagged this pic off Ebay; does it help?

Frank

Gfish · March 28, 2020, 11:22:01 PM

"DT5F" may mean The line: Double Taper, 5 weight, Floating. Most fly line is 90 ft. Double taper is good for more delicate presentations mostly with floating flies or for use in shallow waters to keep the fly off the bottom. If memory serves me, there'ed be 30 feet of taper on one end, then the same thing on the other end. After you wear out one end you can reverse to the other. Never heard of German DAM line, though.

Gfish · March 28, 2020, 11:26:59 PM

Interested, I hadda check Don. Found "DAM Forester" flyline from Germany on ebay.

Donnyboat · March 28, 2020, 11:54:42 PM

Good thanks Frank, thats the one, still trying to work out how the small spring & the lever match.
Thanks Greg, that explains the trout line.
Any idea when it was made, & the value in AM $s, cheers Don.

Donnyboat · March 29, 2020, 12:04:29 AM

It also had a 8 foot 2 inch rod with it, if that helps, I paid AU $30, rod & reel plus line & braid under lay, I have managed to get it cleaned up good, & spinning freely including handle,
until I work out how the lever & spring fit, the spool is working its way out, cheers Don.

DougK · March 29, 2020, 05:04:23 AM

there were several versions of the beaulite, many were made by JW Young. There are at least two configurations of the spool retaining latch - can you post a pic of your reel ?

The one is like the attached schematic, this is for an older reel but the latch mechanism is the same - a release lever that turns on a little pin under the cap, with an release lever elbow spring behind it.

The other is like that seen at http://www.jwyoungs.co.uk/reflex.htm
This will have a cylinder spring like that in a retractable ballpoint pen. The latch itself should have a little nub to hold the spring. Assemble the latch and spring in the latch cap then screw the cap back on. It's a bit tricky to get these back together sometimes. I use a dab of grease in the latch cap to hold things in place..

Made in the late 80s after Shakespeare bought out JW Young, not particularly valuable, $30-50 US. But they are great reels, I have several of the JW Young branded versions and like them a lot..

Donnyboat · March 29, 2020, 07:25:33 AM

Ay Thanks Doug, it is the reel with the elbow spring, not the ball point pen spring, I just need to know how that spring fits in, I am under the impression, that you screw the lever & spring onto the spool before, you would fit the spool to the reel, I could get Mike or Wayne to post some pic, cheers Don.

mhc · March 29, 2020, 09:39:14 AM

Don's photo's of his beaulite;

Mike

Donnyboat · March 29, 2020, 10:32:28 AM

Thanks million Mike, see the black cap next to the spool it has the lever in place, & I think the spring is correct now, for a start I was trying to place the lever over the screw hole, & the spring around the black button, that the lever is now mounted on, I now have the cap on & the lever is moving correctly, it also looks like the clicker is in the wrong way, I think it needs turning over, although it is clicking okay, but is still clicking when it is in the off position, so all good & thank you to everone that has tried to help, & thanks again Mike for posting the pics, cheers Don.

wfjord · March 29, 2020, 07:10:47 PM

That's a cool old reel. JW Young made some nice old fly reels. I have inadvertently started somewhat of a collection of vintage English made click & pawl fly reels, mostly Hardys or made by Hardy for other companies, along with one or two Orvis reels made by BFR, but so far none made by JW Young. I need to start looking further into those!

Donnyboat · March 30, 2020, 01:56:44 AM

Yes they are a solid reels, I have it all back together now, working great, as I took the floating line off, I ran it through a sponge, with plenty of detergent in it, then through a damp cloth a couple of times, it came up really clean, almost like new.
special thank to Chris Rush, for the info he gave me, & a estimate of the value before, I brought it, I wont bother posting a pic of it now, as I have to get Mike or Wayne to post them for me, pain in the but.
I see the varnish is starting to crack on the rod, I will use the heat gun to remove the old varnish, should come up well, cheers Don.

Gfish · March 30, 2020, 04:18:49 AM

Does the rod have a weight rating on it? To best cast that line it should be a 5wt or 6wt.

Donnyboat · March 30, 2020, 04:42:12 AM

Thanks Greg, cant see anything on the rod, cheers Don.

wfjord · March 30, 2020, 05:16:20 AM

What is the diameter of the spool? That would give a good idea of what line weights would work best on it. I think the SFM1 was a Salmon reel, somewhere around 3 7/8" to 4 1/4" diameter for 7 to 8 weight lines, maybe a 9. The diameter of the trout version would probably be in the 3" to 3 1/2" range for 4 to 5 wt lines.

Add enough backing to cover just the 1st row of holes in the spool face for a DT line. Fill the backing up into the vicinity of the 2nd row of holes for a weight forward floating line. Don't know about Young, but I think some of those English makers tended to over estimate the backing/line capacity for some reels.