Magging a Squidder

beachbob · September 30, 2020, 01:30:11 PM

Picked up a minty Squidder 140L LH (yeah, left hand - I'm a righty that Always cranks lefty to allow the right hand/arm control the rod - feels most natural to me) in that old school dark maroon color and it came with the typical metal chrome spool. Randy set me up with a minty true-spinning aluminum spool (and a dark maroon plastic finned one, too - Randy's got the Good goods!). I have no big problem flinging a Squidder with nothing more than my well educated thumb (that's been trained on and fishing with these reels for over 65 years) but hey, I'm older and slower and not as proficient as I was back in the last quarter of the last century. So as I've given up the stick shift for automatic, I'll give up the thumb for some serious reel mag control. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

First up is to fully pull off the side plate and clean out the areas that the washers and mags will be located. Cleaning is done with acetone, then scratched up a bit with a sharp knife blade. Those areas Must be totally free of any grease or oil. I always clean at least 3 times to be sure. JB Weld 30 minute slow set epoxy is mixed up and dabbled in those areas, while #6 washers (.390" x .040") are laid down on top of the epoxy. The washers are situated so that the magnets will be "inside" the bell ends of the spool, which yields enough room for most disc magnet diameters and thicknesses.

I picked up a pack of neodymium rare earth disc magnets from Home Depot (.315" x .120") and checked their polarities with a Gauss meter that reveals both polarity and magnet strength, but all that's really need is a cheap compass. A pair of stacked magnets on top of a washer still cleared the side of the spool. I arranged the magnet stacks with alternating polarities, south-north-south-north, which is how the eddy currents get set up and apply their force to brake the aluminum spool ...

I assembled the frame, popped in the spool, and made sure there were no contact issues of spool and magnets. Perfect. The reel is currently loaded with 30# Trilene mono and no shock leader (yet).

Stuck the reel on a Tica UEHA 11' rod rated at 3-8ozs, clipped on a 3oz sputnik sinker (with its antennas clipped off), and a semi-casual flip landed the lead 78 yards away (verified by a digital range finder). Most important, NO thumb on the spool at all other than before the release and to stop it at flights end. Neat. I think hitting 100 yards will be no big deal. Plus, mags can be removed to tailor the control for different lines and even payloads. The Squidder one screw take-down makes all that easy.

mo65 · September 30, 2020, 02:03:35 PM

Great job magging that Squidder! That is the same way I do it...epoxied steel washers for the magnets to mount to. Scratching cross hatch marks in the plate gives the epoxy something to "bite" into. I have a few reels done years ago with no issues so far.

Rivverrat · September 30, 2020, 02:49:19 PM

Thanks for posting. Your work here will be a big help for many who come here for answers... Jeff

beachbob · September 30, 2020, 02:53:48 PM

The key to static magging any reel is finding the right side plate location (and hopefully it's flat, else shims will be needed to level the washers), the right diameter and thickness neo mags, figuring out exactly what mag height is needed to get reasonably close to the aluminum spool, and what number of mags are needed to fill that height space. At least for the Squidder (and probably other similar reels) the washer and neo mags dimensions I used are spot on.

Gfish · September 30, 2020, 05:27:38 PM

Cool. A Gauss Meter, didn't know such a thing existed. Now I may have'ta check my polarities with a compass.

wfjord · September 30, 2020, 05:34:49 PM

Thanks for that. I've been thinking about doing something similar to my Squidder 140.

Either that, or replace the bearings with bushings --can that be done on a Squidder?

beachbob · September 30, 2020, 05:59:37 PM

Quote from: Gfish on September 30, 2020, 05:27:38 PM
Cool. A Gauss Meter, didn't know such a thing existed. Now I may have'ta check my polarities with a compass.

as stated, there's no need for a gauss meter to mag a reel. just need a compass. i just happen to have that spin-doctor as i'm a vintage-style guitar/bass pickup manufacturer.

oc1 · September 30, 2020, 08:16:02 PM

I don't use gauss meter or compass. You can tell by the way the magnets stack themselves and behave on the bench when you have the alternating polarity. I don't glue them in any more either. It's quicker and easier to attach a countersunk magnet with hole using a machine screw and then stack flat wafers in top of that. Decide what magnet diameter you will use and buy some of every wafer thickness so you can fine tune the amount of breaking. K&J magnetics.
-steve

beachbob · September 30, 2020, 08:37:20 PM

Quote from: oc1 on September 30, 2020, 08:16:02 PM
I don't use gauss meter or compass. You can tell by the way the magnets stack themselves and behave on the bench when you have the alternating polarity. I don't glue them in any more either. It's quicker and easier to attach a countersunk magnet with hole using a machine screw and then stack flat wafers in top of that. Decide what magnet diameter you will use and buy some of every wafer thickness so you can fine tune the amount of breaking. K&J magnetics.
-steve

lemme say again - there is NO NEED for a gauss meter. there IS a need for a simple compass

yeah, you can play the stick-stuck game but what a PITA with neos that are hard to unstick. just use a simple compass and make life easy.

oc1 · September 30, 2020, 10:52:46 PM

Just wave one magnet against another to know if they attract or repel.
-steve

Tiddlerbasher · October 01, 2020, 12:17:05 AM

x2 Steve

beachbob · October 01, 2020, 09:37:09 AM

Quote from: oc1 on September 30, 2020, 10:52:46 PM
Just wave one magnet against another to know if they attract or repel.
-steve

yep, stupid simple ain't it? good for you!

Bill B · October 06, 2020, 05:09:32 AM

Good tutorial Bob.....thank you for posting it. Simple enough for this old guard to accomplish. Bill

Brandon G · January 04, 2021, 04:14:25 PM

I have everything ready to go for my Squidder, but at the last minute im switching plates from maroon to black for looks.

I was curious if anybody has tested the best setup for magnets. Nsns or nnss. I am reading into addy currents and im having trouble deducing that from the information haha

beachbob · January 04, 2021, 04:58:39 PM

Stagger the mags as North-South-North-South-etc-etc for the most effective eddy currents.

No matter what, don't epoxy the mags directly to the side plate, then yer stuck with what you've done (pun intended) and you can't change, add, or remove mags.

There are two basic flavors of neodymium rare earth mags; N42 and the stronger N52, so if yer restricted by height or available area to place mags, the N52's can increase the production of eddy currents.