Daiwa Ventura 60 - down, but not out...

Started by redsetta, January 29, 2012, 05:01:43 AM

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redsetta

G'day lads,
Here's a little project that I've been working on for the past few days.
It's Daiwa Ventura 60 and is about 40 years old, as far as I can ascertain.
I got in touch with Daiwa in the US and Toby said they'd been out of production for 30-odd years.
I picked it up off the local buy-and-sell site for about US$40.
The bearings were shot and it seemed like it hadn't been used in a good while.



Despite the scuffing and general wear-and-tear, it's beautifully made and built like the proverbial brick outhouse.
Note the drag pre-set adjuster at the top of the drag lever.



I reckon the reason it slipped off the production line is that the drag material was hopelessly lumpy and sticky, and never worked particularly well.
They'd work alright as a winch, which is how this one was used over most of its life - bouncing the bottom for big hapuku (grouper).
I did some bench-testing on the drag and it's the worst I've seen, especially given it's all mechanically sound.
The drag plate carried the drag washer and pushed against another drag plate on the spool - basically the opposite of most modern lever drag set-ups.





The material is hopeless - ripples and glazed patches etc make it totally ineffective.



Everything else is great though. The dogs are S/S and the spring system is a good one.



You can see from the wear pattern that the functional drag surface area was pretty minimal.



What I decided to do was remove the spool drag plate, switch that over to the floating drag plate, and cut a CF drag washer to fit into the spool cavity.



I've started polishing the drag plate here and buffed it to a fine, lustrous shine later.



Here's the drag washer (cheers Wallace), cut to match the drag plate.



The centre hole has been cut and it's ready to be fitted to the spool...



Just like a bought one...  ;)



Now to the drag plate. I drilled and tapped the floating drag plate and fastened on the original spool drag plate.



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I also lapped down the outer edge of drag plate by 1mm to allow it to spin freely within the lip of the spool.



Reassembly is now underway. New bearings and everything cleaned, polished and greased...



And here's the finished product...



The two screws holding the Daiwa badge sheered off, so I drilled and retapped.
I need to find better screws (ie with smaller heads), but these will do the trick for now.
I'll also get the handle rechromed (or simply replace it with one of Alan's Kolekar units)







I've done quite a bit of drag testing on it and it pulls 35+lbs (15kg) with ease (though it'll no doubt handle a bit more).
I lost about 1mm from the width of the overall drag mechanism through these changes and this meant that pre-setting the drag to higher settings moved the spool away from the clicker plate just enough to make the clicker too quiet.
As a result, I had to add another drag washer on top of the first.
However, it feels like the top washer is lifting fractionaly as the drag is backed off, so I haven't yet been able to determine where max drag/loss of freespool occurs.
I've avoided gluing the two together as I'm concerned about glue leaching through the CF.
I may add a large spring/circlip to hold the CF washers in the spool.
This'll necessitate a lip being ground into the edge of the spool cavity, so I'll get to that in due course.
At a 30-35lb strike setting, the drag is like silk and quite literally better than new.
The tolerances and alloy quality are also top-notch, so I reckon it's definitely worth the effort.
It's a bit battered, but it's nearly as old as me so it's bound to have a few war wounds by now...   ;)
Hope it was of some interest.
All the best, Justin
Fortitudine vincimus - By endurance we conquer

alantani

send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!

redsetta

Fortitudine vincimus - By endurance we conquer

Dominick

Justin:  great job.  With regard to gluing the carbon fibers together I don't think you need to worry about glue leaching through.  Somewhere on this site is a thread that discusses gluing the drag, so it is done regularly.  However if you need to raise the drag plate why not make a shim out stainless steel to raise the drag plate so you are not wasting carbon fiber.  If I understand how that drag works from the photos it should work.  Cheers, Dominick
Leave the gun.  Take the cannolis.

There are two things I don't like about fishing.  Getting up early in the morning and boats.  The rest of it is fun.

redsetta

Thanks Dominick - appreciate the advice.
I'll let it all bed-in a bit, then review the options.
Cheers, Justin
Fortitudine vincimus - By endurance we conquer

Bryan Young

Very good Justin.  Way to think out of the box to make an old reel better and usable by today's standards.
:D I talk with every part I send out and each reel I repair so that they perform at the top of their game. :D

wallacewt

redsetta
you will get a job in alan,s shop when he opens it,me,ill make the coffee.

Dominick

Quote from: wallacewt on January 29, 2012, 10:26:12 PM
redsetta
you will get a job in alan,s shop when he opens it,me,ill make the coffee.
Bollocks.  Aussies can't brew coffee, it might make tea jealous. :D.  Justin:  What about you Kiwis, do you go for a Costa Rican Dark Roast in the morning?  Dominick
Leave the gun.  Take the cannolis.

There are two things I don't like about fishing.  Getting up early in the morning and boats.  The rest of it is fun.

redsetta

#8
Stronger the better.  ;)
Fortitudine vincimus - By endurance we conquer

Nessie Hunter

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intentions of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body. But rather to slide in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming....
WOW!!! WHAT A RIDE!

redsetta

#10
G'day lads,
Here's a bit of an update on the Ventura project...
I followed Alan's step-by-step technique to cut a spool sleeve, including finishing the sleeve with my drill press - worked a treat.
I also added another belleville, so it's now (())) - with the three towards the spool - and it ramps up more evenly...





I ditched the second drag washer and shimed the left side plate (effectively bringing the floating drag plate closer to the spool) with a 113H keyed drag washer that I honed out on a lathe.





Here's the left side-plate fit - perfect (27mm OD by the way, lathed out to 18mm ID).





The 18mm ID gave plenty of room for the ID of the drag plate bearing...



I've done some more testing and it's now producing a silky 25lb strike with a lazy, long-running free spool.
(I greased the spool bearings for now as it's specifically a trolling reel and will try clean bearings when I get hold of some TSI301.)
At this strike setting, it produces 35lbs at sunset - smooth as...
Though slightly less than before, it's better balanced in the frame now and runs nicley against the clicker plate at all drag settings.
At over 30lbs strike, it starts to compromise freespool - albeit very slightly - but there's no doubt more in it yet (it is a 60-class reel after all).
This level of re-engineering and refinement in a lever drag is a new step for me, but I'm pretty happy with it so far as the next step up from my 113H Tiburon.
Righto, hope it's of some interest.
All the best, Justin
PS Alan - what's your opinion on a reasonable drag range for this reel?
Fortitudine vincimus - By endurance we conquer

alantani

send me an email at alantani@yahoo.com for questions!

Piskada

Awesome job, Justin! Nice reel also, never seen it before.

Bryan Young

Justin, that's a work of art you just created.
:D I talk with every part I send out and each reel I repair so that they perform at the top of their game. :D

Robert Janssen

Nice job.

What holds the carbon washer non-rotatably affixed to the spool? Just wondering.

.