OLD SCHOOL TUTORIAL..SHIMANO TTS50W WITH CAL SHEETS TWO SPEED

Started by josa1, July 31, 2013, 11:49:59 PM

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Rothmar2

Hey josa1,

Did not see your recent post, sorry for not replying sooner.
While I haven't seen these reels personally used in anger, I do know they have accounted for a number of bluefin tuna in the 40-50lb class using 15kg (30lb) line. The owner of the reels is still happy with their smooth drag and ramp.
Don't worry what others say about your reels, if the old school gear gets the fins on deck, and you get satisfaction from using it, then the proof is right there.
I personally feel that the older levers are a much more user friendly reel, and also have greater scope for customizing according to required application. Looser tolerances means more room move and greater scope for adjustment.
  Not taking away from "modern" lever drags, they are marvellous pieces of engineering, but the tighter Tolerances leave little room for customizing, particularly drag ramps and top end numbers.
These TTS's, the pre-V series Penn Inters are the reels I enjoy working on the most. Finding them in good condition is getting harder, but properly serviced and maintained, these old reels are a far more versatile reel IMO. The only "modern" lever I have personally worked on that can approach the versatility of these older reels, is the 4/0 Avet. Having two sets of drag plate "pegs" that by moving 3 C-clips gave either a beautiful ramp for fishing IGFA line classes, or the ability to fish 80lb spectra to its limit, all wrapped up in the one reel, was a stroke of genius on Avet's part. Yeah the ratchet setup sucked, but it could be modified. By a whisker, my all time favorite reel.

josa1

Thanks for your comments Rothmar2, it's really nice to get feed back from people with experience on the reels I work with.  I'm glad the 30's fished well.  I'm sure they would fish 50-60 pound line with no problem.

Tight Lines.

josa

jonnou


yockman

Spent the afternoon on one of my 50s after the most insane bluefin season for 50 years (still going strong). One suggestion about these reels - back the drag off when washing down your reel. Unlike most other reels, with these the tighter the drag, the more open the drag is to water. Odd design feature!

josa1

Hi yockman,

Thanks for the observation and for passing along the info for all to use.  Aren't these reels great to use?   They remain one of my favorites.

josa1

josa1

July 11th, 2017

My next project is to migrate all the pictures on this post to the Alan Tani Gallery.

May take a couple of days, but I'll definitely get it done!

josa1

jonnou

just  checked in today. first time for months. hope to see your  pictures soon :)

MaxG

Quote from: Rothmar2 on February 02, 2015, 05:00:14 AM
Just recently did a couple of TTS 30's (single speeds) that both had the same problem.
The owner of these reels wanted to fish 15kg mono, so 5kg at Strike setting.
Trouble was free spool would be lost at around a strike setting of 4kg. 
I ended up sourcing some slightly different bellevilles from the stock ones.
The original arrangement is there are 2 adjacent to the left side plate bearing arranged ().
These I did not change.

The Belleville stack at the pinion end (stock) is ()()()()().
I took out 2 pairs of original  bellevilles and then arranged the originals ((())).
I then added 3 pairs of the newer bellevilles ()()().
So Belleville stack now looks ()()()((())).
The  new washers were of slightly thinner metal but same undeflected height as the originals.
I had also hand cut new carbontex washers for the drags, which was about 0.2mm thinner than the original canvas washer.
A fair bit of trial and error to get the pinion bellevilles order established to give the strike drag setting required and maintain free-spool. The aftermarket bellevilles were sourced from smallparts.com.au for those reading from Australia. Can add exact dimensions of these additional washers later if anyone interested.

Hi Rothmar2
Thanks for this interesting info on the different arrangement of new and old washers.
If by chance you still have details of what washers you sourced from smallparts.com.au I would be interested to see them.
Thanks!
Max

P.S. And Thanks josa1 for this write up

Swami805

I caught my PB blueflin on one of those reels, 128lb on 60lb thought I was going to die. Wish it was a 2 speed. Thanks for the write up.
My first 2 long trips were on the RRIII when it was new with Danny Palm, a 10 day and a 16 day. Great skipper and a nice man.
Catching a cow on that gear was quite a feat back then
Do what you can with that you have where you are

josa1

Yes, to this day my personal best is a 283 on 60 pound test Izor on a TTS 50W single speed on this reel. On the RRIII, got great help from George, broke a Sabre Stroker rod after more than two hours, line was spliced on to another rig, and I ended up landing the fish after about two hours and thirty minutes.  Second place jack pot, 1st place was won by Jerry Massey with a 296 from the same school of fish.  These are among the strongest reels I've ever fished.

Thanks for your comments.  Brings back good memories!

josa1