Fly Fishing Reel

cults3d

This is a simple fly fishing reel I designed for myself several years ago but am sharing by request. I've used various versions of it for everything from bass to panfish, and I actually used one to catch my first trout (on a fly) with it. (see picture) I'm marking this as a "Work in progress" because I have multiple design files for this reel and I'm not 100% sure these were the final drafts. (if there are any problems with them, just let me know and I'll fix them.) The reel does use a few non-printed hardware components. Hardware Required (1) 10-32 x 1" Socket Head Screw (I think 1" was the length.) (1) 4-40 x 1/2" Flat Head Screw (I need to double-check that length too.) (3) 1/4" X 1" Fender Washers (Lowes - Item # 136616 Model # 880342) (1) Spring & Ball (optional) See exploded diagrams for assembly... I don't have time to do a full write-up right now, but here's some miscellaneous info I remember. The spool halves get super-glued together. The fender washers act like a bearing and make it spin more freely. (I tried a thrust bearing, but it really wasn't worth it.) This is a Click and Pawl design reel - The spring and ball for the clicker can be a pen spring and a BB, but they will rust over time. I used a .186" chrome ball (Honda Motorcycle Part# 96211-06000) and also used a cut-down stainless steel spring I found locally. Use a small Allen wrench to press the spring and ball into the hole while pressing the spool down. It's a little tricky, but not impossible.:) You can use the printed clicker (not shown in the pictures); it clips right into the bottom cut-out of the spool post on the reel frame. I don't remember which STL version I went with or what printer settings I used, so I included multiple versions I was testing - you can play around with them if you want. The hole for the spool bolt was left small and tapped with a 10-32 tap, but you can probably just force the screw in. The nut for the spool is embedded into the actual thumb knob during printing and requires a thin nut. (I used an 18-8 Stainless Steel Thin Nylon-Insert Locknut from McMaster-Carr Item# 90101A225) You could probably just use a nut and washer, but seeing it's used to set the drag of the reel (so to speak, as it is just a Click and Pawl design), it might be hard to adjust in the field if you went that route. For drag after hook-up, it was designed so you can also just use your hand on the out-spool edge to control the drag if need be. I've never caught anything big enough yet to worry about it though. See http://imgur.com/a/da9rE for a few more pictures I took during the design process. Anyway, that's it for now - if you try to print this and have any questions, ask and I'll try to answer them. Enjoy...