Plugging Reel

[dozer 277]

foureel, thanks. it started when i got so fed up with a penn 5500 bail snapping closed every cast. and loosing plugs constantly. i had this reel for a while gathering dust, i saw what other guys were doing with them and thought what the heck. fired up the drill press and went crazy. then sand blasted all the paint off and was gonna repaint it. figured i would see what it looked like polished and that is where im at. i was gonna drop some $ on a new surf plugging reel but alot of the guys say these reels are very good. we will see. i put 40lb braid on it and got a bailess kit, it feels good on a 9ft tica rod, i have to get used to the bailess idea but with the other reel i couldnt cast very hard for fear of the bail snapping closed.

[jozep]

foureel, thanks. it started when i got so fed up with a penn 5500 bail snapping closed every cast. and loosing plugs constantly. i had this reel for a while gathering dust, i saw what other guys were doing with them and thought what the heck. fired up the drill press and went crazy. then sand blasted all the paint off and was gonna repaint it. figured i would see what it looked like polished and that is where im at. i was gonna drop some $ on a new surf plugging reel but alot of the guys say these reels are very good. we will see. i put 40lb braid on it and got a bailess kit, it feels good on a 9ft tica rod, i have to get used to the bailess idea but with the other reel i couldnt cast very hard for fear of the bail snapping closed.

That is a badass looking reel. Seriously I don't know how long that projects took to complete but that looks like a nice little side job for you. If you could do something with the gold handle you would have a perfect score of 100 as of know it's only a 99.9Nice work.

[dozer 277]

believe it or not it only took 2 days. the drilling was about an hour and then some light filing. started to sand it and it was taking too long so next day i took it into work and glass beaded it. hit it with 400 grit when i got home and then put a polishing wheel in the drill press and made a really big mess in my garage. all i used was flitz metal polish to get the finish. i took a dowel and turned it down till it fit inside the spool, wedged the spool on it and spun it with a rag and polish till it was shiny. in hindsight i could have gone down to about 600 or 800 grit before polishing but it just took a little longer this way. got a bailess kit for $30 and its all good. i am torn about the handle. i dont like the gold either. if it performs well this year i am gonna do more to it. possibly have it anodized. we will see. just hated the 5500 i was using so much i needed to change.
foureel its not hard to do. the metal drills very cleanly. its a soft aluminum. you just have to mark out what you want to do carefully before hand. all i did after drilling was i had to take some weight out of the counter balance after i assembled it so it was smooth when you reel fast. just drilled a little bit of lead out and kept trying it until it felt smooth. ive had a few guys on another board inquire about doing theirs and i would be happy to do another one. it was fun and it didnt cost anything. (except the bailess kit)

[Foureel]

Dozer, I think I am going to track down a 704 and when I do I just might take you up on your offer. I think I might be able to do the drilling but dont have anyone to do the blasting. I am having Mike from K and M rods building me a new Century stick and I think that it would be bad a$$ to put a tricked out 704 on it. I like your idea of the bail less kit, never used one but they say it makes a big difference with braid

[FIDLSTIXS]

Hey dozer nice looking reel you have there. Nice work indeed. How would you go about anodizing it ? BTW. I like the gold handle

[dozer 277]

foureel no problem, i can help you out. yeah the bailess kit makes it look like a van stall. fidlstx, i would have to send it out for anodizing. there is a place in trenton that does it. its very expensive tho and thats why i am waiting until im sure i like the reel first. jonesing for the run to use it.

[finchaser]

DS I'm glad to hear the rods I built you worked out