Antique Gear Rehab

[CaddmannQ]

I have a lot of fishing gear, but this Penn 10 level wind reel has been with me 25 years. I recently pulled it all apart and did a thorough overhaul, replacing the crankshaft assembly and ratchet in the process. If you need parts for these reels, I'd try Mystic in New Jersey. Very fast and inexpensive considering the cost of a new reel.

There was almost no corrosion, so it was a pretty easy job. I only had to put it together 4 times to get it correct. I really spins nice now. Here's the little shaft assembly with all the bits on it. You can almost see the wear on the flats where the crank handle mounts.

$25 with tax and shipping, and my reel works again. Having the diagram helped a bit, but it's not 100% clear. I resorted to trial and error. The pawl is on wrong in the photo. Backwards and upside down.

Here's the diagram from Mystic Parts (which used to be Scott's Bait & Tackle).


In real life it's like this. I bought that little Diawa greaser, which works OK for $5.


It's amazing what a difference cleaning made. It's not a Shimano, but it's smooth and plenty rugged.

 

[CaddmannQ]

So the Penn 10 needed a new rod, because the plastic nut on the carbon fiber Eagle Claw Black Eagle was stripped. This was a nice rod for the money and had good action, but the plastic was a heartbreaker.


This was a bit more antique: a 7'-6" Fenwick I bought in 1973. This rod was a "blem" I got at Big-5 for under $30 (half price) and after about 40 years it broke right where the blem was. I couldn't toss it. This was my first rod, and the anodized aluminum hardware is still really nice. I waited 10 years to fix it though...


I decided to put the two together. Here I have cut both rods.


I skived off the old cork and glue, and sanded the Eagle Claw down. I also sanded the inside of the handle until everything slipped together. I blocked part of the handle with plastic inside so all the glue wouldn't run free. The rod will seat in as far as the aluminum goes. I decided to sleeve the Eagle Claw inside with a third bit from the Fenwick, all sanded to fit neatly. It sticks past the handle about 1", into the new threading. I plugged the end of the sleeve with epoxy putty, so the glue wouldn't all just run up inside the rod as I assembled it. It needed to stay put!


Here's the assembly, glued up, but not wrapped yet.


The handle gets wider toward the base, so lots of epoxy makes it solid. I used this stuff. I've used it on the fiberglass boat and fiberglass glass car before with great results.


I twisted up a little rope from 6 colored threads and glued it stiff. Then I laced up the base of the pole and wrapped it with 1000 turns of yellow thread. Twice. This was all sealed with cyanoacrylate glue & it looks messy with excess glue,.

It isn't cured yet, so I will clean up the excess glue and clearcoat the threading once the glue is cured.

 

[Bobster]

I decided to put the two together.

I love that you have decided to make one good out of two bad. Plus the legacy of both will live on...

I've never been a "fisherman". Oh, I've fished and caught plenty in fresh and salt water. I've fished under water with spears and shellfished with hands and rakes. I've trapped them with nets and pots. It is just that my ADHD doesn't jive with a "sport" that often requires sitting still... I'd go fishing with my grampa and he'd be 100' down the shore with his pole and I'd be skipping stones.

 

[CaddmannQ]

I didn't do a great job on the decoration, but it's plenty strong. I cleaned up the excess glue with a blade and gave it a lot of clear plastic to seal it all down.


It looks like the yellow thread is thin, but it is not. It has some black fuzz or dirt on it, and it's under the glue and paint.

 

[CaddmannQ]

I love that you have decided to make one good out of two bad. Plus the legacy of both will live on...

I've never been a "fisherman". Oh, I've fished and caught plenty in fresh and salt water. I've fished under water with spears and shellfished with hands and rakes. I've trapped them with nets and pots. It is just that my ADHD doesn't jive with a "sport" that often requires sitting still... I'd go fishing with my grampa and he'd be 100' down the shore with his pole and I'd be skipping stones.

You've probably caught more fish than I have.

This is a two-piece pole, but I will epoxy it together and it can live in the boat. it'll be 7'-5" long unless I break it again.

 

[Rodburner]

Lol. I’ve never been a true fisherman like my brother was, lake boat, drift boat, bass boat and saltwater boat with each one completely outfitted for the appropriate quarry. I caught sand sharks and bullheads on a drop line as a kid, but never got the real bug. I had a nice Lamiglass rod and a Shimano bait caster on it, but lots of hours spent on lakes, with friends, after work, uh, netted, no fish. I did catch a smallmouth bass once in a local lake while getting away from the house for a Saturday morning. After I got it in the boat, I had no idea what to do with it,lol. So I dumped out my lunch box and brought it home live. My wife whacked its head off, cleaned and filleted it and cooked it for me. We laughed about that right up to the end, how I got that stupid fish home without getting my skirt wet… Never fished since.

 

[CaddmannQ]

I am more of a boater who owns poles.