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Tuesday 21 August 2018

Okuma Epix ER40 Service and replacement bearings

A quick post and before and after video of a reel that's just been finished.

Okuma Epix Pro 40 reel with a very rough feel and noisy 'coffee grinder' racket going on ! The fix was replacing the bearings, all 3 of them as water had got in and the rust had done it's deed on them  . . . . . . .  an expensive job you may think?

No, not really, all in with a service, the reel's total repair cost including 3 new bearings was only £25 ! Now bare in mind that if you were sending it to me you'd have postage costs both ways, but this chap was fairly local, so in his case, a very reasonable fix to keep a favourite reel in action doing battle !

Watch the video below and hear the difference !


As you can see it's made a massive difference to the sound, feel and operation of the reel, completely transformed from something you'd throw away to a reel that's going to be good for years.

This is a service I offer for many many older reels, including the old original Shimano TSS Baitrunners (Triton Sea Spin), Daiwa original Tournament TSS5000's, Emblems (AKA baboons arse!) and many many more, including beach and boat reels !

Give me a shout with enquiries for any reel you have and I'll see what I can do for you !

Cheers

Dave

Monday 23 April 2018

Rod re-glossing / re-finishing for older/ weathered rods !

Many older blanks that have years of life left in them only tend to suffer from one common downfall . . . . . . .  weathering . . . . . . .

This can come in various forms from just fading with daylight, to the top layers going brittle and starting to crack/split, then the weather and water gets to them and they can go 'white' in the winter, whippings as well as blanks.

Surface scratches and packing the rods away still damp, or leaving rods wet and damp in a damp holdall for long lengths of time all contribute to the degradation of the rods outer finish.

Re-glossing can bring an old rod back to life and make it look like new, as well as being a great base on which to rebuild a whole rod, or just re-whip and re-finish. Below are a couple of examples which show you the before and after shots of some recent rebuilds.

First example is a set of North Western Blanks Carbon Kevlar Multi Range.....
over 25 years old and at first, really looking it !


As you can see there is a marked difference ! 



Tip sections looking good and ready for some rings ! 


Butt sections part way through having some old school duplon abbreviated 
replica handles fitted to complete the top to toe refurbishment.  


Next example is a Silstar Traverse X 390 Match 
A bit of a Silstar classic from back in the day ! 

This has also in for  the full works, which includes rebuilding the handle and replacing the old fibreglass parallel handle insert silstar used to fit, with a tapered carbon fibre handle, new cork handle, Fuji KDPS cork reel seat, 

Fuji Alconite single leg rings with 3 leg butt ring, top to bottom blank reglossing and an as - yet - to be - decided twin colour whipping combo ;) 
This will truly be a one of a kind Traverse X so what better way to start the build than with a freshly reglossed blank to ensure the best start ! 






As you can see, the difference in old and 'new' can be like night and day. 
Most, but not all blanks can be recoated, some factory coloured blanks can't always be reglossed, and depending on the condition, may or may not be advisable to attempt, so when in doubt, let me have either some really good quality photos or bring them to me in person to view.

Thursday 15 March 2018

Daiwa 123M Closed Face Reel Bearing Conversion & Upgrades !

The Daiwa 123m is one of those overlooked and underrated closed face reels
daiwa made, the reels do not feature an anti reverse or a drag as the sole intention was to backwind when playing fish, just as people used to do with Abu 501's and 506's, after they had removed the anti reverse dog, Daiwa went a step further producing an ultra light closed face without both and saved a chunk of weight - they also feature a pick up that does not need the big leaf spring that Abu's had, and in so made a bullet proof pick up held, and housed under the bell cap, all in all a really solid closed face reel that  - when converted to bearings - makes an ultra light  reliable and sturdy reel that will handle anything from chub to carp and barbel that's almost indestructible. 



 As you can see, as standard the reel only came supplied with two plastic bushes, which, although they did their job adequately, gave the reel a bit of a 'cheap'  feel and in my opinion, sold it a bit short. 

The 123M is in essence a really well built and well engineered piece of kit ...... 


Solidly built and pretty much indestructible, this reel suits big, hard fighting fish like carp and barbel, the control that backwinding brings for me, is a bit like playing a fish on a centrepin, it's something you need to experience, and with the reel running on two stainless ball bearings, it's something to be enjoyed !




Being a carbon body it is very light in weight, more or less impervious to rust and won't suffer paint falling off or oxidisation . . . . . . . . . . .



Along with a thorough strip down and clean out to factory clean standards before re-fitting, each part is checked for wear to be sure it will be silky smooth when converted.  



Whether you fish rivers for dace and chub, or barbel on heavy lines, or prefer the ease of use for a commercial carp fishery, this little reel will handle it all . . . . . .  
And as an owner of Abu 501's and 503's I can tell you...... reliability wise this is on par with either, weight wise it wins hands down, but I always had a soft spot for Daiwa's ! 


It's a no brainer, swapping the top row for the bottom ! 
I charge £24.50 for a bearings upgrade, which includes a service and reel check
AND the return postage to you ! If you bear in mind that you can pick these reels up on eBay quite often for under £20 on auctions, it has to be the best value for money you can get !


That single pick-up built in, without the need for the (fairly) unreliable leaf spring of the Abu's, Daiwa did away with it and proved it wasn't really needed, and in so, simplified the design of closed face reels, without compromising reliability.