EclecticGuy

I frequent a number of forums on a variety of topics. One in particular – CNCZone.com, or “zone” to its members – has been a great resource for me in learning machining skills and converting my MicroMark mini mill to CNC (computer numeric control). Here is a photo of the basic mill before conversion:

These mills are made in China and fall in to the class of Seig X2 mini mills. They are quite capable little machines especially once converted to CNC. I keep a log on my CNC … Continue Reading

As I’ve mentioned in past blogs, I was asked to contribute to a fishing exhibit being created for the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site.A group of 5 of us – The Van Buren Boys – are creating a period rod, reel, horse hair line, creel, flies and baits. Our ringleader, Dr. Todd, is documenting the work and Van Buren’s fishing history in a book that will be offered at the museum.

My contribution is the reel and a horse hair line. I’ve already blogged about how I rediscovered line making, so I won’t cover … Continue Reading

A new customer commissioned me to make this special furler for him. He makes furled leaders for sale on his Streamside Leader web store. He wanted a 3 strand furler with a central hook to do a power reverse twist! We worked together for a few weeks to come up with this basic design.

… Continue Reading

I found this 19th century treadle lathe a couple of weeks ago. I finally got the leather drive belt material so I am ready to getit up and running. Although a lot of the plating is missing, mechanically the lathe is quite functional.

There are more photos here: Boley Treadle Lathe

Over the summer, my publisher, Todd, called me to tell me the great news that he had been asked to create a fishing exhibit for the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site. He immediately assembled his team of craftsmen to create this display of mid 19th century fishing equipment, I am one of them. Todd calls us the Van Buren Boys and there are 5 of us all together. The National Park Service has asked us to document our efforts so I have set up a blog for the group to use. The Van Buren Boys Blog will … Continue Reading

Well, I just finished my latest batch of Walton’s Twisting Engine and photographed them together. The one with the slender round handle is more traditional and the other with the big massive flat handle is more practical for actually furling lines and leaders.

It also looks like I’ll be writing an article for The Home Shop Machinist magazine on how to build these.

One of my customers asked for a handle that is easier to clamp to a workbench or furling stand. This is what I came up with:

It is massive! The weight balances the mechanism nicely though. It feels great in the hand and can be easily clamped or bolted through the two 1/4″ holes.

This falls in the “this eclecticguy is crazy” department! Or, maybe not! I’ve been furling fly fishing leaders for a number of years and have known about these twisting engines. Darrel Martin has photos of a reproduction engine and a woodcut of an old engine in his book “The Fly-Fisher’s Craft: The Art and History“. I did a little research and called Darrel to ask about his engine before designing this one. The trickiest part is the gearing. There are 3 smaller gears around a central gear that … Continue Reading

Now that I am serious about reelsmithing, I decided to design and order a hand stamp to properly mark my reels. I based the logo on my rod building logo:

There is not a lot of space on a reel for a large logo, so I ended up designing and ordering 2 stamps. One is just of the fish logo and the other my maker’s mark with my name and location. Here is a photo of the finished stamp:

The maker’s stamp is only … Continue Reading

1/20/2010 UPDATE – a lot people find my blog by searching for handmade or homemade fly fishing reels. That’s great! I just wanted to let everyone know that I started a reelsmithing forum and have written a book on reelsmithing called “The Reelsmith’s Primer”. The book is being printed and will be available soon from Whitefish Press.

It is a little ironic that I would be posting about fly reels considering that I’ve been spending the last several weeks focused on tenkara fishing (Japanese fly … Continue Reading