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 conversion, modifications and other topics on the zone in a thread called How crazy is this for an X2 “staged” CNC conversion? I started off planning to do the conversion from scratch but as my fly fishing reel kit business started to take off, I needed CNC capabilities quick! I ended up with a CNCFusion “kit” for the mechanical parts of the conversion and decided to upgrade to precision ball screws at the same time. Although it is called a “kit” a lot of work is still required to install and tune both the mechanical parts and the electronics. The actual mechanical installation only took a day or so. I did that last December (2009). I had already built out the electronics so hooking it all up wasn’t too much of an effort. I finally had a CNC mill ready to crank out brass and aluminum parts for my fly fishing reel kits:

I’ve turned out hundred of parts for kits in the last year and am starting to bump in to the limits of this machine (primarily the short Y travel limit) so I’ve ordered a much larger machine (a Grizzly G0704) that I will also convert to CNC. No “kits” exist for this mill though so I will be doing it myself using some great plans from zoner Hoss. Unfortunately, the mill is backordered until end of January at the earliest (I ordered it in October!). It should be worth the wait. I started a thread on the zone for it too: Building a big brother for my X2.

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 that again. The reel I recreated is based on a reel I borrowed that is attributed to the period and location – mid 1800s, New York. I had permission to carefully peek inside the reel so I could more accurately reproduce it.

My goal was not just to make a “looks like the original” but to actually reproduce the techniques and use the same tools the original reelsmith used. Although there is no way to know for sure, there are always tell tale signs that are left as evidence. For instance, metal spinning leaves a distinctive pattern of concentric impressions on the curved surface. This was the technique used to make the spool plates. It is an old technique and an art form. At first I thought the front plate cover was spun too, but close scrutiny under high magnification showed that it was actually hollowed on the lathe.

It was through careful scrutiny and studying 19th century tools and techniques that I was able to piece together how this reel was made. The only deviation that I know I made was the reel foot and bracket. the original are obviously cast and are most likely bronze based on their slightly reddish coloration. I don’t currently have the means to cast brass and bronze (it is on my list of things to do!) so I used solid brass stock and formed it by cold and hot forging. Not quite the same but a reasonable alternative. Next time I’ll cast these parts!

Here is the construction process as I approached it. First, here are some photos of the model reel:

This reel is a multiplier – meaning that for each crank of the handle, the spool rotates more than one revolution (2 1/2 in this case) – and has a stop latch to lock the spool from rotating). It is about 2″ in diameter and has an original, unmolested long reel foot. The screws are all hand cut and the grip is most likely ivory.

To fabricate this reel, I started with the front plate and cover. This was turned from a 2″ diameter section of brass rod.

The cone in the center was also turned and slightly hollowed on the inside with a graver. The decorative bands were cut with a graver on the lathe. The plate has a small rebate around its edge for the cover to fit on. The cover will be fastened with 3 screws.

Next up is the reel foot and bracket assembly. The foot was formed from .064″ brass that was pounded in to shape in a concave wooden mold. The bracket is just a bar of brass that was hot forged to make it flow a little to simulate the cast part on the original. The concave cradle for the foot was cut with a half round file. The bracket is riveted to the foot with two 1/8″ brass rods.

The back plate was fabricated similarly to the front plate. Here are the front and back plate assembled to the reel foot bracket.
I hand made the screws from drill rod. The originals appeared to be #3 and maybe 50TPI. I only had 4-40 taps and dies so I used those. But I took care to make the screw heads the proper shape and size. Here is a bottom view of the assembly with the front cover in place.

The pillars were turned from 1/8″ D brass rod. The end that attaches to the back plate is turned down to 1/16″ to fit holes in the back plate and will be peened in place. The front end is also reduced in size (3/32″) for mating holes in the front plate.
The spool was a complex part to fabricate. The spool plates were formed using lathe spinning. This is how the originals were made. It was an easy technique to master. The spindle is my design since I could not take the reference reel apart to see how it was put together. But, it makes sense based on close scrutiny and similarity to other reels that I have completely disassembled.

The spool plates are silver soldered to the spindle. Here is the completed spool assembly.

An 8 tooth pinion attaches to the 1/8″ shaft on the right side of the spindle.  Here is the frame and spool dry assembled.

With this work complete, it was time to turn to the mechanicals – the stop latch and multiplier mechanisms. The stop latch consists of a small lever and a brass spring fitted with a steel pin. The lever lifts the spring and pin out of a hole that passes through the plate and spool. The ball head on the lever was tricky. The original lever end is egg shaped and appeared to be shaped by hand, not turned on a lathe. I used files to fabricate mine. The end opposite the handle has a 45 degree bevel to act as a wedge to lift the spring. You can see it in this photograph.

The handle is attached to the main gear (20 tooth). The gear pivots on an idler post fabricated from steel. I attached this from the back with an oval head 2-56 screw. I don’t know how the original was done but this made sense.

The main gear was re-shafted and turned to final shape. The end was cut to a square with a file to mate with the handle crank.

The handle assembly was straight forward. The crank shape was copied from the original. The brass is thicker at the hub end than the handle end. I tapered it with cold forging and files. The hub end has a square hole to receive the main gear shaft. The grip is “vegetable ivory” – Tagua Nut. I started the fatiguing process of it.

Here’s a top view of the mechanical assembly.

The last thing to do was peen the pillar ends to form a nice rivet head. Once this is done, the reel can not be disassembled. Here are some photos of the new reel next to the original reel.

That completes the assembly of the reel. The last task is to lightly distress and patina it to look used. I am going for the “10 year” look of a used and cared-for reel. Photos to follow.

And here is the reel attached to the reproduction Porter’s General rod created by Drbaits.

The engine is solid brass with 3 hooks orbiting a 4th central hook that rotates the opposite direction. The cradle holds a powered handpiece that chucks the furler shaft. The handpiece is held down with velcro looped around the brass cross bars as shown in the last photo. Quite the device! I am going to build myself one like this for the furled silk fly lines I am protoyping.

There are more photos here: Boley Treadle Lathe

Here is a short overview from the blog to describe what we are doing and who we are:

Hello!

This blog has been put up to track the work of the Van Buren Boys, a crack team of fishing nuts who have been charged with creating a historically accurate ca. 1850s fishing kit that would have been used by President Martin van Buren. In the following weeks we will have photos, commentary, and articles from the Van Buren Boys updating everyone on the progress of the work.

Trust me when I say you will all be blown away by this project!

– Dr. Todd
–
Dr. Todd Larson who heads the group and will be writing the history of Van Buren and Fishing.

Dr. John Elder is an accomplished rod maker and woodworker extraordinaire. John will be charged with constructing an 1850s-period Porter General rod and a period tackle box.

Philip Allen is a metalsmith genius. Philip will be in charge of constructing period 1850s metal spinners and flights, which Van Buren used for muscky fishing on the St. Lawrence.

Royce Stearns is a fly tier so good you think the flies will fly off his vise. Royce will be tying period 1850s flies.

Dr. Michael Hackney is a renaissance man who can make just about anything. Michael will be reproducing a period 1850s fishing reel in brass and constructing a horsehair line.

Follow the blog to watch as we create an exhibit worthy of a President!

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

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.

These engines were used to make horsehair fly lines. Modern Atlantic Salmon fly tyers like to use them for twisting silkworm gut to snell their flies.

Here are some construction photos:

It starts out a lot like a reel; brass plates cut in to squares, octagons and finally round:





With a lot of gears:





These are small, at 2 1/4″ diameter:





The hooks were actually fairly difficult to reproduce because they are tapered and the tapered section is bent. It is tricky enough making nice bends on straight sided brass rod!



And here is the finished twisting engine, polished and ready to ship. You can see my new logo and maker’s stamps.

The woodcuts I’ve seen show the gears enclosed but I decided to keep mine exposed. It is fascinating watching all of that motion when the engine is in operation! Plus, lubricating the mechanism is much easier. This twisting engine is going to my friend Paul at Historic Angling Enterprises. Apparently, he uses his engine every day to make horsehair snoods. He has worn out several “inferior” engines. I hope mine is over-engineered enough for him!

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 5/8″ wide so it can be tucked away somewhere inconspicuous. The trout logo is about 3/8″ wide and will look great around the spindle bolt. I purchased these from Buckeye Engraving and they did an excellent job.

Just to complete the story, I also ordered a set of 3/32″ numeral stamps so I can add a serial number to my reels. I use a date and sequence format that contains a lot of information in just a few numbers. So for example, the serial #20090721 indicates my 21st reel made and it was completed in July, 2009.

This is definitely a classy addition to my reels!

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 fishing with a fixed line and no reel!). But I have been working on building a brass fly reel for several months using primarily hand tools. My motivation originated from the work John Betts describes in his book “Making Strip-built Fly Rods“. He only describes his reels in his original self-published version of the book, but the new hardcover version has a color plate that shows 19 of Mr. Betts’ handmade reels! All works of art.

I googled “reel making” until my fingers were blue to find information on making reels, but there is very little information out there. I took the liberty of calling Mr. Betts several times to help get off on the right foot. I also discovered an article in Power Fibers where-in Peter Dallman shows a photo of reels he made in collaboration with Mr. Betts. I contacted Peter and he has been an incredible help over the last few months. We’ve exchanged well over 100 emails as he’s guided me through the process.

This post will show the results of my first fly reel. Numbers 2 & 3 are already in progress! Later, I will post a tutorial on how to build one of these reels. The required tools are modest: an electric drill, a hacksaw, various files, several taps, screwdrivers, sandpaper, and a lot of elbow grease! Oh, and a hammer or mallet! I cheated a little and used a drill press but I did make a set of spool plates by turning them on a hand drill. A small metal working or woodworking lathe is also a convenience for turning the grip and spool hub – but these can be done on a hand drill too.

The reel basically consists of a spool assembly, a cage assembly and a reel foot. Here are the main components for the spool and cage:

There are 2 spool plates on the left, the hub (Delrin) and axel (1/4″ hard anodized aluminum tube), the front plate ring, standoff posts (1/4″ brass tube tapped on both ends), the back plate and a bunch of 4-40 3/8″ round head machine screws.  The next photo shows how these items are assembled.

The final product uses a different bracket assembly for the foot that replaces 2 of the 1/4″ standoffs. You can see that and the foot assembly in the next photo, which shows the reel “in the rough”.

At this point, the reel is functional but needs its final “fit and finish”. You can see the reel foot bracket where 2 of the posts used to reside. Here are three other views of the reel at this stage:

With the mechanical assembly complete, I turned my attention to the final details. I was not happy with the shape and length of the handle. Peter also suggested filing all of the machine screw heads flat to minimize tippet snags (plus they look a lot better too!). The spool plates and back plate also needed to be drilled out to lighten them and for aesthetics. And then there was the polishing! Lots and lots of polishing. Here is the completed reel, assembled, adjusted, lubricated and ready to fish:

The new handle is much more comfortable and easier to grasp without looking down. It is made from Amboyna Burl. Brass and Amboyna Burl were made for each other! The reel foot is not AFFTA standard but does work in modern reel seat hardware that is not milled or slotted for the reel foot. It also works nicely in sliding ring hardware that I make for my wood and bamboo rods. You can also see the simple hole pattern I used and the flattened machine screw heads – both simple but elegant additions.