The “ports” are holes in the flanges of a spool, made to reduce weight and to provide ventilation for a wet fly line.
Today I am using my rotary indexer to port a group of 5 spools. I am building them as a batch so I can do a lot of anodizing in one day. In my new bronze frame reel design, the spool and knob hardware are the only aluminum parts.
The back flange pattern is very simple, just a ring of 18 holes and a ring of 12 holes. With the indexer, I am able to make all 30 holes in 12 minutes.
The front flange requires a little more attention. Several ports are omitted, to serve as a counterweight to the knob. And then there are some tool changes to drill and tap the hole where the knob mounts.
North Branch Reels 
Dave Do you have any plans available for this new reel? Greg McGowan
Greg,
The plans are not yet ready for a release to the general public.
Dave
Hi Dave, I am in the market for a rotary table, I have a #2 Chinese mini mill and do you have any suggestions on what size table to buy so I can do 30 holes in 12 min. The porting looks fantastic.
Cheers,
Marcus.
Marcus,
I have Sherline’s Rotary Indexer. The table is 4 inch diameter, and that is good for work on trout reels. See more on the indexer at my blog post of 15 April 2014.
The holes were plunged with a center cutting end mill 7/32 inch diameter, through a flange just .035 inch thick.
Dave