Category Archives: Process

Two More Plastics for Pawls

Posted on May 7, 2011 by dave49

Someone brought Ertalyte and Ertalyte TX to my attention as possible materials for pawls. The data sheet properties looked promising, so I bought a small quantity of each and made pawls. I tested these on the low speed tester, as … Continue reading →

Posted in Materials, Pawl, Testing | Leave a comment

Pawl Wear Test, Higher Speed

Posted on April 13, 2011 by dave49

My original pawl wear test (post of Nov. 16, 2010 ) used a gearmotor that ran at 20 rpm.  The wear pattern on a pawl showed an impression on the flank of the pawl where each ratchet tooth initially made contact, … Continue reading →

Posted in Pawl, Testing | 3 Comments

Anodizing Problem

Posted on March 6, 2011 by dave49

I have machined and sanded all the aluminum parts for 5 reels, but have been putting off the anodize process. It’s boring, 1 hour per part, 7 parts per reel. Today I finally started. The first part, an S-crank, came … Continue reading →

Posted in Anodizing/Plating | 4 Comments

Metal Finishing

Posted on March 3, 2011 by dave49

When I made my first reel, I used wet/dry sandpaper to remove tool marks on the aluminum parts. On lathe parts such as rings and spool ends, I started with 320 grit and progressed through 600 and 1200 and ended … Continue reading →

Posted in Abrading, Process | Leave a comment

Parting

Posted on December 19, 2010 by dave49

Parting, or lathe cut-off, is the operation of sticking a narrow blade straight into a rotating part, and (hopefully) making a continuously deeper groove until the part drops off of the chucked rod stock. A Google search on “lathe cut-off” … Continue reading →

Posted in Cutting, Tools, Turning | Leave a comment

Pawl Wear Test, Redone

Posted on November 16, 2010 by dave49

Refer to earlier posts titled “Results of Pawl Wear Test” (Aug 2010) and “The gearmotor that wasn’t a gearmotor” (Sept 2010). After discovering a possible misoperation of my first pawl test fixture, I built a new tester using a real … Continue reading →

Posted in Click, Pawl, Testing | Leave a comment

Turning a Crank Counterweight

Posted on October 15, 2010 by dave49

The counterweight on my reel crank has hemispherical shape. Sherline sells an accessory that turns spherical shapes, and it is just what you would need to make more than a hemisphere. But I have found that I can get by … Continue reading →

Posted in Crank, Turning | Leave a comment

Milling an S Shaped Crank

Posted on October 4, 2010 by dave49

My first design for the reel crank (here in brass) was too “heavy” in the middle. So back to the drawing board. Here I have reduced the diameter of the center circle, and moved one small inside radius to make … Continue reading →

Posted in Crank, Milling, Work Holding | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Milling a Reel Foot

Posted on September 28, 2010 by dave49

There is a standard for the shape of a reel foot, and I observe it to a reasonable degree. To hold the stock for initial sizing and drilling, I have made vise jaws with rabbets. The standard calls for an … Continue reading →

Posted in Foot, Milling, Reel Parts | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The gearmotor that wasn’t a gearmotor

Posted on September 6, 2010 by dave49

First of all, I must say that the pawl test data that I previously posted (Aug. 22, 2010 : Results of Pawl Wear Test) cannot be relied upon. I now realize that the “gearmotor” that I used for this test … Continue reading →

Posted in Click, Pawl, Testing | Tagged , | Leave a comment