Fly Fishing Reel

making a fly fishing reel

I cut a round wheel out of solid hardwood approx 3 3/8" or 8.5 cm (metric) thickness can be 7/8" up to 1 1/2" you choice

drilled 4 holes USING 1/2" bit and flared to 3/4" in it as shown this will be my inner wheel where the line will be -- there are 4 smaller guide holes for ss countersink screws

the wheel will then have 2 sides made of a sheet of aluminum as shown above

cut out will be a 5"1/2 or 14cm (metric)

then cut the wheel out of a sheet of aluminum using a buzz saw

aluminum thickness 1mm or better 1.2 mm

then I used the router to give it a perfectly round shape

the wood play wood form was used to make 2 routed identical shapes

shown above the aluminum cut out

I start assembly of both aluminum sides to the wood block

there will be another hole drilled for the handle or if you like 2 handle drill 2 you can also use it as counterweight instead of a wood handle were you will need a solid heavy material the as a counterweight

the wheel assembled

I cut out and shaped an L bracket as shown with 2 sprockets to fit the reel

the main shaft will fix to the L-shaped firm and I used a stainless steel bolt for that

a dab of gel epoxy will prevent it from moving and will hold it in place on the other end a

the nut will be installed or a lock nut but it should be left shy of 13/16 to allow movement of the wheel

and there you have it done I will later add a heavy brass balance on

opposite side utilizing and old knob shipping it to 1/2 dome look

there are 2 other examples I am showing that I did with 2 handles instead of one

the 2 other examples

the one that is sprayed to look anodized aluminum is spray I picked up at the auto store which gives that metallic see-through look - or anodized look

the other las few are a different design with different patterns but using a handle that comes from the center extended more that the wheel this give more torque force