Rick, the way you got that rotor off is exactly my techniques for getting stuck pinion and bearings out. I get the pinion and bearing to where it should come out and when I determine it is completely stuck I put the rotor back on and hit the back of the rotor with a low impact hammer. I have never broken a rotor that way but it certainly could happen. Now that I use your slide hammer method I no longer do this. That is the tiniest bail spring I’ve ever seen. I don’t really care for this reel but you certainly figured it out beautifully! - Chris. PS. You know I have book all about Bache Brown.
Before I started YMR, I attempted to remove the rotor from one of the Gladden South Bend reels. Yes I know how you feel about them. I shattered the center out of the rotor on just my second or third tap. After that, I started looking for alternative methods. I ended up with the slide hammer. I couldn’t figure out a way to use it to remove this pressed in shaft. I considered wrapping a cable around the trip lever and attaching that to the slide hammer but I was afraid it would provide uneven pressure on the part and break it off. The bail spring is small for the reel is small too. I’ve had my hands on several of these reels and I’ve never seen one with a broken spring. I am curious about Bache Brown. The name appears on many vintage items including the transfer case in my 46 Willys Jeep.
I truly did not know Bache Brown did anything but fishing reels. I’m going to have to reread his section in my book about early spinning reels. - Chris
A press-fit rotor on a reel seems like a really bad idea. Do you see any advantages, besides manufacturing cost? I'm glad you were able to figure out how to remove the rotor, and that you documented it here. Congratulations on solving the puzzle!
Obviously the cost to manufacture goes down with a press fit rotor. Using a built in bushing on the pinion, instead of a bearing, improves reliability. I’ve had my hands on at least 15 of these reels and I’ve never seen one that was frozen up. I’ve have seen some that were stiff, but that I could spray WD40 on a few times to loosen up, and then oil, but that was it. I’ve had lots or reels with rusted bearings that didn’t work but few bushing reels that just wouldn’t work. Also, without a pinion nut to loosen and cause either a misfit of gears or a wobbly rotor, the reel becomes much more reliable. I know people love how smooth a bearing makes a reel but they truly do make a reel less dependable, especially in wet environments. It had always puzzled me as to why I couldn’t get the rotor off on the Airex reels. Previously, the reels I worked on, either belonged to someone else or were still too nice for me to take a chance with breaking them. This reel I bought specifically to experiment on. The tuition price was so low that I was willing to risk the reel to find out how it worked. My curiosity had to be satisfied.
@@youngmartinsreels5314 I strongly agree with you on the bearing-bushing reliability comparison. Bearings are trouble and, for me, high bearing count in a reel makes me not want to own it - unless maybe it's a tiny BFS baitcaster with a levelwind that never disengages, in which case I'll take two for the spool, two for the worm, and one for each gear in the train between the worm and the main gear. Your assertion that you've never encountered one of these reels with a frozen rotor is very reassuring; maybe the press fit rotor isn't so bad after all!
Rick, the way you got that rotor off is exactly my techniques for getting stuck pinion and bearings out. I get the pinion and bearing to where it should come out and when I determine it is completely stuck I put the rotor back on and hit the back of the rotor with a low impact hammer. I have never broken a rotor that way but it certainly could happen. Now that I use your slide hammer method I no longer do this. That is the tiniest bail spring I’ve ever seen. I don’t really care for this reel but you certainly figured it out beautifully! - Chris. PS. You know I have book all about Bache Brown.
Before I started YMR, I attempted to remove the rotor from one of the Gladden South Bend reels. Yes I know how you feel about them. I shattered the center out of the rotor on just my second or third tap. After that, I started looking for alternative methods. I ended up with the slide hammer. I couldn’t figure out a way to use it to remove this pressed in shaft. I considered wrapping a cable around the trip lever and attaching that to the slide hammer but I was afraid it would provide uneven pressure on the part and break it off.
The bail spring is small for the reel is small too. I’ve had my hands on several of these reels and I’ve never seen one with a broken spring.
I am curious about Bache Brown. The name appears on many vintage items including the transfer case in my 46 Willys Jeep.
I truly did not know Bache Brown did anything but fishing reels. I’m going to have to reread his section in my book about early spinning reels. - Chris
A press-fit rotor on a reel seems like a really bad idea. Do you see any advantages, besides manufacturing cost?
I'm glad you were able to figure out how to remove the rotor, and that you documented it here. Congratulations on solving the puzzle!
Obviously the cost to manufacture goes down with a press fit rotor. Using a built in bushing on the pinion, instead of a bearing, improves reliability. I’ve had my hands on at least 15 of these reels and I’ve never seen one that was frozen up. I’ve have seen some that were stiff, but that I could spray WD40 on a few times to loosen up, and then oil, but that was it. I’ve had lots or reels with rusted bearings that didn’t work but few bushing reels that just wouldn’t work.
Also, without a pinion nut to loosen and cause either a misfit of gears or a wobbly rotor, the reel becomes much more reliable.
I know people love how smooth a bearing makes a reel but they truly do make a reel less dependable, especially in wet environments.
It had always puzzled me as to why I couldn’t get the rotor off on the Airex reels. Previously, the reels I worked on, either belonged to someone else or were still too nice for me to take a chance with breaking them. This reel I bought specifically to experiment on. The tuition price was so low that I was willing to risk the reel to find out how it worked. My curiosity had to be satisfied.
@@youngmartinsreels5314 I strongly agree with you on the bearing-bushing reliability comparison. Bearings are trouble and, for me, high bearing count in a reel makes me not want to own it - unless maybe it's a tiny BFS baitcaster with a levelwind that never disengages, in which case I'll take two for the spool, two for the worm, and one for each gear in the train between the worm and the main gear.
Your assertion that you've never encountered one of these reels with a frozen rotor is very reassuring; maybe the press fit rotor isn't so bad after all!