Oh, I know all about knuckle busters! I remember when Dennis did one of these on his channel. You know me, I love an AR override. I wonder why Pe never held on a shaft sleeve in this manner. Driving those pins out of some Penn reels can be a pain. When are you going to grease the main gear? I caught you on that one. LOL. I also caught you on the drag washer too. No, you’re going to take that worm gear assembly apart because this is what you always do. See, I told you so. I saw you put that worm gear in backwards too. The gear end was on the wrong end. You did a beautiful job on this reel and of course, it was very entertaining. I’m so glad to have you back doing reel videos again! - Chris
I have a 1355 that I tried to use as a casting reel, but after numerous attempts at casting I just couldn’t get enough distance to make it worthwhile for me. It’s a very smooth operating reel, so I relegated it to a trolling reel. That’s where this reel really shines for me.
Dan, as smooth as the reel operates, I could automatically tell that it wouldn’t cast well. Even with a lot of weight, it would cast very far. As a trolling reel, it should work very well.
Chris, as far as I can remember Penn never used a screw to hold their sleeves on. I actually think the pin would be more reliable than the screw. Loose screws fall out all the time. I greased the gear at the 15:15 point in the video. I eventually managed to get all the parts back into their correct positions. I’m happy that you liked the video. The Abu-Matic 40 video will post tomorrow at 6 your time. Fish On!
Originally the reel came with a spare pawl located on the handle side of the reel behind the screw to the right of the tension adjustment. My Pflueger Rocket 1375 had the spare pawl still inside; my 1345 didn't.
Edgar, this one had the spare pawl as well. I didn’t even notice the spare pawl holder until I was editing the video. I went back to take a look and sure enough, it had a spare. I wondered how long it would take for someone to remind me of it. It looks like it took about 6 hours. Good eye.
Thanks for doing this reel. It's an interesting one, and a little puzzling to me. Looks like quality parts, like this was an expensive reel. It has anti-reverse, drag, _removable_ level wind, and even rudimentary cast control. But no clutch? I don't get it. Do you have an explanation? The left / tail plate of this reel appears to be a single piece of sheet metal. A lot of old reels seem to use this design. Do you think the plate on this reel is stronger than the Bakelite plates used on so many Penn reels? Last question: would this reel's casting performance dramatically increase with removal of the level wind system? I serviced an Ocean City "Jones Beach" reel tonight. It's a really simple reel with no anti-reverse or drag. With free-spool off (handle rotates with spool) and no line on the spool, the spool rotates much more freely than what we see on the Pflueger - 10 seconds with a good spin. I'm pretty sure the spool is heavier than the Pflueger's but I don't think that's enough to explain the difference we see.
I could speculate all day long on this reels design but to tell you the truth it would only be a guess. I do think the level wind system adversely affects cast-ability. However, this reel was marketed as a quality trolling reel so it was never intended to be used as a casting reel. That said, here is an excellent article written by a guy about his journey of improving his Rocket 1355. www.alantani.com/index.php?topic=36464.0 The solid brass frame is pretty heavy and I’ve not seen one damaged before. Having worked on this reel and a Shakespeare Service reel, they are both heavy solid reels but the design and fit of the Rocket parts is superior. After reading this guy’s article, I might consider going back into it to see if I can improve it.
Oh, I know all about knuckle busters! I remember when Dennis did one of these on his channel. You know me, I love an AR override. I wonder why Pe never held on a shaft sleeve in this manner. Driving those pins out of some Penn reels can be a pain. When are you going to grease the main gear? I caught you on that one. LOL. I also caught you on the drag washer too. No, you’re going to take that worm gear assembly apart because this is what you always do. See, I told you so. I saw you put that worm gear in backwards too. The gear end was on the wrong end. You did a beautiful job on this reel and of course, it was very entertaining. I’m so glad to have you back doing reel videos again! - Chris
I have a 1355 that I tried to use as a casting reel, but after numerous attempts at casting I just couldn’t get enough distance to make it worthwhile for me. It’s a very smooth operating reel, so I relegated it to a trolling reel. That’s where this reel really shines for me.
Dan, as smooth as the reel operates, I could automatically tell that it wouldn’t cast well. Even with a lot of weight, it would cast very far. As a trolling reel, it should work very well.
Chris, as far as I can remember Penn never used a screw to hold their sleeves on. I actually think the pin would be more reliable than the screw. Loose screws fall out all the time.
I greased the gear at the 15:15 point in the video. I eventually managed to get all the parts back into their correct positions. I’m happy that you liked the video. The Abu-Matic 40 video will post tomorrow at 6 your time. Fish On!
Penn pins can be a pain at times but I much prefer them to the tiny e-clips used on Ambassadeurs. I've lost a couple of those clips, but no pins.
Originally the reel came with a spare pawl located on the handle side of the reel behind the screw to the right of the tension adjustment. My Pflueger Rocket 1375 had the spare pawl still inside; my 1345 didn't.
Edgar, this one had the spare pawl as well. I didn’t even notice the spare pawl holder until I was editing the video. I went back to take a look and sure enough, it had a spare. I wondered how long it would take for someone to remind me of it. It looks like it took about 6 hours. Good eye.
Thanks for doing this reel. It's an interesting one, and a little puzzling to me. Looks like quality parts, like this was an expensive reel. It has anti-reverse, drag, _removable_ level wind, and even rudimentary cast control. But no clutch? I don't get it. Do you have an explanation?
The left / tail plate of this reel appears to be a single piece of sheet metal. A lot of old reels seem to use this design. Do you think the plate on this reel is stronger than the Bakelite plates used on so many Penn reels?
Last question: would this reel's casting performance dramatically increase with removal of the level wind system? I serviced an Ocean City "Jones Beach" reel tonight. It's a really simple reel with no anti-reverse or drag. With free-spool off (handle rotates with spool) and no line on the spool, the spool rotates much more freely than what we see on the Pflueger - 10 seconds with a good spin. I'm pretty sure the spool is heavier than the Pflueger's but I don't think that's enough to explain the difference we see.
I could speculate all day long on this reels design but to tell you the truth it would only be a guess. I do think the level wind system adversely affects cast-ability. However, this reel was marketed as a quality trolling reel so it was never intended to be used as a casting reel. That said, here is an excellent article written by a guy about his journey of improving his Rocket 1355. www.alantani.com/index.php?topic=36464.0
The solid brass frame is pretty heavy and I’ve not seen one damaged before. Having worked on this reel and a Shakespeare Service reel, they are both heavy solid reels but the design and fit of the Rocket parts is superior. After reading this guy’s article, I might consider going back into it to see if I can improve it.