rebuilding a fin nor 12-20

[alantani]

here's something for the discriminating collector. it's a fin nor 12-20. it's a very simple, very elegant design. the reel belongs to a local shop owner who simply said, "here's the reel. do you're stuff!"

the first part was easy. i tore it down, cleaned out the bearings, cleaned off the excess grease inside the reel, reassembled it and ran it through it's paces. i got a max drag at strike of 4 pounds before losing freespool and the freespool time was 3 seconds. and the drag was really sticky! i tore it down again and decided to take the plunge. i chiseled out the cork drag material and matched the spool up with a carbon fiber drag from the shimano tld 20/30 two speed. i had to grind down the outer diameter of the shimano drag to fit, i polished the mating surface of the spool, applied an industrial loctite adhesive, took a deep breath, and set the drag washer in place.



i let it cure overnight, applied a generous coat of shimano drag grease, installed a heavier set of belleville pressure washers, reassembled the reel and rechecked it. the drag was smooth as silk. freespool was still crummy. and because the spool was displaced laterally with the thinner drag washer, the clicker would not work. chit! at least i was getting more drag and smoother drag.

here's a photo of the open reel, part of the chiseled out cork drag, and the new carbon fiber drag washer glued into the spool.



so freespool was still a problem. i pulled the reel apart and tried spining the spool alone. with no lateral pressure on the bearings, i had 20 seconds of freespool. but put any lateral pressure on the bearings at all, and i was back down to 3 seconds.

now for the next plunge. i had a piece of brass tubing. i clamped a drill in a vice to turn it into a lathe.



then i use the cutting wheel of the dremmel to cut down the outer diameter of the tubing and then the tubing down to the proper length.



it looked like hell when i was done, but it fit perfectly.



i added an accurate clamp and back together it went. i got a max of 8#'s of drag at strike with a corresponding 15 seconds of freespool. not great, but for straight 20# mono, not bad.



i need a bench lathe....

[Jason]

You guys that do the custom stuff amaze me. Weren't you a little haired out about modifying a Fin nor?

[alantani]

i had already done a dozen fin nor's that belonged to a local collector. these were all simple tear down, clean up and rebuild excercises. it was fun to open them up and have to figure out how they worked. i've always known that the 12-20 would accomodate a shimano drag washer. it's just that, up until now, no one had ever asked me to hot rod one like this. i've done may other "greased carbon fiber drag" upgrades for this particular customer before, so he knew what he wanted. my main concern was, actually still is, making sure that the loctite industrial adhesive holds up.

that's why i enjoy this hobby so much. as for the basic design, it's very simple. all lever drag reels are built along the same principles. over the years, i've become convinced that open bearings are better than shielded or sealed. i also have yet to see a failure from a greased carbon fiber drag. a thousand reels a year for 5-6 years and not a single failure. i have to chuckle when someone still insists on using drag drags.

[Jason]

Shimano grease on HT100 or similar material? I did it once on a jigmaster. It was smooth for about a month of hard fishing. Then when I went to regrease or change out the drags they were all melted together and sticky like tar... Too much grease? I swore I would never do it again.

[alantani]

yeah, but were you having a problem with the drags at the time? my 113h's and yts' have been in service for 6-7 years with greased carbon fiber. no problems. i just slather it in and let the excess grease squeeze out the sides.

[HighRoad]

I've got a 12/20 Light 2-speed, albeit a slightly newer-looking model. Cool reel. Nice to see you breaking it down, Alan.