Hi all, I've had several people ask me if I could put together an actual "kit' for building a reel. This would make it easy for someone to assemble a reel with minimal tools. The kit could come in two styles - one with the brass frame and spool plates precut and one with a sheet of brass to do that yourself. The more challenging steps for most people are boring the hub and grip centers and all of the tapping so the kit would provide those. Here is what I had in mind:
Kit Parts- one pre-drilled and sized Delrin hub (1" OD with spindle hole and three spool plate mounting holes)
- one pre-drilled Delrin handle knob
- one pre- drilled and tapped reel foot bracket (I am also considering pre-assembling the foot to the bracket by silver soldering. The kit maker would do the final foot shaping).
- one pre-cut and tapped aluminum spindle
- three pre-cut and tapped frame pillars (1" x 3/16")
- four pre-cut reel foot bracket pillars (1/4" x 3/16")
- pre-cut frame and spool disks and rings. The pillar holes and spindle holes would be pre-drilled. The kit builder would drill their own decorative holes (or not). This provides an option for the kit builder to do some customizations to their reel too.)
The parts would all require sanding and polishing but the kit could basically be put together with a screwdriver, a smooth file for a little foot shaping, and sandpaper in a couple of hours. I still need to work out the pricing since there is a fair amount of machining to do. I have outsourced the pillars, foot bracket pillars, and aluminum spindle. I can purchase these in quantity to get the cost down. These are all time-consuming items to make too, so some folks may want to purchase these pre-made and the rest of the materials "raw" (just throwing out some ideas!).
I'd be interested in feedback from those of you who have built a reel and those who started but are not quite done yet.
Cheers,
Michael
