Pflueger Medalist Makeover/ Retrofit

[Burtbords149]

So i recently got a switch rod at the fly show...so naturally I needed a huge reel to balance it and more importantly fit this big line and lots of backing.

I did some line chopping with an old 12 wt line i had that fit on a Pflueger Medalist 1498 AK, both of which i won at a raffle 10 years ago.

Long story short with 200yds of backing the line didn't fit and I knew when i chopped it and added some goodies it real wouldn't fit. I looked into lower priced 12 wt reels but didn't want to spring.

Being the engineering student that i am I decided to retrofit this Pflueger to give it more capacity.

I'll have the pics up soon so just bear with me until then.

I spent a good amount of time on the mill and lathe but it really came out great...I now have a reel with a 2" wide spool and 64.5% more capacity than before. I was actually very impressed with the simplicity of the Pflueger drag system...this was a disc drag (albeit a caliper disc drag) before disc drags were the cool thing. To be honest the reel is clearly made on the cheap with thing aluminum everywhere but it's very functional and I don't doubt i could land a beast with it.

Has anyone ever done this kind of tinkering with a reel, taken it into a machine shop? I'm actually ecstatic that this worked out so well..

If anyone out there is looking for a mechanical engineer this may I'll be graduating with a lot of experience in machine design and thermal analysis (resume available upon request) I apologize for the shameless self-plug it's a tough job market.

pictures to follow very soon.

 

[WBDluver]

no never have but Im interested in seeing what you did.

 

[JeffK]

Medalists were the most popular fly reel from the 1930's to about 1970 and a lot of Medalists were modified by the pioneers of salt water fly fishing and salmon and steehead fishermen to handle big fish since nothing else better was available. You are in a proud tradition. Today there is a dizzying array of specialty reels, but not so long ago you had to get a Medalist and do it yourself.

Let's see the mods.

BTW, the leader in "pimping out" Medalists is Bill Franke at One pFoot. He makes all sorts of snazzy add-ons like counter balance weights, left/right wind drag plates, upscale handles, replacement screws etc.

 

[Burtbords149]

Ok so here are the photos.

First for reference this is a generic picture of a Pflueger Medalist...notice the standard 1" width spool...very standard looking. Not capable of holding 200yds of backing and a thick spey line plus an 8wt head for mending.


So I first took off the original "front panel" using a rotary table on the mill. The original spool is on the left.


I turned the new "arbor cover" on the lathe and fit it within 0.001" onto the original arbor. I drilled and tapped an 8-hole bolt pattern onto both end of this "arbor cover" as seen in this shot.


Then i cut two panels from aluminum sheet metal as squares. I rounded them on the rotary table, drilled and cut the inner hole on them as well. The rear panel that will attach to the side of the original spool (to transfer the drag force) was tapped for a 6-hole bolt pattern.

I also had to make the cage fit the new spool. I replaced the original 1" silver colored studs with 2" brass studs and tapped them on both ends. The reel foot was welded to the two reel foot studs, so I made two half in extensions going out from both sides of the reel foot to connect it with the cage.


Here's the rest of the pics for your viewing pleasure. I'm pleased to say it works great and rotates very smoothly. Surprisingly these reels can muster up some fairly high drag force (can you say stopping the chrome, stripers and tunny).

I look forward to anyone's critiques or comments.

If anyone is interested I achieved 64.5% more total capacity on this reel so I should be able to fit all the backing and heavy line I want.

Thank you for looking.

 

[AKSkim]

Being the engineering student that i am I decided to retrofit this Pflueger to give it more capacity.

I'll have the pics up soon ...

Spoken like a true engineer...

Can't wait to see the photos.

---------- Post added at 12:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:00 PM ----------

Burt that is something !!!

Outstand job on the machining.

You have talent.

BRAVO ZULU

 

[G Lech]

"tough" looking reel. Good luck with it. HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU HAVE INTO THIS?

 

[StormTrout]

Seriously Cool! You know there's always room for another high quality reel manufacturer. Look at Joe Janciuras, I've never held one of his reels but there's got to be a reason they're so expensive. Hope that thing whips some nice fish.

 

[Burtbords149]

His reels look awesome I just look them up. I can tell you why they cost so much. If he really does make them by hand (i.e. manual machines not CNC) he certainly invests a lot of time into each reel.

I worked on this Pflueger retrofit for approximately 14 hours to make a few seemingly "simple" parts. When I made my own large arbor reel I probably invested about 50 man hours in the shop. That doesn't factor in design and CAD time I spent drawings etc. I'm by no means a professional machinist, but those who are might charge at least $100 per hour. With that rate, a reel can easily end up costing in the thousands. What you get is a more personally appeal I suppose.

Unfortunately, or fortunately CNC machine has reinvented the reel industry (along with a million other things) and made it possible to buy a fully machined reel for $100 (that and outsourcing).

Anyway there's my speech to appeal to the poor machinist who ends up with bad hearing and cut up hands. It's a slowly dying trade.

Thanks for checking out my reel I can't wait to get it out on the water.

 

[trico mike]

We'll give it a whirl on the stripers and fluke come spring.

 

[AKSkim]

We'll give it a whirl ....

Oh TRICO (LOL) GAYLE...

You mean like in dosey doe ?

 

[millrun]

You did a great job! You should be very proud of yourself!

 

[JeffK]

From a crusty old engineer, looks good.

 

[Burtbords149]

Thanks everyone. I was really pleased with how it came out. Now I just have to test it on some big fish...any willing volunteers to assist me in such an endeavor?

Mike, I'm planning on using it in the salt this spring. Throwing a shooting head in the surf overhead with the switch rod...getting excited already.