Reel servicing including return courier delivery !

 2017: Mail order reel servicing & prices.

As I've been offering this for a while now I thought it best to update the site with some details for those of you that are not - so - local to Manchester !

You can purchase services through ebay !
(see my listings here: My Current eBay listings  )
 
You of course, have paypal's guarantee that your payment is secure whichever way you decide. So it works like this:

1. You purchase a 'buy it now' for the amount of reels you want
serviced by using the drop down menu on eBay.

2. You send your reels to me using a service of your choosing. (try parcel2go for prices)

Send to: D Kelly. 19 Strathmere Ave. Stretford. Manchester. M320DR.
 (Callers by appointment please phone)

3. I service the reels, pack them and send them back to you, within 7
days, usually returned using a signed for courier service.

The prices are for servicing ONLY and do not include parts.

I use a signed for courier service which  requires that you sign for it.
The return time is normally 2 working/weekdays, you will be provided
with tracking information for your parcel. Upon receiving your reel(s) I
would generally be able to turn them around for you in 7 days,
please try to allow for this, if I can do them quicker I will, if you
want to check, ring me before ordering. 07784 100 752


To Pay: Simplest way is to either buy through eBay or just call text or email me with your PayPal email address and I'll send you an invoice.

Reel servicing prices August 2016

Reel servicing prices for the remainder of 2016:

An ever so slight increase and simplification, all reel servicing is now back to £15 per reel regardless of quantity, mail order prices will be staying as they are as they are already slightly higher with postage etc so I will include a link to my ebay listing below.

This is still half the price of places like Tackle Box at Sutton, and I can guarantee I do as thorough a job as Daiwa's or Shimano's own service departments !

I service, ALL the old Shimano Baitrunners and Daiwa big pit reels that Shimano and Daiwa now don't !

Every reel is stripped, cleaned, inspected, re-oiled and re-greased and re-assembled . . . . .  all for £15 ! If you live in the north west you'll also be lucky enough to drop them off and benefit from NO POSTAGE!

I am situated 2 minutes from the old Trafford angling shop, if you shopped there you will likely know me ! 5 mins from the M60 junction 7 and 5 mins from the Intu Trafford Centre. I will give you my details when you make an appointment.



 Each reel, stripped down and cleaned thoroughly. . . . . . . .

 

 All bearings are removed, cleaned and inspected before going back in. 

 

 All gearing is removed, cleaned thoroughly and inspected for signs of wear before the reel is re-assembled.

Drag washers are also removed and de-greased and dried/inspected and re-greased before re-inserting back into the spool. 

Once reels are re-assembled and ready to collect I will get in touch and arrange a suitable day or evening for you to collect. I accept payments by cash, paypal or bank transfer,

Swing tips and my new twirly drying rack adapters !

Well folks, due to demand and an upsurge in the popularity or resurgence of swing tip fishing seemingly creeping back into fashion of late, I decided to do a bit myself ! After just a couple of sessions I decided it was time for a new tip and set about knocking one up for myself incorporating some rod building technology !

Having made some of these up over the years for friends and seeing a distinct lack of decent kit available I made up a few extra and did a few listings on eBay and a few other sites, Tackle Trader UK and Manchester Gumtree 
well, the phone didn't stop ringing after a week !

Loads of feedback too, people actually ringing me up saying it was the best swing tip they'd ever seen! Super stuff, made my day, that's not something  that usually happens a lot these days !

And they came out like this  . . . . . . .

These are the 'close range' version with just the tip eye for maximum sensitivity and short flicks and underarm casts where you're not likely to tangle, as a bit of a general rule you don't 'need' a second or intermediate eye on a swing tip, they are kind of traditional, but not 'essential' as a rule. I do offer both versions though. For longer distance fishing people tend to like them with the second ring, to be fair all you need to do is what I do, just pull on the line with your spare hand before casting, if it's not free you know where the problem is!

There will be three sizes in the 'range' 6'', 9'' and 12'', the latter having 2 small single leg rings and the 6'' and 9'' available as either a tip ring only model or with 1 small single leg up near the top of the tip.

Price wise they are between £10 and £18, and come supplied with a set of 3 'proper' swing tip rubbers that you may have seen many moons ago marketed as the Trev Tomlin brand (remember the catapults) in a light/medium/heavy format and of course, a threaded swing tip adapter.

They are of course, hand built, bespoke, you won't find them in the shops and yes I do send them out if you're not local, P+P is include in the prices and you can find them on ebay more often than anywhere else. You can pay by paypal, and you can pay me directly without having to go through ebay, just browse my listings, pick one and send me the money through paypal (plus a message with your details) either as a gift, or using my paypal.me link and just adding the amount to the end, so if a tip was £12.99, you would put this in your browser:

www.paypal.me/rodbuilder/12.99


You can find my current items for sale on my ebay page :

Dave's items for Sale: eBay.co.uk


Here's a hot video of some new stock drying off on my newly made adapters that fit my rod drying racks ! Riveting stuff !  You'll love it  . . . . . . 

Revitalsing older rods for a new lease of life !

Have you got some older rods lurking away in a holdall somewhere that are looking tired and weather beaten? Can't bear to part with them and would like to give them a new lease of life ?

Well look no further, if your rods are dulled with age and use but otherwise in pretty decent condition, they could well be suitable for blank re-finishing.
This can usually be done inside of a week and will amaze you at how new your older rods can be made to look.

There is no re-ringing involved here, but the whippings would be coated in the process and so benefit from more weather protection.

The example blank below is an original Daiwa Cavalier 12ft match rod (MCC212) which came onto the market in something like 1991 and was one of the first all carbon blanks produced by Daiwa that was under £100, this very same model was also the 1st carbon match rod I owned too ! So when this was brought to me for re-finishing I was a touch jealous, when I'd finished it I was drooling ! It brought back so many memories, I actually ended up buying 3 of these, having bought a 13ft, and then a 13ft mk 2 which came with Daiwa's own Dynaflo match rings ! (showing my age now)

So here it is, 4 'before' and 4 'after' pictures, and for anyone interested, with any type of rod, prices start from around £30 for feeder/match type rods and around £40 for carp rods, I can always take a look at your rod(s) and give you a very good idea of how well they should turn out. Rods with knocks/bangs with chunks out of them, well, re-finishing would hide a lot but the 'missing chunks' out of a blanks finish would still be there if it's not stripped down to the bare bones, but that's another type of rebuild altogether. . . . . . 

So . . . . .  those before shots  . . . . . . . . .

As can be seen, the blank was dull and weather worn but otherwise in pretty reasonable condition for a 25 year old rod, the after shots speak for themselves and will give this rod another 25 years of service !

Call me to discuss your needs or to make an appointment to call by:
07784-100-752. Dave

Daiwa Emblem Z 5000a repair and servicing shots

I had this Emblem Z dropped off the other day along with a Drennan Tench Float for a handle conversion, thought I'd post a few pic's to illustrate what can go wrong when the spool on your reel stops going up and down !

My advice if this happens or any odd behavior like it mid-session, stop using it and don't try to force the handle to turn, often the ' pawl ' gets chewed up inside and if treated early, can mean only that needs to be replaced, force it, and you'll wreck the oscillating gear it travels on  . . . . . . . . . 
 

 

 

As can be seen from the top two images, the end towards the far right has gotten chewed, along with some more not visible in the images, either way, it's goosed........ so a replacement shaft, along with about 5 other parts are needed that seem to have gone AWOL when the chap had a bash at it. 

 

But apart from that, the rest of the reel is in otherwise excellent condition. 

Did I mention that Daiwa apparently seem to turn people away that have reels around this era ? Bizarre, but true, I keep getting calls from people telling me that Daiwa and Shimano are not taking older reels in for services, no wonder I seem to be getting busier ! 

The shaft was also bent at the end, god knows how that happened . . . . . . 

 

Luckily for this chap, I'm a dab hand with a vice and a good eye, and straightened it back out for him, saving even more . . . . . .  

Bearings soaking after cleaning in petrol, and shaft straightened back out, it was time to order parts from Daiwa, so hopefully they'll all be in stock and the next update will be a picture of it re-assembled and looking shiny ! :) 

Drennan 12ft 9'' Tench Float Handle Conversion.

I recently had this Drennan 12ft 9'' Tench Float  dropped off for a handle conversion from the old sliding reel fittings to a new style screw down winch fitting, I've always had a thing for Drennan rods, I personally think they're up there with the best ever made and sold in the UK market.

The Tench Float's one of my favourite's, so it was with a pang of jealousy that I set to work on this one !

The start consists of removing enough of the cork to accommodate the winch and still keep the reel in the position on the handle that the owner uses it in.

Then the blank is cleaned up in preparation for the masking tape arbors that the winch will be seated on.

Arbors in place, the winch can then be tried in place before a liberal dosing 
 of epoxy resin to ensure it doesn't go anywhere !

In place and once the glue's set, the blank can then be whipped and finished.

 The finished article, showing how the reel locks on with my 'half a reel' that I keep around for lining up winch fittings with the butt rings.

 

Incidentally, this particular rod had one butt ring that was also removed and re-whipped and finished.

 

Luckily I had whipping that was an identical match to the original ;)  

Any enquiries for prices or estimates for any type of work, call me on the usual number, top of the page . . . . . . .

Cork handle & winch fitting clamp

Howdy folks, been a little while since my last post, been keeping busy with rod building and quite a few refurb's and the usual smattering of reels to service !

I had a few handle conversions all come in at once, like buses, so as I made a start on them, placing an order for some winch fittings that I'd run out of, I thought I'd be clever and get ahead of myself by having everything ready and to hand for once !

Didn't quite pan out  . . . . .  as I rummaged around the outside shed where I'd stored all sorts a couple of months ago having a big tidy up - I clapped eyes on the end of my handle clamp, only to realise it was buried under a load of brollys that had fallen over ( I also repair brollys!) and unfortunately, my clamp was twisted and bent beyond repair :(

So part of this afternoon was spent making a new one, quick trip to toolstation in Trafford Park for some m6 threaded bolt, and for the princely sum of about £3.00 with my wing nuts and washers, a new clamp was born !

A quick test with a Drennan IM8 Super feeder that's in for a handle conversion from plastic rings to Fuji DPS/HPS reels seat and the job was a good 'un !

 

As I don't have a rod to hand that's recently been converted I'm a bit short on before and after pic's, but this is the Fuji DPS/HPS fitting below that replaces the old style rings with a really decent fitting that keeps the reel solid and brings an end to reels dropping off mid battle !

These look really great on the rod, I'll post a few 'after' shots of some of them that I'm doing when my order arrives and I get cracking with them, and for those wondering about cost, generally they end up between £25 and £30 as an average price, that's finished and everything included.

Some Daiwa Tournament reel servicing shots. . . . . . .

Thought I'd pop some pictures on of a few recent reels in for servicing, namely some Daiwa Tournament's, the TS5000T's that came out years ago, then went off the market, and then came back into production years later!

Cracking reels, and at (still) over £200 a piece, definitely worth looking after.
Great work horses and really well engineered reels too, ingenious design! one of only a few reels I've come across where the body plates come off either side, which is great for servicing.

This shot shows both side plates off, from the back.........

And the view from the left and right sides..........................

The best part of this configuration is having access to the worm shaft for inspection and the small drive gear on the end, everything else can easily come out be quickly cleaned, greased and put back in place.

Unfortunately this one had a serious case of wear on the main drive gear and the pinion gear as can be clearly seen in the images below, the main round drive gear had very badly rounded and worn teeth, the pinion gear came off even worse and has clearly taken the brunt of the damage. Luckily the oscillating shaft and pawl seem to have gotten away with it, which is something like a miracle to be honest !

The cause of this damage is largely unknown, the only clue seems to be that it's been taken apart before and by the looks of it, not put back together propely, screws not tightened up right, and grease not applied, the reel was bare, with very little, very old, black grease, a sign it's not been done in years.

Here is another example of how damage occurs - the reels are Daiwa again, this time the Emblem Z 5500 models.

 I think it's fair to hazard a guess this guy fishes a sandy pit somewhere fairly often . . . . . . . that stuff really won't help, and can ruin bearings, especially if the reels are left wet and covered in this or any length of time, best advice, wash them under a tap and shake them dry, leaving them on a towel for a day, take the spools off and prop them up so all the water drains out of the reel,  fresh water generally doesn't do much harm if you do your best to drain it off.

And don't forget! 3 reels serviced is only £35 ! That's a bargain! The reels are stripped, cleaned, oiled, checked, greased, re-assembled, this price will not last forever, and it's currently less than half of what Tackle Box charges, it's cheaper than Shimano's charges, you don't have to send them away, so you're saving on postage too !