Thread: How to modify fishing reel

attached is a diagram of what I've thought of so far. My drawing skills are poor but what this is supposed to show is a rod and reel - with the reel hanging below the rod. A power plant (say a power screwdriver) had been attached to the lower rod grip with cable ties or something similar. The dotted line is the power train I need to make - the main problem is the 90 degree turn.

This is how I see it being done. but any other out of the box solution is very welcome.

ps. I know electric fishing reels are available. Mostly they are overhead reels for fishing in very deep water. Not suitable for land based spin fishing at all. There are a few spinning reels with built in power winds - I may go that route but not found anything suitable yet viz price, durability, retrieve speed and power and battery life. Mostly, they are a gimmick.

cheers
Arron

rodandreel.jpg

Depending on how much room you have you might be able to get away with a pair of bevel gears to give your drive.

You might be able to run them direct from your power source or you might need an extension from the power source to handle rod.

But you'll need it to freewheel, having to disconnect it when you get a strike would be painful and there would be a lot of hand changing. Something with a ratchet maybe?

I'm thinking a small stepper motor.
Yeah forget that, I thought my reel was driven via a dog clutch from the handle...it would appear to be a combo of the dog clutch and the hex shaft
*Make up a adapter to replace the thumb screw. It will need some sort of teeth to engage with the reel, a hole for a screw through the middle to hold it to the reel and the handle on and I guess a bore with grub screw to fit the stepper shaft.*

I've no idea of the power of these things... I assume steppers have more torque and are more easily controlled for speed than brush motors.

Something like this might fit nicely(with a torque arm back to the handle to stop it spinning)
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-Nema1...item19fd151ed7
Though as I said I have no idea if it would be strong enough.

Stuart

Originally Posted by Arron

attached is a diagram of what I've thought of so far. My drawing skills are poor but what this is supposed to show is a rod and reel - with the reel hanging below the rod. A power plant (say a power screwdriver) had been attached to the lower rod grip with cable ties or something similar. The dotted line is the power train I need to make - the main problem is the 90 degree turn.

This is how I see it being done. but any other out of the box solution is very welcome.

ps. I know electric fishing reels are available. Mostly they are overhead reels for fishing in very deep water. Not suitable for land based spin fishing at all. There are a few spinning reels with built in power winds - I may go that route but not found anything suitable yet viz price, durability, retrieve speed and power and battery life. Mostly, they are a gimmick.

cheers
Arron

rodandreel.jpg

Issue with using the thread on the other side of the handle will be that it will unscrew when it is winding in.
You need to wind from the handle side whichever that is.

Is the shaft on the handle square?

If so that could be extended and utilised for the drive.

Dean

A flexible shaft drive from the motor to the reel would make it interchangeable.

Phil

Originally Posted by Steamwhisperer

A flexible shaft drive from the motor to the reel would make it interchangeable.

Phil

Hi Arron, Phil,

Yes this was my thought too. I have some flexible drive shafts, ex WWII radio equipment. They have a 1/4" inch diameter spindle and bush on one end and a sleeve with a flat on the other designed to push onto a 1/4" inch shaft. The bowden cable is about 1/8" diameter. The bush is 3/8" or 7/16", I don't remember which. The overall length is around six or seven inches. In use the bush was fitted in the front panel and the other end taken to some kind of tuner or variable capacitor. I've also seen these in aircraft bomb sight computers. I have a vague recollection that they were made by "Bulgin"
<http://www.bulgin.co.uk/> The company is still around and may be able to help.

Have you thought about using a windscreen wiper motor and gearbox, the speed would be very close to what was needed, and is already fitted with a right angled shaft ready to take an adaptor to connect. You would need a M/cycle battery to run it and a small on/off or button switch could be installed quite easily. I think it would be a very easy to do conversion. If the motor runs to fast, I have a magazine that has an article on making a speed controller for a 12 Volt motor.
Kryn

Hi Guys,

Most wiper motors are dual speed and some of the newer ones have a speed controller built in. However a 555 timer and a power FET would easily do the job. I can't lay my hands on the circuit at the moment, but I did a golf trolley controller a while back for a friend of mine. That used two 12 volt gel type batteries and two large wiper motors, one on each wheel. One battery was in use whilst the other was a spare, it just required a plug swap to change the battery. The downside is that the motors whine quite loudly as the load increases.

I don't reckon you would want to be lugging around a battery.

There are better alternatives if you investigate right angle drive electric drills such as this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DeWALT-DW160...item28053c235e

There are stacks more on eBay, find a local item to minimise postage.

Ken

Probably easier to just take a lackey with you to wind it when you get tired.

A cordless screwdriver, the little ones the size of an electric toothbrush.
I've got an Aldi one that lets me turn it across the centre at 45, makes it from straight to more a cordless drill shape.
Put a shaft in it to a disc (2 inches diameter)
Put 2 bolts thru the outside of the disc that stick out about 1 inch.
Might be worth putting something in centre of disc so you can position nicely on the centre of the handle.

you can hang it around your neck on lanyard.
When you want to use push it over handle where the bolts go past the handle on both arms.
Your picture showed a handle with 2 arms (handle side and balance arm)
once against handle bars the bolts turn the handle, press the button to turn the handle.
Quick and easy to use, easily removed and its winding on the right side of the reel.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Daiwa-Sup...item58ca3da97c

http://www.coolthings.com/power-fishn-hybrid-reel/