Alan's Workbench
Bearing Sleeves to Increase Freespool Time
May. 18 2009, 3:19 PM
May. 18 2009, 3:19 PM
Most of you are familiar with this process by the name "Blue Printing" from Cal Sheets. Since last summer, I've been cutting bearing sleeves on a small scale for a few lever drag reels. The purpose of the bearing sleeve is to prevent pressure from building up on the inside races of the spool bearings. An axial load on these bearings will decrease the freespool time in a lever drag reel and decrease your casting distance. Using thin walled brass tubing from your local hobby shop, you can cut a bearing sleeve yourself. The results can be dramatic!
All you need is a tubing cutter, a drill with a half inch chuck and a mill bastard file. Here is the tubing that you would start with. A standard mill bastard file will shave off 3 to 5 thousanths of an inch with every stroke, depending on how sharp the file is and how hard you lean on it. After a few tries, you will get the feel for it. Plan on having to do this a few times before you get it right.
Here is what the spool shaft assembly looks like, out of the reel, with the bearing sleeve in place. Ideally, you want zero load and zero endplay. If you cut it too short, you may as well start over because the bearing sleeve will not work at all. If it's too long, the spool can move around while in free and you may note that the spool stops when you roll it to the right. You want to be not more than 10 thousanths long ( piece of paper is 3 thousanths of an inch thick). This one was perfect. With just the bearings and sleeve in place, you should be able to push in on one bearing and feel just the slightest amount of pressure on the other. If you can push in on one bearing and actually MOVE the other bearing completely, the sleeve is too long.
To check the function of the bearings and bearing sleeve, place the spool shaft assembly in the spool and give it a spin. You should get about 30 seconds of freespool. Now place the drive plate (key #117) on, press only half way to put pressure on the left side bearing spring (key #41) and spin it again. If you get the same amount of freespool, then you know that there is no axial load on the bearings and it works.
Cal Sheets is the one that actually coined the term, "Blue Printing." The actual blue printing procedure involves several different steps, all very precise, very time consuming and very expensive. He starts by machining down the drag plate to make it perfectly true. That's step one. Then, a piece of heavy stainless steel tubing is turned on a lathe to make a bearing sleeve. It's accurate down the a few thousanths of an inch. In my garage, I'm lucky to get it within 10 thousanths. Finally, he uses a combination of belleville spring washers to give you the exact drag range that you specify. This is not so much science as it is art! Want 22 pounds of drag? He will set it up so that you get a smooth progression to 22 pounds. So if you want the ultimate in performance in your two speed lever drag reel, absolutely go to Cal Sheets. If you want to squeeze out a little more performance and stay within budget, consider doing the work yourself.
For the complete post on rebuilding a Penn 30S International at home, go to http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=137.0
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