tools of the trade

a few people have asked about the tools i use for working on fishing reels.  i shot a few photos a while back and thought i'd post them.  if you like to tinker with reels, you might find something here that might help you out. 

first the lubes.  i use shimano drag grease on all the carbon fiber drag washers.  i'm finally running out and may switch over to cal's grease.  it's half the price.  corrosion x is the lube i use on all the bearings, level wind assemblys and reel handles.  and lastly, there's yamaha engine grease.  that goes into all the screw holes and all the other non-exposed metal surfaces.  it stays blue forever.  i can open up a reel and know immediately if i've worked on it before or not. 





here's my tool rack.  i found some hard blue styrofoam at work, don't remember where the box came from, drew a 1 inch grid and started punching holes.  it forces me to be neat.



flat,  phillips and allen heads.



deep standard and metric sockets, precision screw drivers.



my little handy dandy bearing puller.



6 inch calipers.  i use this alot!!!!!!



specialty shimano and penn spool wrenches.



a working inventory of all the penn ht-100 drag washers made.  i order all my penn stuff from pennparts.com.  i'm their biggest non-business account!



bearings from bocabearings.com.  they like me alot as well. 



boxes of screws.  mostly stuff that i've accumulated over the years.



this little dremmel comes in handy!  seems that i'm always grinding away at something.



more boxes of stuff. 





i'd have carpal tunnel syndrome without this little baby!  it's a little electric screwdriver from milwaulke.  they're about $100, i have two, finally busted one and i need to replace it. 



now for the grease gun.  this is another little item that i could not do with out.  here's the grease.



here's the gun.  home depot has these.  note the position of the nozzle.



home depot has these as well.  it's a blowgun kit.



take the inflator needle and cut off the tip with the cutting wheel of the dremmel, the screw it into the adaptor.





screw in the adaptor, load up a grease cartridge and you're all set.  this is another "must have" item.





and lastly, my favorite.  7-8 years ago i found this wrench in a tackle shop for $20.  i put it next to a standard penn wrench so you could see the difference.  i bought two, lost one, and just had a machine shop buddy make a bunch more. 



i also have a small compressor, a bench grinder, a drill press and a half gallon ultrasonic cleaner loaded with green soap.  the only thing i still need is a small bench lathe.  i want to start cutting sleeves to blueprint lever drag reels.  yes, it's taken over my garage....

Alan,

Good review.  Once when i took you my Daiwa Coastal you mentioned something about something named "Hot Suace" but I don't remember if you said you use it or not. Do you? And if so, on what parts?

yeah, i bought some at a tackle shop because there wasn't anything else to buy, tried it a couple of times and went back to corrosion x. 

Nice Alan

I still think you should produce alan tani reel guru videos.  complete with shots of the garage!

J

.....now that's what you call a "man-garage" 

.....now that's what you call a "man-garage" 

... right down to the pink bike with training wheels ... 

-Allen

.....now that's what you call a "man-garage" 

... right down to the pink bike with training wheels ... 

-Allen

I think the "radio flyer" red wagon made up for that 

If that's a "Man Garage" I must have a "Superman Garage"....

 

MolBasser

.....now that's what you call a "man-garage" 

... right down to the pink bike with training wheels ... 

-Allen

I think the "radio flyer" red wagon made up for that 

Hmmm ... that case of Bud Light in the foreground could go either way ... depending on how "manly" you are.   

-Allen

Great, detailed post. 

All those tools and supplies - a bunch of bucks. 

Sharing with the community - priceless!

Good job.

P.S. Garage envy is a terrible thing to see.