thought I'd give this a try

[bikerfish]

or rather, my girlfriend saw it and wanted to give it a try.
doesn't look to fancy, and no fancy drag or anything, but they do have a classic look, plus it might be fun to build. I'll keep ya posted on how it goes. she's going to get it for christmas
http://eclecticangler.com/

 

[PennKev]

Customization possiblities are endless...

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

Thats the next logical step after rod building....

 

[bikerfish]

ha ha, you'll know I've gone to far if you never see me fishing again and find me searching the want ads for machining tools and such!

 

[gfen]

I've been close to buying into that a couple of times now, but instead I just dremel up innocent Medalists.

 

[sandfly]

Over the edge you have gone, welcome to the outer limits. i have wanted to build/design a reel as of late. and have modified medalist and ocean city's a lot.

 

[MKern]

Is Sandfly Yoda?

"Over the edge you have gone"

 

[sandfly]

smart a$$ there Matt. just a little miss spelling "you have gone over the edge" hows that ?? to early to compose sentences..

 

[gfen]

An entire forum on the subject:
http://reelsmithing.com/forum/

Not sure how much of that I can do with a Dremel tool in hand, but I'm way into the idea.

 

[jdaddy]

 

[gfen]

I wouldn't fish with a fast action broomstick.

These are not the tung beads and the European nymphing rod you ordered.

 

[whheff]

I just ordered a reel kit today. I thought it would be easier that starting with a rod. I always like to learn something new. This should be interesting.

 

[NCPAtrtbum]

Hope it keeps ya busy. Let us see the finished product!

 

[whheff]

I just finished my reel and I will try to take pictures and post them tomorrow. Stay tuned!

 

[whheff]

Here are the pictures of the reel I made.

I darkened the spool and back plate to take some of the shine off of it. I still have some detail work to do and put the line on it but it is 95% finished.

 

[bikerfish]

looks awesome!

 

[NCPAtrtbum]

Ooooh shiny. Looks great!
I bet it's gonna be fun to try it out on the water.

 

[shakey]

that reel looks fantastic!!!

 

[gfen]

So how difficult was it to do? What tools did you require, and do you think it'll hold up?

Clicker, or is there some sort of disc in there?

 

[whheff]

gfen wrote:
So how difficult was it to do? What tools did you require, and do you think it'll hold up?

Clicker, or is there some sort of disc in there?

It wasn't very difficult to do. If you have a half round file and a rat tail file a phillips and flat blade screw drivers that should cover the tools. The hardest thing to do was to shape the reel seat. You have to file and sand it quite a bit but he provides detailed instructions on how to mark and file the reel seat.
I ordered the sanding kit, which to me was a smart thing to do. It contains wet/dry sand paper from 220 grit down to 3200 grit, a sanding block and a circular sanding block. It also had some brass polish to finish the reel. He even tells you how to patina the brass if you want to do that. I did patina the back plate and spool pieces to give it some contrast. He even provides templates if you want to drill decorative holes in those pieces.
He sells a click drag for his reels which you can retrofit to an existing reel you've already built. If you don't get the clicker drag, it comes with a spring washer to provide drag. I got the clicker drag for this reel.
He advertises it as a 4wt reel and that is what I will line it with. As for durability, I think it will be fine fine for the Saucon or the other streams I fish with my 4wt.
Hopefully it will warm up next week and I can take it out for a test drive.