redmeansdistortion

This is the one. https://www.plazajapan.com/4958489690679/. Looks to be out of stock everywhere. Alan Tani also makes a bearing packer with a zerk fitting so you can use a grease gun to fill bearings.

Generally speaking, collectors are the biggest market for different color variants. The small Ambassadeurs in colors other than silver regularly exceed the middle to high 3 figure mark, even blemished examples. If it's a left hand model, you're talking mid to high 4 figures, some of the 24k gold plated models can get into the 5 figure range. Some of these reels have 30+ years of service behind them.

My latest score, going to turn it into a BFS reel. I have a shallow spool enroute, new spool bearings, handle, star wheel, spool cap, brake blocks, and carbon drag. It even came with the velvet carrying bag, pretty cool.

Which Alphas SV? CT SV70? SV105? SV TW? CT SV is a 30mm diameter narrow spool, SV105 is a 33mm diameter wide spool, and the SV TW is a 32mm diameter narrow spool.

Simple Green does work, but also requires a very thorough rinse and it isn't very good with deeply embedded grime. If it isn't rinsed well enough, it leaves a sticky residue behind. Mineral spirits and a toothbrush work faster and leave nothing behind and remove grime the first time. I keep a jar of mineral spirits and a toothbrush on the bench.

Here's a link in case anybody wants to buy them. They also carry other brands like NSK and EZO. http://zikuuke.shop35.makeshop.jp I will also add, make sure you read the technical docs. Just because a bearing is labeled a certain size doesn't mean it is going to fit your reel. For example, DDL-1150ZZ and DDL-1150ZZY04. The bearing ending in Y04 is 5x11x4, while the other is 5x11x5, so read the docs before you place an order to ensure you're ordering the correct size. https://mkt.minebeamitsumi.com/bearing_catalog_en

I buy them right from Japan from The Bearing Store who is very well reputed. They don't sell outside of Japan, so a proxy service is needed. You can use Noppin, Buyee, Zenmarket, From Japan, etc. The big thing to keep in mind is NMB is the largest manufacturer of precision bearings in the world. Their production facilities are in Japan, Singapore, and Thailand. Full stainless bearings come out of Japan and Singapore while the chromed steel offerings come from Thailand. These are the same bearings used in precision machine tools, dental tools, and aircraft instrumentation. Quality control is about the best you'll find. I'm confident enough that I can install two spool bearings knowing they will spin exactly the same. The problem with ceramic hybrids is most come from China. Not that it's a bad thing because the Chinese can make a quality product, but in the past I've had to "bin" bearings; spin test them and discard or send back those that didn't spin as well as the others. That's a quality issue. I'm not just talking about AliExpress bearings either, but also Roro, Boca, and Ray's Studio. Having bought and used well over 200 NMBs, I've never once had that issue. They just work, and work very well. This is why the big reel manufacturers use them, great performance and consistent quality. I'd much rather pay $2 for a known well performing bearing than I would roll the dice on a $20 bearing that makes extraordinary claims. That doesn't include the marketing the Chinese bearing manufacturers use. NMB, NSK, and EZO don't stoop to that level. If you want to know the tolerances, consult their technical docs. The NMBs I run are rated P0, the Japanese equivalent to ABEC 1. The Chinese sell most people on the ABEC rating because of the "more is better" mentality. ABEC standards don't account internal clearances, ball quality, raceway finish, or cage quality. They only designate the tolerance of how a bearing fits a shaft or housing. This is a NMB DDR-1030ZZ, shields removed, degreased, lubed with TSI 321, mixed 6 parts 99% alcohol to 1 part TSI. TSI is a thin film lubricant, so applying like a standard oil is counter productive. The alcohol functions as a carrier and evaporates away. https://i.imgur.com/ZD3zIxf.mp4

I have read about that but I haven't experienced it myself. I have a pair of 700s and a pair of 1300s and they're both fine. One of my 1300s is almost 35 years old and the other is 20 years old. My 700s are 10 and 5 years old.

Shimano already makes jewelry. Daiwa severely needs to bring out an updated Millionaire and Ryoga. Round reels have that old money look to them. Low profiles look like electric shavers.

I dial my brake in according to the smallest bait I intend on using, typically right around 3g. After that it is pretty set and forget unless minor adjustments are needed for windy conditions. Generally speaking, my reel doesn't backlash unless the bait hits the water before my thumb hits the spool. The most important part to me is to utilize the action of the rod to propel the bait, a simple motion of the wrist will achieve this. If you are using your shoulder to compensate, you stand a better chance of backlashing since the rod isn't being loaded up correctly.

Shimano was very well known to outright steal designs once upon a time. The most glaring examples are the Lew's BB1, which Lew's contracted out to Shimano to build. Shimano ended up releasing it under their own branding and called it the Bantam. That was their first foray into fishing reels. Before then, they were known more for their cycling equipment. Fast forward 15 years, and they outright copied the design of the Daiwa SS Tournament for the then new Stradic. The only real differences were the way the anti-reverse was implemented and the lack of an external bail trip. The SS Tournament would stay the same throughout its entire run until it was discontinued in 2022. The Stradic has underwent many changes, but it's still the same basic design of the SS Tournament. To my knowledge, the only spinner Daiwa makes with a level wind now is the Exist.

I buy NMB bearings in bulk from Japan, average cost is $1-$2 each after shipping costs, depending on size and exchange rate. Specifically the DDR and DDL series which are full stainless. These are the same bearings Daiwa and Shimano use across their entire product lines, and Abu in the Swedish made Ambassadeur models. Buying domestically, they run $6-$7 each and nobody gives a discount unless you are buying over 1,000. Even then, the discount isn't much, maybe 5-10%. NMB does ship their bearings filled to 30% capacity with a light grease, so they do need to be deep cleaned if they're used for spools. If they are for spinners, level wind, driveshaft, or pinion bearings, they can be run as is. I load up a jar with bearings, fill with acetone, and run them in the ultrasonic for one to two hours. For personal use, I remove the shields, spray with Brakleen, oil them up, and blow out the excess with compressed air.

Many trout rods are great for flick casting, fiberglass isn't necessary. The super fast rods, like the Major Craft Finetail Stream for instance, are meant for fishing very fast water, so a much faster action is used for that situation. Get into something like a Smith Troutin'Spin or Palms Egeria, which are far more moderate, and it works nicely. My favorite flicking rod is a 6'5" Smith Trouin'Spin and it's a 100% carbon blank. I flick cast nearly 100% of the time on the stream, once you get it down, other forms can be unwieldy. About the only time I'm not flicking is in water more than waist deep. For in close targets, a simple underhanded cast works great. It's similar to flick casting, but there is no back cast to the motion, just a gentle push with the tip and bam, right on target.

Pitching is not very common for trout fishing, BFS or otherwise. If you're fishing a cramped stream, you will have a very bad time since a lot of line is let out and the range of motion is very large. You're going to catch a tree with your rod, line, or both. What we do is called flick casting, with the lure reeled almost to the tip. The range of motion is much shorter and the distances that can be achieved much greater. To flick cast, hold your rod in front of you, snap the tip downwards, and release the spool when the bend of the rod is at Max. This causes the rod to load in a short window, propelling your lure. You don't want an overly fast rod to do this, you want a moderate fast, progressive blank to achieve this. Once you get the hang of it, it will be the most accurate form of casting. Here's a video demonstrating the flick cast.

I use these brushes for applying grease, comes out to 8 cents each. https://www.amazon.com/Brushes-Classroom-Acrylic-Watercolor-Supplies/dp/B09LH2QL51/ For greasing gears, I trim them down to stiffen the bristles and they do just fine. I get no stray bristles either. I used to use acid brushes but no matter what, I'd get a stray bristle or two at times. For cleaning, I do mineral spirits and an extra firm toothbrush, goes faster than waiting on an ultrasonic cleaner to finish. Plus firmly embedded grime sometimes doesn't not come off with the ultrasonic and I have to scrub them anyway. Bearings get hit with Brakleen.

Alphas SV TW spool won't work as it's 32mm. Gekka, Air TW, and Silver Creek Air Stream Custom all use 28mm spools. Ray's Studio makes a deeper 28mm.

Shimano typically shows bearing dimensions on their schematics. Alternatively, if you look up the part number on the Shimano site it should show them as well. Any particular reason you want to bearing swap the Vanford? There isn't going to be anything of benefit to gain from it. Shimano already uses NMB bearings from the factory which are already very high quality. As a matter of fact, NMBs are used across their entire product line. Daiwa also uses them.

One of my newest projects. I was given this almost mint Abu 3500C, which I'm going to convert to semi direct drive. On the way, I have a 5500D drive gear, driveshaft, drag plate, and click wheel along with a TNT Craft spool and a drag knob and smooth clutch from Simon Shimomura. I have to modify the driveshaft to work with the 3500C press arm, but that's easy. It'll be a riot playing fish with this as the handle will turn backwards when a fish runs. I'll post up pics when it's finished. I won't have the spool for a few more weeks .

Round nose pliers are best for repairing damaged spool lips. You aren't going to get it perfectly round, but you can get it round enough that won't notice it unless you're looking for it.

Specifically a JIS screwdriver in size 0 and size 1 should be in the toolbox. Those will cover any Japanese reel. The heads, while similar looking to Phillips, are tapered differently and the drivers grip them much better. Sure you can get away with a high quality Phillips, but JIS is the right tool for the job. You can buy them direct from Vessel for ~$10 each. They make removing the death screw a snap, since it is a JIS head. https://www.vesseltools.com/handtools/screwdrivers/megadora/910-series-detail

I just use 90W marine gear oil in those areas. It stays put for a long time and gives a smooth and connected feel. I run a reel service and the reels I most often see with rusted bearings are those fished in saltwater. Those that have spent their lives in freshwater just had a lot of gunk built up, even reels fished for decades never having been opened up. Usually, if a bearing from a freshwater reel is rusty, it's because it is chromed steel and not stainless. I like to think most manufacturers don't cheap out on bearings in their middle and upper tier models, as quality stainless bearings aren't costly at all. I buy them in bulk from Minnebea Mitsumi Japan for between $1 and $2 each. I can imagine a manufacturer buying in larger volumes gets them far cheaper. Minnebea Mitsumi supplies bearings to both Daiwa and Shimano.

Honestly, scratch the 5500 and look for a 4600. They can still be found even though production ended 4 or 5 years ago. Abu only discontinued them because they were eating into Revo sales. A newer 4600 has a "light-ish spool" (15g) and already comes with a lighter line guide compared to its predecessors. With a polish tune and low viscosity oils, they will cast in the 5-7g range fairly easily. If you need to go lower, you can always do the 2BB cog, 2BB level wind, and an AMO spool. If a magnetic brake is your thing, Avail makes a good one that is pretty set and forget.

This is why a quality ABEC 1 bearing spins better than a ABEC 7 bearing. A quality bearing manufacturer can machine ABEC 5, or even ABEC 7 tolerances without much effort at all. It's essentially a marketing tool these days. A good ABEC 1 bearing will remain stable at a RPM far beyond what a spool will see. These are the bearings you see in high speed machine tools, aircraft instrument panels, and even dentistry tools.

Keep in mind that TT often tests the drags of many reels past the manufacturer specifications. I'm not saying that's a bad thing as it shows the true potential is often beyond what the factory says. The fact of the matter, the part numbers on the drag stacks of all of those Alphas models is the same, so they should all measure similarly.

ABEC rating has nothing to do with internal clearances, but how a bearing fits to a shaft or housing. It doesn't account for internal clearances, raceway finish, cage quality, or ball quality. For a bearing to be considered precision, it needs to meet ABEC 1 standards at the minimum. Both Shimano and Daiwa use NMB stainless bearings many of their reels, which are rated J0, the Japan equivalent of ABEC 1 in the West. NMB, along with NSK are probably the best quality stainless bearings you'll find. Both are Japanese brands who make them in Japan, Singapore, and Thailand. NMBs can be bought in bulk for as little as $2 each when buying from Japan. If bought domestically, they run ~$6 each. I run them in all of my reels, even my bench tuned Ambassadeurs set up for light line fishing. They actually perform better than the Hedgehog Air bearings I ran previously.