I have noticed that there are several different materials being used for tension washers. Some seem to be much harder and more durable than others. I have checked several washers from different reels and found that many are the same size. Has anyone experimented with trading tension washers between reels? Are there some current models that you know of that have the best tension washer?

I've seen stainless, brass and some king of plastic used for shims, and yes, I've replaced plastic shims with stainless. The plastic shims get dimpled rather quickly.

What you have to do is match the thickness precisely, particularly on the brake side. Plastic shims tend to be thicker than stainless shims. I've been lucky on a couple of reels when two stainless shims stacked were the same thickness as one plastic.

Use a dial caliper to measure. Or a micrometer, if you have one.

I've ground down plastic shims using a coarse diamond hone. Measure the plastic shim first, then measure the stainless shim. Hone down the plastic until you're removed the thickness of the stainless shim from the plastic. Then install both, stacked, with the stainless on top.

If you don't have a good diamond hone, and don't want to fork over 50 bucks to get one, you can use a diamond fingernail file. That will work, but is harder to keep straight and true. grind, measure, grind, measure, making sure to keep it level.

It's not that hard to do, on rainy Sunday afternoon.

Cheers,

GK