If this isn't the right place to ask this question, let me know what is.

Being a very, very novice fisherman (hadn't fished prior to this since I was about 12. That was over 16 years ago) I recently purchased an inexpensive Shakespeare Axiom as my first baitcasting reel. After using it every week for about 3 months, it began to develop a rattle when I reeled in.  I knew I had to oil my reel but not WHERE to Oil my reel. The end result? The rattle's gon, but no matter how tight I make my drag, I can easily spool off line with my hand.

So my questions are:

Does this sound like I got oil in the drag? And, of course, can I fix it?

Going to my wife three months after convincing her that I HAD to have this reel to tell her I screwed up and HAVE to buy a new one is not going to end well. If you can help, you'll be my hero.

Not familiar with that reel, but I'm fairly sure oil does not belong in the drag stack.

Tear it down, clean it up, and re-lube it properly. grease on the gears, oil in the bearings and anything else that needs lube.

Some drag washers are designed to be lubed using a vapor thin coating of grease. Some are designed to be used dry. Check with the manufacturer to see what you have.

An easy fix, in any event.

In general, lightly grease gears, oil bearings sparingly with a light oil and grease drag washers with a drag grease like Shimano's or Cal's. Remove the drag washers and soak them in Simple Green, rinse and let dry. Grease with recommended grease and reinstall. If the drag doesn't perform after that, replace the fiber washers.

Did you possibly forget to install a washer or 2? Oil won't do the drag any harm if you clean it off, but you still should be able to crank it down and get some resistence.

If this isn't the right place to ask this question, let me know what is.

Being a very, very novice fisherman (hadn't fished prior to this since I was about 12.  That was over 16 years ago) I recently purchased an inexpensive Shakespeare Axiom as my first baitcasting reel.  After using it every week for about 3 months, it began to develop a rattle when I reeled in.  I knew I had to oil my reel but not WHERE to Oil my reel.  The end result?  The rattle's gon, but no matter how tight I make my drag, I can easily spool off line with my hand. 

So my questions are:

Does this sound like I got oil in the drag? And, of course, can I fix it?

Going to my wife three months after convincing her that I HAD to have this reel to tell her I screwed up and HAVE to buy a new one is not going to end well.  If you can help, you'll be my hero.

Are you using braided line??? If you are it could be slipping on the spool..

Just a thought..

Good Luck & Tight Lines!!!

tighten the drag down all the way and peel the line off fast.this will squeeze off the oil.if it doesn't work then something else is wrong.it may take a few runs.

Check your spacers under your handle they should be installed were they look like this ( ) not (( just a thought happened to me all the time this will defintely keep your drag from tighten down.

Thank you so much for all the help!

I'm hoping that it is a case of newbie error, and not that I've trashed anything.  I did not have any parts left over when I was done, but that doesn't mean I put everything back right.  I'll check that tonight, too.  I found a diagram online of all the parts, but it isn't very clear on how they should be arranged.  Especially on the washers. 

I am using braid, but I didn't see it slipping on the spool.  I'll check again tonight.  If that is what's happening, how can I stop that?

electrical tape

Its slipping on the spool.  A wrap or two of electrical tape around the spool or 10 or more turns of mono before the braid goes on will solve that issue.

Its slipping on the spool. A wrap or two of electrical tape around the spool or 10 or more turns of mono before the braid goes on will solve that issue.

This is a fairly common problem with braid line beginers.  You must use mono backing on the spool because the braid is so slippery.

i put a little oil in my drag pads to keep them from cracking but not a lot and i have never had a problem

I tried tightening down the drag as tight as I could and stripping off line and that did seem to help, but it wasn't 100%.  So I took it apart, washed it, relubed where appropriate and put it back together again.

Before testing it out, I did add some electrical tape to the reel and added the line back on.  Now it seems to be working fine.  We got snow in TN this weekend, so I didn't get to test it out (Inflatable Boat + Ice =/= Good things) but I'm not able to spool it by hand anymore with the drag tight.

Thanks for all the help!

i put a little oil in my drag pads to keep them from cracking but not a lot and i have never had a problem

The problem with oil is it has a lower burn point.  If you want the best for this, then use something made for this purpose, like Shimano Drag Star Grease or Cal's Drag Grease.  Oil can get iffy really quick in the drag, and if you must use some lube there, I'd recommend the two brands above.