Where can I buy swinger hinges?

[Anderoo]

I need to get hold of a few hinges like the one circled in the picture below:

 

 

Does anyone have any idea where they can be bought? I don't really want to buy whole swingers and take them apart unless I really have to, as I have all the other bits I need already.

 

They are for making long-arm swingers for bream fishing.

 

Thanks for any help

[Kappa]

I need to get hold of a few hinges like the one circled in the picture below:

 

 

Does anyone have any idea where they can be bought? I don't really want to buy whole swingers and take them apart unless I really have to, as I have all the other bits I need already.

 

They are for making long-arm swingers for bream fishing.

 

Thanks for any help

 

I'd imagine they would be very easy to make, or persuade someone with the right tools to make for you!

 

Rich

[Anderoo]

Thanks Richard, good point. Failing that though, can they be easily bought? I just don't know where to even start looking, and also don't know the proper term for them.

[tincatinca]

I am currently looking at long arm swingers again with a view to achieving something that is much lighter and easier to transport. Whilst my previous efforts works very well, they are just to bulky. I currently playing around with fitting extended arms to a design similar to the Fox swingers as I do think that it is vital to have a counter balance capability. The other thing is to have a simplified mechanism for holding the line. The gate latch on the Fox versions are superb but it would be very expensive to butcher a standard Fox swinger. I think that you will struggle to get the swivel part without the rest but they should be simple to make. If you know what you want send me a pm and I will see what I can knock up for you. Something like these may be worth getting amn modifying with longer arms.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-Swinger-Bite-Indic...=item439a673bb7

[Anderoo]

I am currently looking at long arm swingers again with a view to achieving something that is much lighter and easier to transport. Whilst my previous efforts works very well, they are just to bulky. I currently playing around with fitting extended arms to a design similar to the Fox swingers as I do think that it is vital to have a counter balance capability. The other thing is to have a simplified mechanism for holding the line. The gate latch on the Fox versions are superb but it would be very expensive to butcher a standard Fox swinger. I think that you will struggle to get the swivel part without the rest but they should be simple to make. If you know what you want send me a pm and I will see what I can knock up for you. Something like these may be worth getting amn modifying with longer arms.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-Swinger-Bite-Indic...=item439a673bb7

 

Thanks for that, Tinca. If it's tricky just buying the hinges then I will just buy a set of swingers like the ones you linked to on ebay and just swap the short arm for a long arm.

 

I'm not going to get complicated. As long as the bobbin head can take an isotope and has an adjustable line clip (gardner, etc.), and there's a hinge at both ends, I'm sure it will work fine. I expect there will be a little lateral movement, but I don't mind that. They'll still be much better than normal bobbins, and they're for bream anyway, so don't need to be clever! In fact, they may never move!

 

I reckon an arm of about 2ft should be about right. Clipped halfway up a bankstick, that will provide a 4ft drop. Since my old umbrella has now been retired, I may be able to use the arms from that. If not, I'll just get some lengths of something from Wickes.

 

A counterweight would be useful, but I think I'll get around that by adding/removing screw-in weights at the bobbin head.

 

They can then be stored in a long float tube type thingie.

 

The only thing that I'm wondering about is this - when (if?) I get a run and strike, the bobbin head will fall 4ft to the ground/platform. I wonder if this will damage them, and if I should add something to cushion the impact?

[tincatinca]

Thanks for that, Tinca. If it's tricky just buying the hinges then I will just buy a set of swingers like the ones you linked to on ebay and just swap the short arm for a long arm.

 

I'm not going to get complicated. As long as the bobbin head can take an isotope and has an adjustable line clip (gardner, etc.), and there's a hinge at both ends, I'm sure it will work fine. I expect there will be a little lateral movement, but I don't mind that. They'll still be much better than normal bobbins, and they're for bream anyway, so don't need to be clever! In fact, they may never move! Ah but on the other hand they might and knowing you there is a distinct possibility.

I reckon an arm of about 2ft should be about right. Clipped halfway up a bankstick, that will provide a 4ft drop. Since my old umbrella has now been retired, I may be able to use the arms from that. If not, I'll just get some lengths of something from Wickes.

 

A counterweight would be useful, but I think I'll get around that by adding/removing screw-in weights at the bobbin head. The problem with that is at two feet, the down force at the end where the bobbin is will be quite considerable even without additional weights. If you can remember my originals I had to put a considerable amount of weght behind the fulcrum pin to make the swinger work effectively. Coupled to this is the rigidity that can be acheived in the arm. For a simple swinger this can be done using a simple beam principle as pere the attached sketch

 

They can then be stored in a long float tube type thingie. A cut down rod tube would probably be better

The only thing that I'm wondering about is this - when (if?) I get a run and strike, the bobbin head will fall 4ft to the ground/platform. I wonder if this will damage them, and if I should add something to cushion the impact?

 

A very simple swinger could be made like the attached sketch which fits to the banksick with a sinple bracket where the swinging arm sits inside but the up and down movement is controlled by an angular slot which stops the arm at a fixed position both in the upward and downward movement.I will have a play with this type of arrangement whilst I look at modifying the Fox type principle. With the latter it is about how rigid the arms will be at an extended length. I have bought some lengths of stainless rod and will have to make up a couple of bending jigs but I doubt whether more than 18 inch arms will be possible using the same diamer rod as in the originals to maintain a reasonable rigidity.May well go down the simpler beam route myself but I will have a go at the other first.

 

 

[Anderoo]

Yes, all good points. I don't think the extra weight (without the counterbalance) will matter too much with a light bobbin head. I realise that with a 2ft(ish) arm the weight of the bobbin head on the line will be a lot more than if it was a normal bobbin on a cord, but as it's for bream that's probably not much of an issue.

 

The rigidity of the arm could be a problem, but again, as long as it doesn't bend too much I don't really mind. All I want is something cheap that won't blow in the wind too much and goes up when a fish takes and comes down again if it's a line bite

 

(No doubt when I see your beautifully engineered super-swingers next season I'll change my mind!)

[Tigger]

Surely Anderoo it would be worth getting/making some monkey climbers as there's no problem with wind and I reckon TT could make some corkers.......for us ...

You could have the shaft extra long and make the monkeys out of various materials of your choice.

 

You could even have an assortment of different sized/weights of climbers to simply swap over if conditions change.

Edited December 9, 2009 by Tigger

[tincatinca]

Surely Anderoo it would be worth getting/making some monkey climbers as there's no problem with wind and I reckon TT could make some corkers.......for us ...

You could have the shaft extra long and make the monkeys out of various materials of your choice.

 

You could even have an assortment of different sized/weights of climbers to simply swap over if conditions change.

 

Already made them but the swingers are much better

[Tigger]

Already made them but the swingers are much better

 

 

Don't doubt you TT but what made you come to that conclusion ?