Where can I buy swinger hinges?

[Anderoo]

Anderoo I reckon the best thing to do is follow your own advice that you gave me last year and just get some cheap swingers of Ebay and cannibalise them.I ended up doing just that and I reckon it was not only the easiest way but the cheapest.

 

That's exactly what I'm going to do Budgie! I know what I want, and if the alarms beep a bit less during windy nights, I'll call it a success

 

Rich, I think a hinge below the bobbin is a good idea, just so the bobbin head can always hang straight and allow free passage of line, but as you say, probably not essential.

 

I think it'll be hard to go that wrong really. If I was trying to design something for tricky roach or sneaky perch I'd try to get everything just right, but for big, lumbering, semi-conscious bream I really don't think it matters!

 

I reckon it's just a case of:

 

1. Buy a set of 3 swingers from ebay, which have two hinges each, a decent adjustable line clip and can be unscrewed to take isotopes and weights (approx £12)

 

2. Take out the short metal arm

 

3. Glue in new longer metal arms/old umbrella spokes

 

4. Blank

[Kappa]

I know what I want, and if the alarms beep a bit less during windy nights, I'll call it a success

 

I reckon heavier bobbins will help here too!

 

Rich

[Anderoo]

I reckon heavier bobbins will help here too!

 

Rich

 

Definitely! That's one of the reasons I'm not worried about balancing them with counterweights, I don't think I used my current bobbins with no weight added at all last season when after the bream.

[Rusty]

4. Blank

 

But think of the Kudos those swingers will earn you.

[Kappa]

But think of the Kudos those swingers will earn you.

 

Pah, if they haven't got tricolour LEDs in them he'll laughed at!

 

Rich

[tincatinca]

Having now got some 1 inch square ali bar, I was messing about in the workshop yesterday and thought about the comments from Tigger regarding monkey climbers and Anderoos comments about ten foot banksticks so I thought would it be possible to make a combination swinger/climber. Bad move because it has taken me away from the simple again but it kept me out of the way of the other half . After much messing about, an idea emerged and I think that I may have found a solution although it only applies when using long bank sticks and 15mm dia in the case of the ones that I use.. The base of the idea revolves around the clamps which will be held in place on the bank sticks by two nylon locking screws. At the front of the clamp will be a detachable monkey climber holder which slides in to the clamp and locked in place by one or two nylon screws. This will have radial movement for alignment. ( just have to make sure that the bamksticks aren't on the wonk). That is the easy bit. Next thing is to make and put a pin into the side of the clamp on which to mount the removeable swinger which should be a fairly simple thing to do. Everthing needs to be compact and portable and the difficult bit at the moment is to sort out an arrangement which gives some control over the movement of the arm should the remote possibility occur that one gets a bite. The clamps have been machined to shape but I am now waiting for del'y of a range of nylon bolts before drilling and tapping the holes. I will post a picture when I have got them to a stage where you can see the general principle. It is taking me a long time to get back into the swing of using a lathe and and the versatility of a four jaw chuck and whist frustrating is also very enjoyable. It will be a fair while though until I will feel confident enough to tackle a reel as I am workng to millimetres and not tenths of thous like Worms.

[tincatinca]

As an after thought and particularly regarding the elderly like me, did anyone used to make tanks out of a cotton reel, matchstick and an elastic band when they were kids. Could possibly apply a similar principle today for a loaded swinger

[tincatinca]

Have not been able to go fishing for a while but managed to spend a bit of time in the shed and play about with the monkey swingers. Now done the easier bit which is the monkey climbers which are to attach to long banksticks and am now deciding how to make an attachment for the swingers and whether to come off the nose of the bankstick attachments or the sides. The tricky bit is finding a way to limit the movement of the swingers, particularly on the upward movement. For the monkey climbers I am using bog standard coated needles (£1.75 ea from e-bay) which give a drop of just under 2 feet which equates to line movement of approx 42 inches. These are designed to fit the front banksticks which should ensure that there is a good contact between the line and the buzzers. Just need to turn up a few removable weights which slot into the bottom of the indicator bodies. I have put a few photos to give you an idea of what they look like and the size. I am trying to keep things as compact as possible to keep the weight down and also be easy to assemble.

 

 

 

 

[grumpybum]

I used a section of piano hinge to make some swingers. I cut up old umbrella ribs and soldered these to one side of the hinge. To connect to the thread of a buzzer an electrical earthing clip was used.

[Tigger]

 

 

 

 

They look spot on TT, they look better than swingers to me !