Ultimate bobbin

[tincatinca]

A 24 inch arm is a good length and should work well. At that length I must confess that I personally would be concerned regarding rigidity and the effects of downforce at the end of the arm but I sincerely hope that it all goes well for you.

[Anderoo]

The soon to be destroyed swingers have arrived. I think they're pretty much what I need. The bits pull apart easily which is great and I've come up with a way to attach a bankstick clip which should work well. I will need to get some metal tube (aluminium, I think) of matching diameter to replace the arms so a trip to B&Q or Wickes is in order.

 

The bobbin heads are a lot bigger than they look in the pictures! And unfortunately the thread used to screw them into the hinge doesn't match any of my other bits and pieces, so screw-in weights are not an option any more. The sliding weights on the arms are massive, and far too heavy to be any use, which is a shame. The other bad thing is the line clip - very flimsy, and glued in rather than screwed in. I may have to extract them and replace them with something better. I think they might do as they are (they're adjustable and free running) but I'm worried they might just break halfway through a session.

 

The hinges are good and very free running. There is a bit of lateral movement but I think it'll be OK. They are made of hard plastic, so hopefully they will last OK...

 

This is fun

 

EDIT: I just tried again to get the line clips out of the bobbins and snapped 2 of them off Here we go...!

Edited January 30, 2010 by Anderoo

[Dick Dastardly]

Your totally right Anderoo the "problem" with release more ore less dissapears if you mount them on the front.I still dont like the way the arc of the rising arm during the first 90degrees of its potential upward rise is actually against the direction of the pull,however if this actually would/does cause a problem I doubt!

 

The line clip has a small "tag" on it so I found it best to split the bobbin head in half to release the clip but as youve found out they aint much cop so... Im not going to use the clips that came attached.

[Anderoo]

Your totally right Anderoo the "problem" with release more ore less dissapears if you mount them on the front.I still dont like the way the arc of the rising arm during the first 90degrees of its potential upward rise is actually against the direction of the pull,however if this actually would/does cause a problem I doubt!

 

The line clip has a small "tag" on it so I found it best to split the bobbin head in half to release the clip but as youve found out they aint much cop so... Im not going to use the clips that came attached.

 

Thanks for that, I was hoping as much.

 

The line clips are rubbish - I'm currently trying to think of what to do (I'm sitting here surrounded by hundreds of bobbin bits!). All I can think of at the moment is somehow making the hole bigger (melt? drill?) and gluing in some gardner adjustable line clips. They're £2.50 each though which seems like a lot to me. The other option Rich suggested is to chuck the heads away completely and replace them with something decent, like the solar i-lite (on this page: http://www.jktackle.co.uk/acatalog/_Indica...;_Isotopes.html ). These are only £3.99 each and seem much better value than the gardner line clip. I have some already that I use for bobbins, and the black plastic bottom bit would glue into the hinge on the swinger well (it's a nice fit). Once that's done, you could add/remove weights and isotopes easily, and you'd have a good line clip.

 

I think I have a way of attaching the bankstick clip on but I'll try it before trying to explain it!

 

The final problem I have is sourcing the right aluminium tube.

 

It's good fun though - reminds me of the good old days of the closed season

[Dick Dastardly]

Totally agree its right "closed season playing" I really miss that. If you can get some old no longer needed PTFE monkey climbers they make good bobbins.Buying them can prove expensive but getting a PTFE rod is dead cheap and you can then cut and drill to the required size. I got some earlier this week and the company even cut it to size for me! I will post a link.

[Dick Dastardly]

Heres what I got earlier for some carp bobbins Im making but they do other sizes in the Ebay shop.

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...e=STRK:MEWNX:IT

[Anderoo]

I've made a decision on the line clips/bobbin heads - I'm getting rid of the ones that came with the swingers and replacing them with solar i-lite indicators. These are light, visible, have adjustable line clips, and I already own 3 and a load of the screw-in weights and isotopes, so they can all be reused when needed. I am going to get some small screws and simply screw the plastic base (which has a hole through it to allow for cord) into the plastic swinger hinge.

 

So that's bobbin head/line clip decided. I've also decided on how to attach the bankstick clip, and I'm confident that will work well. All I need now is to get some longer aluminium tube. Any pointers where this can be bought please? 3mm (I think) diameter and I need 3 lengths of about 2ft each.

[tincatinca]

Just got home after being up in Cumbria for the last few days. Anderoo, I think you may struggle a bit with 3mm aluminium tube both in terms of finding it in the right length and also in terms of rigidity. I tried playing with small diameter materials in fibreglass, aluminium, stainless and carbon fibre when I made the original telescopic arms but as soon as you went over about 12 inches in length they all started to waggle a lot and to be honest I think that you may probably need to look nearer to 6mm dia in either ali or carbon to get the rigidity you want and keep the weight down. I have been giving the subject some more thought as to how to keep the arm centrally aligned to the rod whilst at the same time being side mounted on the bank sticks so another batch of 6mm tube as been obtained and a set of small pipe benders ordered along with more brass rod, numerous plastic screws and a rear tool post for the lathe for parting off which should make things much easier to make. The 6mm tube from B&Q is ideal as it takes a 5mm tap in the end which in turn makes it a simple to make fit and fit an attachment for a bobbin. Hopefully will be able to have anotherplay about this weekend if the pipe benders arrive in time.

[Anderoo]

Hacksaw and Araldite, me. They're gonna rock

 

I've got an old brolly at home, if I can't find appropriate ali tubing I think I might just butcher it for spokes.

[tincatinca]

Hacksaw and Araldite, me. They're gonna rock

 

I've got an old brolly at home, if I can't find appropriate ali tubing I think I might just butcher it for spokes.

 

That could be your best solution. best of luck