Ultimate bobbin

[essox_lucius]

No, don't sling 'em - will be worth a fortune one day!

 

I've just found some new ones actually on the West Midlands Angling Centre site (WMAC) under the 'Specimen/ Pods' section .......two monkey climbers and all the bits for £9.99!!

 

Least someone still sells them....

 

 

im buying them monkey climbers were awesome but due to companies pushing new less effective inovations forgotten

[Dick Dastardly]

He'll be eaten by a shoal of bream!

 

Just out of interest everyone, why swingers? I'm not argueing they'd be good but I'm interested in what you all think the benefits are. I'm still not sure if I can be bothered to make some you see!

 

Rich

 

 

Same as Anderoo, Rich it seemed to be the easiest optiuon to avoid being blown about in strong winds.I liked the "bike chain" bobbin "cord" idea but just couldnt find a light enough chain at the right price that I liked.

 

Oh BTW I tried some 4mm Carbon tube and have to admit that Paul once again is spot on and the 6mm metal tube is the best solution.

[Dick Dastardly]

im buying them monkey climbers were awesome but due to companies pushing new less effective inovations forgotten

 

 

Do you know what I think your about right! The original "monkey climber" a la Ricky Gibbinson was spot on and all the "problems" with them were not present with the original home grown versions.It wasn't till the commercially produced ones with their small needle bores actually came in that the problems began! Might go a bit retro this coming season if I cant get the swingers sorted!

[Rusty]

Do you know what I think your about right! The original "monkey climber" a la Ricky Gibbinson was spot on

 

The wind hasn't changed much since then has it? My only experience of monkey climbers is my weighted sqeezy bottle top threaded over a knitting needle, seemed to work ok.

[tincatinca]

Been playing about quite a bit with the monkey climbers over the last few weeks and from testing carried out so far I am finding that the cheapo ones off e-bay work very well when a bit of additional weight is added.

 

 

 

I certainly think that a monkey climber works best in the vertical position rather than slanted as it creates the least amount of friction and the reason that I think the cheapos work well is that there is very little contact area as opposed to some of the older/more expensive types where the hole for the needles ran the whole length of the bobbin. I will definately be giving them a try in the spring. Managed to spend all weekend in the workshop playing with the swingers again and have now come up with the swingham mk5 which is a slightly shorter and sinplified version of the ones I made previously but with some improvements on the fulcrum pin which now screws into the clamp block which negates any possible problem of it coming out. I really could do with a miller as it takes an absolute age the make the clamp blocks as there is a fair bit of filing involved. Also shortening the arm has reduced the size of the counterbalance weight. Just need to modify the originals now to take a screwed in fulcrum pin then the jobs a goodun.

[Anderoo]

swingham mk5

 

Very good!

 

I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone's indicators in the spring! From the high tech and very carefully thought out right down the other end of the scale to, erm, mine Mine are nearly done BTW, I'll put some pictures up once I've finished them off. I've attached the bankstick clips and they give a good sturdy fit. All that's left is to araldite the plastic screw-in bottoms of the solar bobbins into the hinges (once that's done, anything from Solar will fit) and glue some 6mm aluminium tube lengths onto bits of the existing ali tube for the arms. The only things that are holding me back are (1) I have to go to B&Q to get the 6mm tube (and that's in an annoying place to get to) and (2) any spare time I have is spent chub fishing!

[tincatinca]

Swingham mk5 now completed apart from attaching a bobbin. This is quite a bit reduced in size from the ones previously shown and I am still debating whether to apply a bend or not as the offset is minimal. Once a bobbin is attached I can set the rear weight so that the arm is in neutral balance and remove any excess arm from behind the rear weight. This will enable a wide range of settings with both front and rear weights being fully adjustable. The clamp block slides over the bankstick (in my case 15mm dia) and is locked in place by 2 locking screws.The movement of the arm can be set up or down by means of two adjusting screws and after playing about with several ways to attach the bobbin, I have found that the most effective way is to use a stainless split ring which goes through a small hole drilled in the base of the bobbin and clipped to a small brass mount which is located at the end of the arm by a screw. Most bobbins have a 2BA thread and I am currently modifying some by shortening them to take a 15mm betalight plus a solar ball line clip. This should give a nice balance to the set up. I am quite pleased with the results although it has taken what seems an age to get to this stage do take quite a while to make but hopefully this will be the last version. You will see from the picture where I am holding the mounting block that it is quite compact which is much better and neater than previous versions.

 

 

 

 

 

[Steve Burke]

A quick word of warhing. Some of the indicator heads on the market aren't very good for our purposes as they can't be adjusted properly for thin lines. It may be worth testing them in your local tackle shop before buying them. The Gardner ones though are fine, and are the ones I use.

[poledark]

Springloks work even with 2lb BS line

 

Den

Edited February 22, 2010 by poledark

[Kappa]

Springloks work even with 2lb BS line

 

Den

 

How much are springlocks?

 

Rich