Ultimate bobbin

[Dick Dastardly]

Isn't it just. Every time I look at this one I start wishfull thinking

 

I use that pic of yours as a screen saver!

[Anderoo]

I had a good play with the new swingers in the garden this morning. When they're set to be as sensitive as possible, they don't work very well at all! The line sticks in the line clip, and it's actually worse with the stainless ball clips than the plastic ones, oddly. With more weight they work very well, but again, much better with the plastic line clip. I find that a bit strange, I was hoping the new stainless ball clips would generally improve things. Ah well. I just need to try them for real now, and see if they're any better than the old ones!

[Rob Ward]

I had a good play with the new swingers in the garden this morning. When they're set to be as sensitive as possible, they don't work very well at all! The line sticks in the line clip, and it's actually worse with the stainless ball clips than the plastic ones, oddly. With more weight they work very well, but again, much better with the plastic line clip. I find that a bit strange, I was hoping the new stainless ball clips would generally improve things. Ah well. I just need to try them for real now, and see if they're any better than the old ones!

 

Have you seen the hinged pfte clips solar are doing now?

 

http://www.solartackle.co.uk/indcustom/lineclips01.html

[Anderoo]

Have you seen the hinged pfte clips solar are doing now?

 

http://www.solartackle.co.uk/indcustom/lineclips01.html

 

I've seen pictures, I haven't seen them in real life. They might help but I'm wary of buying any more line clips now! As long as the plastic ones are tight they work fine. Odd that the stainless ones don't work as well. The problem is mainly with drop-backs.

[tincatinca]

With not being able to go fishing for some time due to several problems at home I have managed to spend a bit of time looking at the problems associated with line release and line clips on long swinger heads. I have been intrigued by the issues that Anderoo has had with the line not moving freely through the line clip and have looked into the possible reasons why this should be. The most obvious thing is that whether the clip is made from plastic or metal the line runs in an area which is tapered which in itself can lead to possible trapping with the line working its way into the vee which can be further exaberated dependant on the tension that is applied to the line clip. This tends to be more pronounced when setting the swingers to a light loading as Anderoo has found and when the tension on the line clip is set to its minimum resistance. One possible solution would be to reduce the angles on the vee for the line to run on as . I have in the past butchered some Fox mk11 swingers for the heads with the gate latch mechanism and these have worked well but you also have to put a bend in the wire to ensure that you get the right angle to ensure that the line releases cleanly when the swinger is at its highest point but at the same time make sure that it does not release prematurely. If you look at the principle applied to monkey climbers and could re produce that in a bobbin head then that would be ideal as the line release is excellent which is what I am currently playing about with although the main problem is keeping the weight down whilst at the same time ensuring that it works over a wide range of loadings which can be considerable with long arm swingers. The principle of a spring loaded captive pin is very common and widely used in engineering and in principle would be fairly simple to make but calculating it all out is another thing. At the same time I will be modifying some existing line clips so that the line has clearance in the area that it runs but making sure that the surfaces are smooth and polished and if successful should be within most peoples capabilty.

[Anderoo]

With the swingers set with some weight they work fine, as you say it's when trying to use them set delicately they don't work as hoped. I reckon you're right, a line gate mechanism, or something like Den's springloks, should work.

 

As I only use mine for bream (plus whatever tench, etc. come along) with bolt rigs, I don't think it's an actual problem though. I think the reason my MK Is worked so well was that they were quite heavy and not counterbalanced! I think what I'll do is try out the MK IIs and see how they perform, and then I might make some MK IIIs that are a cross between the two - the 6mm ali tube arm from the MK Is and the hinge mechanism of the MK IIs, with the ability of a counterbalance to be added if necessary (but in reality I doubt I'd ever use one).

 

I'm looking forward to what you come up with though Paul!

[tincatinca]

With the swingers set with some weight they work fine, as you say it's when trying to use them set delicately they don't work as hoped. I reckon you're right, a line gate mechanism, or something like Den's springloks, should work.

 

As I only use mine for bream (plus whatever tench, etc. come along) with bolt rigs, I don't think it's an actual problem though. I think the reason my MK Is worked so well was that they were quite heavy and not counterbalanced! I think what I'll do is try out the MK IIs and see how they perform, and then I might make some MK IIIs that are a cross between the two - the 6mm ali tube arm from the MK Is and the hinge mechanism of the MK IIs, with the ability of a counterbalance to be added if necessary (but in reality I doubt I'd ever use one).

 

I'm looking forward to what you come up with though Paul!

 

I think that it would be beneficial to persevere with a counter balance as it gives you total control over the weighting of the arm and is easy to make fine adjustments. I am now getting my head into gear on spring sizes available and spring rates then it is off with a balance to work out the maximum and minimum loads that can be applied to the swingers which will in turn give me some indication of what forces are involved when pulling the line free.

[Dick Dastardly]

Don't know if this would be of any help-

 

On the rear drop off alarms I use for piking I had a problem with braid "sticking" in the jaws of the original Gardner adjustable clips that were fitted.Basically the braid would "stick" in the jaws wen you got a drop back and not slide through like the mono I had previously used did.

 

A fellow PAC member Steve Bown (who makes Billy's Backbiters) showed me a simple solution.Basically you convert your Gardner clips by filing down the ridges on the jaws,"half" drilling a hole in one side of the jaw and inserting a bead in the recess you have made.Braid doesn't stick at all! Might help with the "sticking" problem your having?

 

You can get Gardner Adjustable "type" clips on Ebay for 99p and convert therm yourself or get ready made ones from Andy.I will post a link to his stuff.

 

http://billysbackbiters.blogspot.com/

 

Just noticed Steve no longer lists the ready converted Gardner Clips on his site! But Im sure he would sort you out if you ask but they really are easy to do yourself.

Edited February 1, 2011 by BUDGIE

[tincatinca]

Don't know if this would be of any help-

 

On the rear drop off alarms I use for piking I had a problem with braid "sticking" in the jaws of the original Gardner adjustable clips that were fitted.Basically the braid would "stick" in the jaws wen you got a drop back and not slide through like the mono I had previously used did.

 

A fellow PAC member Steve Bown (who makes Billy's Backbiters) showed me a simple solution.Basically you convert your Gardner clips by filing down the ridges on the jaws,"half" drilling a hole in one side of the jaw and inserting a bead in the recess you have made.Braid doesn't stick at all! Might help with the "sticking" problem your having?

 

You can get Gardner Adjustable "type" clips on Ebay for 99p and convert therm yourself or get ready made ones from Andy.I will post a link to his stuff.

 

http://billysbackbiters.blogspot.com/

 

Just noticed Steve no longer lists the ready converted Gardner Clips on his site! But Im sure he would sort you out if you ask but they really are easy to do yourself.

 

 

Yes Budgie, it is working toward the same principle of reducing the vee so that the line is not entrapped in any way. I can visualise it working on the plastic bobbins but with the Solar stainless ball bobbins where you have in effect two beads, it still requires a bit of material removal to get rid of the vee problem. It really does act like a wedge particularly with braid as it is softer/less dense than nylon

[Dick Dastardly]

The strange thing though Paul is that the stainless ball type clips werre meant to stop all of this with braid!