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Winston Newman New user Melbourne, Australia 25 Posts |
Hey guys, seeking some advice. I bought a metal key reel today to play around with, It has quite a decent amount of pulling force even though it only extends 70cm. Only problem is it's fairly noisy, I have a couple of thoughts on acoustically dampening it a little but I'd love to hear from anyone who has done this sort of thing before. First problem, the plastic spindle on the inside only shields the spring from one side of the metal casing, my thoughts on this are finding a thing piece of nylon such as one of those roll up chopping boards and cutting out a circle to cover the other side so the spring doesn't hit the exposed metal side. Thought two is adding something akin to a rubber grommet around the thread to reduce noise from impact on the casing. Also I feel like a different cord would be useful, it came with a fairly thick nylon cord, what do you usually use in reels? Finally when I am happy with it, I think taping some actual acoustic damping to the exterior of the case could only help.
Cheers, Winston. |
Bill Hegbli Eternal Order Fort Wayne, Indiana 22797 Posts |
You can just use a playing card cut in a circle, put behind the back of drum. Coat the spring, spacers cards with Vaseline jelly, it will make it smooth working and help to quiet the drum. For line, go to a store like Wal-Mart and purchase Nylon Clear Fishing line, on these reels I recommend at least 25 pound weight line.
The rubber grommet is a good idea, but will most likely slow the retraction down, but it can be used as a locking device as well, by simply twisting the line on itself, and the grommet held against the opening will hold the line extended. To release simply pull on the end of the line. Advice, never let the line snap back without anything on the line. It will cause the spring to break. Best reel for this is a brand called Key-Bak, made in the U.S. |
Winston Newman New user Melbourne, Australia 25 Posts |
Excellent, thank you for the advice. I don't think I ever would have thought to use playing cards covered in Vaseline. I would have thought the Nylon fishing line might be a bit reflective though, I guess the intention is to avoid people seeing it in the first place. I was initially thinking that darker braided fishing line which both has no spring to it and is much thinner for the same break strength.
The locking grommet idea I found after I posted this and it worked great. Also I was initially checking out the Key-Bak reels and they look great but I couldn't find them locally and stores that would ship them too me seemed rather expensive. Cheers, Winston. |
Bill Hegbli Eternal Order Fort Wayne, Indiana 22797 Posts |
You never mentioned what you were going to use the reel. Most large reels like this are used as a pull under your clothing. So the line is hidden under the arm and in the hands or by the jacket.
This is not the kind of reel for invisible thread. Finger reels originally used surgical breaded thread. Used mostly with silk through microphone or the unknotting silk known as Serpent silk. Magicians never liked the black thread because, they could see it. Kind of foolish, as they are inches from it, and audiences are 10 foot away, watching the magician perform a miracle. There is methods to help camouflage the nylon fishing line, but I have never needed it. |
Winston Newman New user Melbourne, Australia 25 Posts |
You are correct, I intend to use this as a pull, not for invisible thread. I haven't really decided what I actually want to use if for yet I just wanted to play around with one and see what I could do with it. You couldn't recommend some good literature on the topic could you?
The particular reel I found is also way to big to conceal in the hand anyway, even though I would love to be able to use it for silk through solid object or serpent silk I will have to acquire one more suitable in time. Cheers, Winston. |
Bill Hegbli Eternal Order Fort Wayne, Indiana 22797 Posts |
There isn't any information on fixing or making reels, I learned by purchasing many reels and taking them apart and combine different models ideas.
As for what to do with a reel, get Paul Diamond's video tutorial on Reel Magic. This is on the finger reels, but is applicable to your kind of reel. http://llepub.com/index.php?main_page=pr......s_id=545 These large key reels fit in my hand, and one dealer use to make them to be used as a hand reel. Just paint your reel black. |
johoyo New user 18 Posts |
The initially suggested non stick baking sheet will work as a dry lubricant system of discs or washers. Silicone sheet is available in various thicknesses, will do the same job and add some acoustic damping. Depending on how well your reel is engineered and its condition, you can probably make it less noisy by thoroughly cleaning and polishing its components; dirt, grit and rough surfaces all make a difference to the smoothness and noise. Inspect the edges of the spring spiral and you'll probably find nicks, highspots and roughness all of which can be easily polished out with fine abrasives like micromesh.
I'm not a fan of vaseline or grease packing in reels. The buffer/grommet spec will depend on the power and speed of your reel, but rubber grommets are cheap and easy to use. I've seen cork sheet, rubber tube and chamois leather used but why overcomplicate? |
Bill Hegbli Eternal Order Fort Wayne, Indiana 22797 Posts |
[quote]On Dec 17, 2016, johoyo wrote
I'm not a fan of vaseline or grease packing in reels.[quote] I would imagine you don't put grease and oil in your automobile either. The inside working of an automobile motor is highly polished, is it not? I have to disagree with you about everything you have written. No matter how polished metal is, it still needs lubricate to operate smoothly and not wear the metal done. Heat from use will do enough damage. I have seen a lot of very nice reels destroyed by people that do what they think over knowing about engineering knowledge. Some as me to fix them, and they are beyond repair. Where in my post, did I say to "pack" Vaseline in the reel? A very light coating will last a good 20 years. Recently I heard that sewing machine oil would be good to use as it is not suppose to stain the silks and rope. I opened one I have for repair, and it oil stains in puddles from someone using regular oil in it. It is caked up hard as a rock. It will be a real job to get the oil out. You are wrong about springs in reels being all nicked up, the only thing that will do that is people removing the spring and then trying to get it back in the casing. You have to know what you are doing to not damage the reel. Currently, I have 5 reels I am trying to salvage from people who there was no need for lubrication, no need to use the correct line, and the line was not invisible enough, and no need for playing card washers. Oh, and never operate the reel without a silk, rope, or gimmick attached to the line. |
johoyo New user 18 Posts |
So funny !
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