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Piscario centrepins

Richard Isaacs said:
Only just seen this.
Yeah you can. I have repaired afew old magnesium motorbike cases in the past.
It’s A weldable, machinable, hideously expensive yet amazingly lightweight and strong metal.
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Ok, thanks for that Richard 👍.
I heard it somewhere that pure magnesium spontaniously combusted in oxygen.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
It’s a good point although I’m not 100% sure of the magnesium content in these reels. It might be the case that they are made with a higher mag content in the aluminum itself.
The reason I’m doubtful of these being pure magnesium is simply the cost of them and nothing else.
I’ve bought magnesium welding rods to repair the stuff and trust me when I say this, that stuff is crazy expensive.
You couldn’t buy an okuma reel for 2-300 quid if it was fully machined out of pure magnesium or even if it was twice that price

It is a lighter reel than the standard Sheffield as I’ve been told the weight differences which are reasonable and do warrant the cost difference but I’d say given the cost difference only being around 100 quid, the magnesium content or extra content won’t be extravagant.

I’m a firm believer in you get what you pay for in centrepin reels and can definitely tell the difference in performance between something that’s £100 and something that’s £500 but I’m not a believer in pointless bragging rights based on something that sounds cool.

Anyone here ever bought “titanium coated drill bits” over standard High speed steel?
They must be better right because it’s got titanium on them.
Utter crap…….. titanium wouldn’t last 5 minutes in comparison to plain HSS But as a nation we do love to splash out on a buzz word.
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ha feel for that one, buying drills at a building trade show!
 
wish I still had my bakerlite from the 50'S then I could join in .
An informative thread guys! All new knowledge is welcome!
 
I seem to recall that magnesium alloys had something of a reputation for being brittle . Back in the day when I had road going motorcycles, many tyre fitters would not use a tyre changing machine to change the tyre on magnesium alloy wheels as they feared cracking the rims , so perhaps this fancy pin you are discussing might not take too kindly to being dropped on a hard surface , perhaps someone could do a drop test ! For the amount of weight you save , I don't think the premium price is worth it , I will stick to my speedia , mordex Merlin , and for special occasions my Kenny Kendall centre pin .
 
Mike Hodgkiss said:
I seem to recall that magnesium alloys had something of a reputation for being brittle . Back in the day when I had road going motorcycles, many tyre fitters would not use a tyre changing machine to change the tyre on magnesium alloy wheels as they feared cracking the rims , so perhaps this fancy pin you are discussing might not take too kindly to being dropped on a hard surface , perhaps someone could do a drop test ! For the amount of weight you save , I don't think the premium price is worth it , I will stick to my speedia , mordex Merlin , and for special occasions my Kenny Kendall centre pin .
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How do you know the cost of a bowler reel isn't worth it unless you've had one, or at least handled one?
They certainly are not brittle, your just making ridiculous assumptions there.

Regarding speedia reels, i've had several, and imo the okuma bowler, or any of the okuma centrepin reels are leaps and bounds ahead of them in build quality or in use in any fishing situation.
I would wager the okuma reels are a much more robust construction than any of those you mention.

You also mention "premium price", well, the Kenny kendal reels are kind'a up there in the premium price bracket, and I think every Kenny kendal reel i've ever seen has had bent line lays and pitted bodies or a bent foot, or even all three issues!

I'm not slagging off your reels Mike, i'm just being realistic, and imo the bowler pin blows all three of those models away in every scenario by a country mile 😉👍.
 
Ian Woods said:
How do you know the cost of a bowler reel isn't worth it unless you've had one, or at least handled one?
They certainly are not brittle, your just making ridiculous assumptions there.

Regarding speedia reels, i've had several, and imo the okuma bowler, or any of the okuma centrepin reels are leaps and bounds ahead of them in build quality or in use in any fishing situation.
I would wager the okuma reels are a much more robust construction than any of those you mention.

You also mention "premium price", well, the Kenny kendal reels are kind'a up there in the premium price bracket, and I think every Kenny kendal reel i've ever seen has had bent line lays and pitted bodies or a bent foot, or even all three issues!

I'm not slagging off your reels Mike, i'm just being realistic, and imo the bowler pin blows all three of those models away in every scenario by a country mile 😉👍.
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Pure magnesium is a brittle metal Ian that’s just a fact but no body is slating the okuma bowler reel. Like I said i don’t believe it is pure magnesium and i don’t believe that’s a bad thing either.

No one can argue it’s light which at the end of the day is the whole point!
I can’t imagine you bought it because of the bowler endorsement.

Okuma quality is pretty good on the whole it’s not without its drawbacks though. I think the whole check system is pretty naff, and I think the use of Philips screws front and back to remove maintainable parts is pretty naff too. These should be something like a cap head really for both durability and aesthetics.
For me they are a bit bling too but that’s just my preference.

On the whole they are or were priced spot on. I don’t believe they are high end without addressing some stuff but they are a long way off low end that is for sure.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
Pure magnesium is a brittle metal Ian that’s just a fact but no body is slating the okuma bowler reel. Like I said i don’t believe it is pure magnesium and i don’t believe that’s a bad thing either.

No one can argue it’s light which at the end of the day is the whole point!
I can’t imagine you bought it because of the bowler endorsement.

Okuma quality is pretty good on the whole it’s not without its drawbacks though. I think the whole check system is pretty naff, and I think the use of Philips screws front and back to remove maintainable parts is pretty naff too. These should be something like a cap head really for both durability and aesthetics.
For me they are a bit bling too but that’s just my preference.

On the whole they are or were priced spot on. I don’t believe they are high end without addressing some stuff but they are a long way off low end that is for sure.
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To be fair, i'm not really botherd if the reel is alloy (it says it's magnesium on the box though), however, I am very much happy about it's weight, it feels so light in use and it gives line with the very slightest of flow.
Regarding the brittle robustness thoughts about the reel, a m8 of mine had one from when they first appeared on the market and he really does abuse his gear, i'd be surprised if he ever cleane9d his gear at all. He left his rods made up in a quiver and the reels would clap together as he walked! The worst thing that happened to his bowler pin was the anodising wore off due to his very rough skin on his hands caused by cement whilst doing brick and stonework.
I don't mind the ratchet switch being where it is as on most occassions I just stash the reel under my armpit when baiting up etc, and it only takes me a split second to operate it anyhow.
The okumas have some very nice little touches, one being the chamfer on the spool edge.
If I could only have one centrepin reel I wouldn't complane if it was an okuma.
 
Ian Woods said:
To be fair, i'm not really botherd if the reel is alloy (it says it's magnesium on the box though), however, I am very much happy about it's weight, it feels so light in use and it gives line with the very slightest of flow.
Regarding the brittle robustness thoughts about the reel, a m8 of mine had one from when they first appeared on the market and he really does abuse his gear, i'd be surprised if he ever cleane9d his gear at all. He left his rods made up in a quiver and the reels would clap together as he walked! The worst thing that happened to his bowler pin was the anodising wore off due to his very rough skin on his hands caused by cement whilst doing brick and stonework.
I don't mind the ratchet switch being where it is as on most occassions I just stash the reel under my armpit when baiting up etc, and it only takes me a split second to operate it anyhow.
The okumas have some very nice little touches, one being the chamfer on the spool edge.
If I could only have one centrepin reel I wouldn't complane if it was an okuma.
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For the hours you put in using them Ian there’s no argument that your going to know what works well and what doesn’t.

I don’t mind anodising coming off or wearing off eventually over time.
Shows it’s been used and not pampered.
 
While we are on center pins. I've got a Okuma Sheffield and the ratchet on it is very light, is that normal or does it need a new part?
 
Haydn Clarke said:
Yes. Far too many shelf queen c’pins out there.
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Yeah
I don’t abuse them but I’ll put them down on the ground if I have to
Mine do get the odd accidental dunk and knock.
I’ve caught them accidentally with my watch before and the result is usually a cosmetic mark somewhere. It happens if you use something enough 👍🏻
 
Richard Isaacs said:
Yeah
I don’t abuse them but I’ll put them down on the ground if I have to
Mine do get the odd accidental dunk and knock.
I’ve caught them accidentally with my watch before and the result is usually a cosmetic mark somewhere. It happens if you use something enough 👍🏻
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I think this is entirely true Richard. When I was into concourse cars,owners used tooth
brushes to clean the mud/ grass out of the tyre tread. That's when I gave up. These things are to be used fgs.
 
Haydn Clarke said:
I suppose it depends how you define very light Andrew, but my Sheffield’s ratchet is also on the light side compared with some other c’pins.
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You certainly couldn't ledger fish with it, even in the slowest of flows. Not like I want to but its very delicate
 
Andrew Richardson said:
You certainly couldn't ledger fish with it, even in the slowest of flows. Not like I want to but its very delicate
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The ratchet spring on my sheffield went weak, but that was after many years of use. It did break after a while of going weaker. I replaced it with a new one which was very stiff and that spring only lasted about 18 months! I replaced it with another one which is quite firm now. The same thing happened not long ago with my aventa and I replaced that with a new spring and it's a decent strength again. The springs do seem quite poor quality.
If you want a reel to leger in powerful flows the youngs river specialist will do the trick.
Better still, use a fixed spool reel.
 
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