All New V6 Design!
PLEASE READ and agree to the following CONDITIONS:
I like to print the reel in PLA. I have also printed them in ABS. Nylon and PETG work also. The design and clearances were optimized for PLA and ABS, other filaments may be different.
These files are standard STL files that can be opened in your slicer application. I like to use KISSlicer but most any slicer will work.
The reel weighs in at 45 gms / 1.6 ounces. It is 3" in diameter and designed to hold up to a 5 wt line with backing.
Please consider donating to my work. Donators will be able to download their files immediately using the link emailed or by logging into their account here. Otherwise, I have to manually email the files to you and depending on my work and travel schedule this can take several days. If you have not receive the files in 3 days, please email me to confirm.
1) a $5 donation: the STL files will be emailed immediately without delay
2) a $10 donation: includes 1 and also includes STEP files for all parts
The normal STL files I provide for free are lower resolution files in order to make the package small enough to email. They are perfectly fine to make good prints but if you would like to create very high resolution meshes (STL) to print, you can do so with the STEP files and a CAD application. The STEP files also allow you to modify or customize the design and include a special bonus - a insert for the back plate that you can modify with your own design, text or logo to customize your printed reel.
Posted by Eric on 12th Nov 2017
Had my eighth grade students print and assemble this. Simple and straightforward. Also, there is a lot of ways to customize it.
Posted by seabass on 3rd Jul 2017
Printed out the reel and glued it together. It was a breeze to print and the instruction were very clear. Everything fit together very well and I cannot wait to actually take out the reel and fish with it. Thanks for giving away your hard work!
Posted by Denton on 14th Apr 2017
I work with a lot of mechanical engineers and figured one of them could help me print this out. One of them has a Utilimaker 2+ (using Colorfab PLA/PHA) and was really excited to put it through it's paces. Right away it was apparent that this is very well engineered for printing. As the pieces come together they fit like a glove, far better than we were expecting from a 3D printer or from plastic, and it's not the printer, it's how well designed these parts are. Fantastic.
After it was all assembled we were in awe at how smooth it spooled and how well the asymmetric click-paw worked. There is very little play in any parts. Really impressive work.
Not only is it under $5 to print, it's about 1/3 the weight of a 3-5 weight reel!
This will be my goto on my 3wt and I'll probably print up another for my son.
Posted by Noah on 24th Jan 2017
I got this thing printed and before I had it spooled up, I was fairly impressed. It had a decent click to it and it was fairly smooth. The performance of this reel on a rod blew me away. It fit 100yds of 20lb dracon backing and a 6 wt fly line. It did even more than I ever expected, and I caught a 2.5 lb hybrid-striped bass (wiper) on it. The reel handled it like a champ. This design is absolutely amazing and I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to get into fly fishing or simply expand their arsenal.
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Thanks Noah, glad you like the design and reel! A lot of work and refinement went into it and more is yet to come!
Cheers,
EC