Reel Construction, Graphite Vs Die Cast Aluminum Vs Extruded/machined

[piscicidal]

Every die cast part I have ever designed...Magnesium, Aluminum or Zinc Alloy, stress relieving has been achieved by heat treatment (annealing) and not through mechanical means. I'm not even sure you can work harden some of these die cast formulations. If your experience is different, Catt, I would love to discuss it via IM.

Regarding "die casting" versus "casting"...the method I am discussing is "die casting" and this process does result in voids (we specify as "porosity defects"). The difference between this and the "casting" process is in the magnitude... For die cast parts, we have a pretty rigid methodology to ensure the integrity of the part and ensure we don't ship parts with excessive voids. Standard procedure is to check 6 sets of 5 sequential castings at intervals of 1/2 to 2 hours. Parts are checked for defects by either sectioning or xray.

[Ima Bass Ninja]

FYI on the pq reel

Than you for contacting Bass Pro Shops. We we state machined aluminum on this reel, we mean that it is made from a solid block of aluminum. I do hope this information is helpful.

Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.

Best Regards,

Vicki

Bass Pro Shops

Customer Service

1-877-732-2723

[BigMoneyGrip]

FYI on the pq reel

Than you for contacting Bass Pro Shops. We we state machined aluminum on this reel, we mean that it is made from a solid block of aluminum. I do hope this information is helpful.

Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.

Best Regards,

Vicki

Bass Pro Shops

Customer Service

1-877-732-2723

I still find it hard to believe that it is machined out of a billet of aluminum. It sound like the wrong tems are being used. In fact, a billet aluminum frame would have to be the most inefficient way to make a frame for a low pro reel.

Ninja, this isn't dirrected towards you.

[Ima Bass Ninja]

I still find it hard to believe that it is machined out of a billet of aluminum. It sound like the wrong tems are being used. In fact, a billet aluminum frame would have to be the most inefficient way to make a frame for a low pro reel.

Ninja, this isn't dirrected towards you.

No prob man. My question to bass pro was this:

"I have a question regarding the listed manufacturing process of the Pro Qualifier casting reel. It states that it is a "machined aluminum frame". Does this mean that it is machined from a solid block of aluminum or is it die cast and them machined to specifications such as the extreme series of reels?

Thank you"

And I posted their reply.

[NorcalBassin]

Very interesting fellas... feels like I just sat through a 20 minute lecture learning about the differences.

[guitarkid]

No I mean extruded, that is how it is described in the literature advertising the reel, here is a short clip by Hank Parker describing the reel, he describes the frame as ".... x frame extruded aluminum ....."

#!

pretty cool, I have no idea how they would do that, but still pretty neat.

-gk

[Catt]

6061-T651

First digit - Alloy type

Second digit - Modification of alloy

Third & fourth digits - Purity of aluminum

T651 - Solution heat-treated followed by artificial waging

Prestressing - The intentional creation of permanent stresses in a structure for the purpose of improving its performance under various service conditions. Example - Aircraft

[Catt]

Back to the subject at hand I have friends who guide Specs & Redfish with these Abu reels and report zero problems.

I have 2 Shimano Cardiffs which have a one piece Diecast frame and after 10 years in both fresh and salt water zero problems.

[piscicidal]

pretty cool, I have no idea how they would do that, but still pretty neat.

-gk

The basic process flow for an extruded aluminum part is: extrude -> slice -> cnc machine -> bead blast -> anneal -> anodize. (actual process flow is ~30 steps and requires multiple CNC banks, but you get the point...) As Catt mentioned before....all aluminum parts (be it casting, die-cast, forging, extrusion, etc..) require CNC machining as one of the finishing steps. In the case of a complex, 3d "extruded" parts such as this reel frame, the actual profile is quite a bit different than the final geometry and the individual parts require ALOT of machining. The extruded cell phone I designed, the initial extruded blank had ~4mm wall sections which were later machined down to 1.2mm wall sections.

The extruded blank has very little resemblance to the final part....the extrusion is just one of the many processes the part goes through and essentially replaces an initial rough machining process. As mentioned before...I think that with a complex parts like this, there is little real world advantage to creating it via an extrusion process. It is much more expensive than die casting and requires thicker wall sections (i.e. more weight). IMO, I think the decision is more marketing driven than anything.