Anyone tried DIY spools? $29-$40 BFS spools!

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silversix
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Anyone tried DIY spools? $29-$40 BFS spools!

Post by silversix » Mon Dec 28, 2015 5:00 pm

Just came across these while seeing a guy on youtube who've ordered one. A BFS spool for a Ryoga1016 weight in 8.71g w/o bearings and only $39... Is this some cheap Made in China crap that explodes while casting or is this something that should be considered?

Video with said spool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-d37dK ... 3922427561


Site its sold at: http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?sit ... eedQuery=n
Last edited by silversix on Wed Dec 30, 2015 10:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

adam lancia
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Re: Anyone tried DIY spools? $39 for a BFS spool.

Post by adam lancia » Mon Dec 28, 2015 8:15 pm

I have a couple en route for my TD-Z/Steez, I'll post a review once I get them. It won't be an on the water review though, that'll have to wait until June... :doh:

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Re: Anyone tried DIY spools? $39 for a BFS spool.

Post by Cracker » Mon Dec 28, 2015 10:06 pm

Looks like they are the same spools.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-DAIWA-STEEZ ... SwfZ1WZXQs

Thanks for the link on Aliexpress!

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Re: Anyone tried DIY spools? $39 for a BFS spool.

Post by sorrychow » Mon Dec 28, 2015 10:34 pm

Anyone ever bought from Aliexpress? Might try the T3 spool.

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Re: Anyone tried DIY spools? $39 for a BFS spool.

Post by IlliniDawg01 » Tue Dec 29, 2015 12:22 am

Well looky there... that is my distributor from the Chinese Air Spool thread. He was only selling bulk on alibabba before unless you contacted him directly to request a quote for single spools. It appears he recently converted to aliexpress for individual sales. My feedback from alibabba was transferred over as well. I'm not sure why he lowered the price by $20, but good for us. Get em while they last at that price.

The spools themselves haven't been tested much on this forum but they will be soon. As for Alliexpress, it is very safe. Think of out like Amazon. Shipping can be painfully slow (over a month) or crazy fast (less than a week). Seems to be hit or miss.

Good find.

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silversix
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Re: Anyone tried DIY spools? $39 for a BFS spool.

Post by silversix » Tue Dec 29, 2015 1:01 am

Some1 needs to review one fast!!!!! :crying: For that kind of price (looks nice as well) i'm very interested in trying one.

Not sure if you guys saw but there's a video of that guy using the reel to throw 2.5g+ lures and it seems to cast really well. Replace the bearing with a pair of HH Air BFS and we may have a winner here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_mDGRF7wV0

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Re: Anyone tried DIY spools? $39 for a BFS spool.

Post by 665 almostevil » Tue Dec 29, 2015 1:06 am

silversix wrote:Some1 needs to review one fast!!!!! :crying: For that kind of price (looks nice as well) i'm very interested in trying one.

Not sure if you guys saw but there's a video of that guy using the reel to throw 2.5g+ lures and it seems to cast really well. Replace the bearing with a pair of HH Air BFS and we may have a winner here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_mDGRF7wV0

x2

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Re: Anyone tried DIY spools? $39 for a BFS spool.

Post by daiwafan » Tue Dec 29, 2015 6:17 am

Got a red Tatula spool coming. Gonna use it for what I normally fish this time of year, let's call it heavy bait finesse. I am using 1/8 oz jigs with small trailers or 3/16 heads with 4 inch hula grubs to catch smallmouth in New River. Supposed to have shipped from Mrpao on this site yesterday so I should have it shortly.

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Re: Anyone tried DIY spools? $39 for a BFS spool.

Post by IlliniDawg01 » Tue Dec 29, 2015 8:30 am

silversix wrote:Some1 needs to review one fast!!!!! :crying: For that kind of price (looks nice as well) i'm very interested in trying one.

Not sure if you guys saw but there's a video of that guy using the reel to throw 2.5g+ lures and it seems to cast really well. Replace the bearing with a pair of HH Air BFS and we may have a winner here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_mDGRF7wV0
Does Hedgehog make a 3x11x4 bearing? I couldn't find one. I saw 3x10x4 and 5x11x4

These spools have 3mm axles on both ends.

This guy just popped up on AliExpress this week:

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product ... 01258.html

I might have to buy a couple to go with the 2 spools I already have just in case.

DaveJ

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Re: Anyone tried DIY spools? $39 for a BFS spool.

Post by silversix » Tue Dec 29, 2015 9:22 am

IlliniDawg01 wrote:
silversix wrote:Some1 needs to review one fast!!!!! :crying: For that kind of price (looks nice as well) i'm very interested in trying one.

Not sure if you guys saw but there's a video of that guy using the reel to throw 2.5g+ lures and it seems to cast really well. Replace the bearing with a pair of HH Air BFS and we may have a winner here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_mDGRF7wV0
Does Hedgehog make a 3x11x4 bearing? I couldn't find one. I saw 3x10x4 and 5x11x4

These spools have 3mm axles on both ends.

This guy just popped up on AliExpress this week:

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product ... 01258.html

I might have to buy a couple to go with the 2 spools I already have just in case.

DaveJ
I'm not sure about HH. I was also eyeing those bearings, pretty damn cheap and look very nice. But are they any good? No idea. I bet you they're very noisy if running dry (noisier than a pair of bocas/dry).

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Re: Anyone tried DIY spools? $39 for a BFS spool.

Post by daiwafan » Tue Dec 29, 2015 10:47 pm

My spool for the Tatula is out for delivery from my local post office. Looks like I will have it later today.

For the purpose of comparison I just took my stock Tatula spool with flouro line loaded on it and weighed it on a scale to four decimal places in grams. It weighed 30.2843 grams. The main frame less spool and side plate is 185.8571 grams, and the side plate is 21.9478 grams. The total reel weighs 238.0892 grams.

Looking forward to weigh the new spool with and without line to compare to the stock one. I have to think that there will be a significant weight reduction with the new spool plus the fact that it holds significantly less line.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the goal with this reel is to cast relatively light but not truly BFS baits. I have other reels to cast really light stuff when I want to. I am hoping that the spool will allow better pitching with baits in the 8 to 15 gram zone, and also turn what is already a decent skipping reel into a monster.

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Re: Anyone tried DIY spools? $39 for a BFS spool.

Post by Aaronb » Wed Dec 30, 2015 1:40 am

I think you can buy the bearing spacer for a PX type R from Daiwa for about 2 dollars and then use the bearings made for that reel with these spools.

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Re: Anyone tried DIY spools? $39 for a BFS spool.

Post by daiwafan » Wed Dec 30, 2015 2:20 am

It's here.

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Re: Anyone tried DIY spools? $39 for a BFS spool.

Post by silversix » Wed Dec 30, 2015 5:24 am

daiwafan wrote:It's here.
FULL REVIEW IS NEEDED!!!! We're waiting :sick: . I always wanted to try my rypga1016 with a bfs spool but there's none on the market that i've found, only the shallow SV spools that aren't good enough for tiny lures. Hoping this one will do. Let us know if the stock bearings are good or crap and if the casting distance improves with other bearings such as HH/Boca (if you have em).

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Re: Anyone tried DIY spools? $39 for a BFS spool.

Post by daiwafan » Wed Dec 30, 2015 6:01 am

Well I got the spool and just by looking it would hard to distinguish from a T3 air spool except of course the size and extended pinion shaft. The workmanship appears to be excellent.

I placed the spool in a Tatula that had already been equipped with air BFS bearings and spooled her up with some 10 pound flouro then went to the local lake to give it a whirl. I put on a 1/8 oz jig head with a twin tail grub and made several casts. I am pleased to say that the spool performed as I hoped. It starts up very easily just like all the other BFS oriented spools I have, which include both megabass versions for a Steez, a t3 air and a presso. I then put on a 3/16 jig head with a 5 inch Hula Grub. This bait is definitely heavier than what most would call BFS but it is the heaviest bait that I'm likely to throw for winter smallies and also one I like to skip around boat docks from the boat. Once again the spool handled this bait admirably casting, pitching and most importantly to me skipping. The way it cast was very mindful of my Steez with a megabass honeycomb spool. This is the reel that I have been using the most recently while fishing in the river.

All in all I am very very pleased with the spool and will likely get at least one more for another Tatula that I use primarily when fishing from someone else's boat. Normally when I fish from my own boat I take my best stuff since I can lay everything on the deck and make sure nothing gets scuffed. When I go in another's boat and have to use the rod storage by the passenger seat I am more inclined to take reels that it wouldn't bother me, as bad, to get scuffed up.

After fishing a while, without any hits I might add, I left the lake and weighed the spool on the same scale as I weighed the stock one. It weighed 22.1296 grams and that is packed full of 10 pound red label. In fact I really have the spool a little too full, negating the weight savings to some degree, but it is still just over 8 grams or 27 percent lighter than stock.

Right now I would have to say that my hat is off to the company that makes these spools. The performance is there just like some vastly more expensive spools available from other vendors.

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