Have you had any issues with the plastic worm shaft from Shimano?

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SSS
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Have you had any issues with the plastic worm shaft from Shimano?

Post by SSS » Thu Jul 29, 2021 12:10 am

For a part with a decent amount of friction, i don't think plastic is a good idea, but i don't hear anybody having any issues. What's your experience with plastic worm shaft on recent Shimanos?
Last edited by SSS on Thu Jul 29, 2021 9:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

Slazmo
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Re: Have you had any issues with the plastic worm gear from Shimano?

Post by Slazmo » Thu Jul 29, 2021 12:19 am

Had one shear a few teeth when the clutch leg in a Chronarch E exploded inside mid use.

It's a sacrificial gear, I'd be happy if that went before anything else.

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Re: Have you had any issues with the plastic worm gear from Shimano?

Post by DirtyD64 » Thu Jul 29, 2021 4:31 am

I think he is talking about the actual levelwind worm, not the plastic gear with teeth in the sideplate. That being said, I think pretty much ALL reels have plastic gears behind the main the control the worm gear. Only a few have started the plastic worm though. Want to say some even use a plastic pawl.

I have been on here a while though and unless overlooked, I have never seen someone mention those parts going out.

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Re: Have you had any issues with the plastic worm gear from Shimano?

Post by Slazmo » Thu Jul 29, 2021 4:56 am

Ahh the worm shaft...

I haven't but I've kept it cleaner than any other reel I own that have the shafts made of plastic. Plus I'm running a dry boron nitride wax lube on it.

SSS
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Re: Have you had any issues with the plastic worm gear from Shimano?

Post by SSS » Thu Jul 29, 2021 9:57 am

Slazmo wrote:
Thu Jul 29, 2021 4:56 am
Ahh the worm shaft...

I haven't but I've kept it cleaner than any other reel I own that have the shafts made of plastic. Plus I'm running a dry boron nitride wax lube on it.
Yep typo. Meant to say the worm shaft made out of plastic Shimano has been using for a few years now.

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Re: Have you had any issues with the plastic worm gear from Shimano?

Post by Slazmo » Thu Jul 29, 2021 4:01 pm

SSS wrote:
Thu Jul 29, 2021 9:57 am
Yep typo. Meant to say the worm shaft made out of plastic Shimano has been using for a few years now.
Who knows what's happening in accountant land to force these changes. Lighter yes, but by how much, softer and smoother yes by how much and the list goes on and on.

But how inspiring is it? To me it's a bit like sway bar tie links being an engineered plastic than metal - ever disengaged a swaybay for testing?

I'll keep a hard chrome plated / aluminium hard anodised or even a straight aluminium (Daiwa) shaft any day for the sake of 3gr saving.

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Re: Have you had any issues with the plastic worm shaft from Shimano?

Post by DirtyD64 » Fri Jul 30, 2021 3:31 am

I agree with all this, even worried me bad when buying my Chronarch MGL, but I have never heard any issues. Just not sure that part gets high enough force to create damage. I know member Bantam has addressed it in the past, but it still begs the question, why do higher end models still get metal? Could be a new trend/push as resources get lower and lower. I know a guy from Sampo swivels who offered to build a design/invention for me and he said they were running behind on raw materials (I know the plastic levelwind fiasco was before COVID).

I have to take the neutral side on this argument, would really prefer metal, but plastic won't fully stop me from buying a reel I want either.

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Re: Have you had any issues with the plastic worm shaft from Shimano?

Post by Slazmo » Fri Jul 30, 2021 3:54 am

Do the USDM reels come with that 10 year warranty like ours do?

I mean consumer law here vs there is different but I guess you could rely on that somewhat. Shimano Australia (John Dunphy) promised parts for at least 10 years in the early days - now not so much out of 3 years do they have spares on popular models that get hammered.

But you can see why plastic injection is referred over CNC / milling etc - cost. Shimano Ja-Pan nearly closed down the Malaysian branch of its manufacturing (bikes and who knows what else in there?) recently due to what read costs...

I mean anyone looked into electrical discharge machining - costs of that would be sky high and so too tolerances.

The perfect reel exists but is limited to again costs, however we are paying good money for what we get. Well done to Daiwa on the ICAST 2021 win respectively.

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Re: Have you had any issues with the plastic worm shaft from Shimano?

Post by Just_Bass » Fri Jul 30, 2021 12:19 pm

I used all 4 of my Curado/Scorpion 70 hard since when it first came out. Caught a ton of fish, big fish with lots of run like 20lb carp, catfish. Cast a ton from light weight all the way to one oz lures even jig and frog fishing . The plastic worm gear still work as it should be. On the other hand, the one that I used for frog develop those geary super fast than others. I sold the newest one and scorpion with bearing replaced.
Worm gear is not tight tolerance and not a lot of load on it, I see nothing wrong with plastic material.

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Re: Have you had any issues with the plastic worm shaft from Shimano?

Post by reason162 » Fri Jul 30, 2021 3:40 pm

Just_Bass wrote:
Fri Jul 30, 2021 12:19 pm
Worm gear is not tight tolerance and not a lot of load on it, I see nothing wrong with plastic material.
Plenty of things to b*tch about in reels, Shimano/Daiwa/otherwise - plastic worm gear ain't one of them lol

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