Finished Alma

Introduction

A very nice C. Alma Baker two speed reel that was sent to me for a complete overhaul and service

Stage 1

There were several issues with the reel that needed addressing. Sticky spool. very rough gear change system and too much spool end float just to name a few problems I found

Stage 2

The support pillars for the leather brake pad were buckled and one of them had broken on the base of the lug

As to be expected the insides of the reel were very dirty and the grease was impregnated with grit and sand

Stage 3

I believe this reel is one of the prototype reels Hardy made for testing and my research indicates it was put through its paces of Santa Catalina Island on the west coast of America. Why a prototype you may ask; well when I removed the ebonite and Duralumin end plates I found a lot of drilled holes, some of them threaded, which indicated several attempts had been made to ensure the correct positioning of these plates. Another vital clue is in the construction of the reel body. On this reel there is a raised dovetail platform on the frame to accommodate the dovetailed foot. Every Alma I have seen has the foot screwed directly onto the frame and there is no indication of a dovetail fitting. This makes sense because producing a raised dovetail involves a lot of work and cannot simply be turned on a lathe. If it was turned there would be dovetails on all of the pillars and these would need to be removed involving more work. So in my opinion Hardy opted for the simpler solution of screwing the foot directly to the frame on later models

Stage 4

The finished reel after the rebuild and testing