The document outlines the process of designing and 3D printing a fishing reel for a class project. Key points: - The project aimed to design, 3D print, assemble, and test a functioning fishing reel. - Students divided into groups focused on CAD design, printing, assembly, and reporting. They created a schedule and tracked progress. - An iterative design process involved sketching, CAD modeling, test prints, and refinements to create reel components that fit together properly. - Printing was done using PLA plastic with supports removed and parts sanded for assembly.

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ENGR 1332 Fall 2014
3D Printed Fishing Reel

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Table of Contents
1.0 Project Objectives
2.0 Conceptual Design
3.0 Schedule and Organization
4.0 Preliminary Design
5.0 Detailed Design
6.0 3D Printed Prototype
7.0 Materials and Post-Processing
8.0 Solidworks Assembly
9.0 Testing and Evaluation
10.0 Specification Sheet

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1.0 Project Objectives
When we had our first overall group meeting, we created the following six landmark goals to
help track our progress along the way:
1. Finalize CAD/Solidworks drawings by Nov. 3
2. Finish 3-D printing by Nov. 10.
3. Assemble reel by Nov. 12
4. Catch a fish and/or reel a brick from two story window by Nov.16
5. Complete painting by Nov. 19
6. Complete Report by Nov. 21
Although our original goal was to create a functioning fishing reel, we decided to push ourselves
and accept the challenge objective of catching a fish with the reel we created.
2.0 Conceptual Design
The Solidworks group initially reviewed the preliminary sketches (Figure 2.1) created by one of
the project managers before brainstorming and modeling to assess what must be done to best
achieve the team's objective

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Figure 2.1: Six Views of the Original Design
The original design of the fishing reel was thoroughly and meticulously created, however the
Solidworks group wanted to start from scratch to create a more detailed design that included all
the internal components. While the original design was a good starting point and may have been
appealing enough to a potential customer, it was more of a rough draft for the Solidworks group
to keep in mind while designing a much more intricate version and would not have actually
functioned in assembly because of missing parts. One of the biggest differences when designing
the external components was creating an even more aesthetically pleasing and professional look
for the reel. Informal brainstorming was used by the design group which allowed members to
create their own designs of the reel body for evaluation by the group. Many existing designs
were also evaluated to see what was good and what was not about real reels. It was fortunate
there were several fishermen in the Solidworks group to give insight on what a customer would
look for in the design. A compromise was made from group member’s designs and favorable
existing components from other reels that could be reverse engineered, to create a final design.
3.0 Schedule and Organization
The ability of each group to work together and finish their task on time was key to the overall
success of this project. The system that was developed (Figure 3.1) made sure each group had
work to do, but it was divided up evenly. By the nature of this design, some groups were front-
loaded while others were back-loaded, but all had to complete their task while staying on
schedule.

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Figure 3.1 Organizational Chart
The group in charge of finalizing the SolidWorks drawings had to complete their task first, as it
was key to all other parts of the project. This group worked to finish the drawings, and make sure
everything was measured properly and would be ready for the printing group. They were also
tasked with coming up with new drawings if one did not work.
The second group was responsible for gathering materials needed for all stages of assembling the
reel. Collecting materials needed such as sandpaper, paint, and screws were all included in this
group’s tasks. Project management had to communicate the needs of the other groups to this
group in order for them to gather the needed materials for assembly.
The third group was the 3-D printing group. This group had the laborious task of saving all of the
files as .STL files and printing out all of the parts of the reel. To ensure no problems later on,
several parts were printed multiple times just in case they broke.
The fourth group took the printed parts and cleaned them up, removing the support material and
sanding the parts down. After smoothing out the parts, the group painted and assembled the reel
into working condition.

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The fifth group was in charge of writing the final report. This group had to be in communication
with all groups in order to be able to write a good report.
The total project lasted just over two months. In order to know clearly when tasks needed to be
completed by, a simple Gantt chart (Figure 3.2) was made showing when the different groups
needed to have their task completed.
The Gantt chart was available to anyone upon request and helped keep everyone organized and
on task. The detailed chart also shows the dependence of one task upon the completion of
another task.
Figure 3.2 Gantt Chart
4.0 Preliminary Design
At the group meetings, we discussed the best ways of designing a working reel to be 3D printed.
The project managers gave different design options for the members to choose from. Once
decided, we drew a few different sketches to model in Solidworks. A large portion of the original
discussion stemmed from the idea of a “clicker” for the reel. A clicker is used to detect when a

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catfish is on the line, allowing the line to be pulled freely while making a loud clicking noise to
alert the fisherman that a fish is present. The only problem is clickers are only used for
baitcasting reels, and our design is a spinning reel. After further discussion, the group decided to
focus on making a very sturdy and aesthetically pleasing reel than to try to invent a new idea for
a spinning reel. Upon making a parts list, we decided to use universal gears from eBay for the
reel instead of plastic printed gears to ensure they would not break.
The first Solidworks models were created at this time, beginning with the outside and inside of
the drag cap (Figure 4.1) followed by the main body (Figure 4.2), which was modified multiple
times in order for the final assembled gears to fit correctly.
Figure 4.1 Outside (right) and Inside (left) of the Drag Cap
Figure 4.2 Early Design of the Main Body

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5.0 Detailed Design
At this point, the Solidworks group completed most of the original Solidworks models in order to
print them. This included a body that did not fully connect with the gears, so it had to be
reworked by the Solidworks group. Calipers were used for reverse engineering the model reel to
ensure the gears would fit the body and the outside of the body would fit with the main body.
The pre-printing assembly worked relatively well, needing a few minor adjustments with gears
and sizing of the bail to the body. Both parts of the reel handle were finalized and ready for
printing (Figure 5.1).
Figure 5.1 Finalized Parts of the Reel Handle

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6.0 3D Printed Prototype
The printing team used the files from the Solidworks team, starting with the drag cap. After a
few trial prints in PLA and ABS, the team decided to use PLA for the reel.
The drag cap pieces were printed first. A couple of practice prints of the cap were conducted to
get the support structure and temperature correct, then given to the sanding and painting teams
for practicing.
The idea for the main body of the reel was to print at .1 millimeters because many of the details
are very intricate. The problem with this idea is the office hours are only four hours, but the main
body print said it would take over ten and a half hours. As a result, .3 millimeters and 130%
speed were the settings used to print the main body, and it still took just over four and a half
hours. Pictures were taken after one hour, three hours, and after completion (Figure 6.1, Figure
6.2, and Figure 6.3, respectively)
Figure 6.1

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Figure 6.2
Figure 6.3

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While the main body printed, the secondary body and both handle pieces were printed with the
proper support structures included shown in Figure 6.4.
Figure 6.4
7.0 Materials and Post-processing
Materials gathered
● Sandpaper in various grits (80, 180, 320, 600, 800, 1000)
● Primer (etching, filler, seal, base coat)
● Paint (jet black krylon)
● Clear coat super clear krylon
● Universal spinning reel gears
● Used spool housing with bail
● Used spool
● Self-tapping screws (made the threads for the flat top screws in the final assembly)
● Body filler
● Dolphin glaze
● Filler spreader
● Flat top screws
● 3D printed parts
● Abu Gacia gear grease and gear oil
● Exacto knife with multiple attachments
● Dremel set from harbor freight
● Two digital 6 inch calipers
● Line
● Bobbers

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● Hooks
● Sinkers
● Worms
● Ugly stick catfish series rod
Post-processing
Once the parts arrived from printing team, the paint team inspecting the printed materials for
defect and measurements. During the inspection, one of the measurements in our original
printing of the reel body was slightly off and had to be reprinted and modified to meet the
standard specs. After the design was printed, the support material was removed using an exacto
knife with a chisel attachment, because this yielded the closest trim. After all parts were
trimmed, the paint team discussed about the best way to prep the surface for painting. They
decided on a technique used by car painting professionals to get the smoothest finish. At first,
the parts were sanded with a rough 80 grit sandpaper to remove any leftover support material
missed by the exacto knife. After the first sanding, the parts were then sanded with 180 grit
sandpaper to remove visible lines from the extrusion process. A light coat of body filler was
then placed over the parts that were to be visible on the assembly. The filler was spread with the
straight edge of a spreader to fill in all the large holes and imperfections in the printed material.
This helped the make the 180 grit sanding move quicker and require less paper to be used. After
the body filler, dolphin glaze was spread over the surface to fill in deeper scratches left by the
180 grit sanding and the smaller imperfections left by the printer. The dolphin glaze was sanded
with 320 grit sandpaper. Next, a filler primer was applied to the reel to fill in the small
imperfections caused by sanding the dolphin glaze to give it a smoother finish. After this, the
reel was sanded with a 600 grit followed by wet sanding with 800 grit and 1000 grit sandpaper.
The spool was the only metal piece painted and it was prepped with an etching primer to prevent
rust and bond paint to the bare metal. Next, a base coat primer was applied to the reel to create a
surface accepting of the base coat. Lastly, all the parts were all painted with jet black krylon
paint and then painted over with multiple clear coats.

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Figure 7.1 Filler Added to Dolphin Glaze
Figure 7.2 First Layer of Body Filler

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Figure 7.3 First Coat of Base
8.0 Solidworks Assembly
After the Solidworks Team modeled the parts to the reel, the assembly started. The parts were all
brought in to a Solidworks assembly file, these parts were made virtual. The main body was
fixed using a mate to plane tool, this was the starting point for further assembly. The gears were
then brought into the body using standard mates and mechanical mates. Standard mates were
coincident and concentric mates, while the mechanical mate used was a gear mate. This was the
most challenging part of the assembly for a number of reasons, the biggest being the oscillation
gear which controlled the movement of the spool. This mechanism was mated with a tangent
mate. The housing was then mated along with the spool rod to ensure the correct distance was

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achieved. The other parts such as the handle, reel cover, spool, and drag cap were mated with
standard mates. The screws were added from the Solidworks toolbox to complete the assembly.
Figure 8.1 Exploded View of Assembly
Figure 8.2 Drawing of Assembly

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Figure 8.3 Render Solidworks Assembly
Figure 8.4

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9.0 Testing and Evaluation
Once the reel was assembled, the entire team was asked to meet at a pond to test the reel and
complete the objective, catch a fish. Weather was cold, but the sun was high. The members at the
pond located sunfish sunning near the banks on the north end of the pond, so worms, hooks,
bobbers and sinkers were purchased and rigged up. The reel was spooled with ten pound test
fluorocarbon line and attached to an ugly stick catfish series rod. Figure 9.1 shows the reel with
line fixed to the rod.
Figure 9.1

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With patience came fish, as eight sunfish were hooked and reeled in using the reel, see Figure 9.2
and Figure 9.3.
Figure 9.2
Figure 9.3

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10.0 Specification Sheet
3D Printed Fishing Reel
Weight (lb) Volume (in³) Total Print Time (hr)
.875 5.75 x 8.25 x 6.75 6
Upgraded 25 pound drag, spiraled mount, single needle bearing for smooth reeling, and polished
bail for reduced friction.