This first installment of Up Close features a Q&A with Waterworks-Lamson reels co-founder, Ryan Harrison. Ryan and his partner Mark are more than just fly reel designers, as you will read below. They ARE the face of change in the world of fly fishing! - Enjoy

From left to right: Jen, Ryan, Dorienne, John, Mark

TCO: What separates Waterworks-Lamson from other companies on the market?

Ryan H:We’re a product design, or “industrial engineering” company. Product design is it’s own discipline that involves understanding how materials and design can create superior function in a product, as well as a more satisfying relationship between consumer and product. Think Apple. Yes, they are software designers. But through a relationship with IDEO (an independent product design company), they create a software-based product that has a totally different relationship to its user than, say, Microsoft has with computer users or Motorola has with phone users. That difference comes from Apple/IDEO’s discipline and orientation to industrial engineering. This difference in not only reflected in software user interface, but in hardware user interface, and in aesthetics. The total experience of an Apple computer or iPhone is different by design from its competitors. I hesitate to compare us to a company as impressive and successful as Apple, but this may serve as a good analogy for how we, and our reels, are different from others.

Our reels utilize proprietary materials in our drag system, materials that took nearly two years to develop. Competitive reels use off-the-shelf materials like cork, rulon and delrin. Our reels have just over 20 parts total, where other reels have 80 parts and more. Our reels are protected with a proprietary Hard Alox type 3 anodize finish; competitive reels are universally using decorative type 2 anodize. These are a few examples of how the discipline of product design leads to very distinctive products with meaningful user benefits.

TCO: What are the advantages of a sealed conical drag system over other systems?

Ryan H: Our drag system produces a smoother braking action from super-light settings to maximum torque; is fully sealed to protect from water, sand, silt; and is zero maintenance for the lifetime of the reel. Let’s break it down. These advantages stem from geometry and materials. Starting with the shape or geometry of our drag system: we utilize mated cones to provide the friction surfaces in the drag. By reshaping the traditional disk surfaces of earlier drag systems into mated cones, we were able to retain the same contact or friction surface area, but now have these surfaces occupy a smaller diameter. Think of two stacked orange “witch hat” traffic cones. Now imagine the hats spread flat. Same surface area, but the cone shape mates have a much smaller overall diameter. This is what we achieve in our drag. The advantage is that we have the same braking or stopping power, but because the diameter is small, we can practically seal this system in a cylinder and seal it with o-rings. A disk shaped system with the same braking power would be too large to seal. Having a sealed environment for the running parts of the reels is an absolute mandatory feature given the world of water, sand, silt and salt that a reel lives in.

The materials used in the conical drag also separate this drag design from others. Other reels use “off the shelf” drag materials such as cork, rulon or delrin. These materials were not designed as fly reel braking materials and so they don’t perform to our standards – each has liabilities, whether that be stick-slip properties, thermal issues, memory, etc. We chose not to use standard materials because we weren’t satisfied with them. Instead, we spent eighteen months experimenting and testing proprietary alloys. The result is the proprietary formulation of Teflon and delrin that we use for the male cone. The Teflon acts as lubrication, and in combination with delrin mated to an anodized female surface, produces a consistent and super-smooth braking action from lightest torque settings to heaviest. The materials in our drag are self-lubricating, they have no memory, they never wear out, they operate the same whether dry or wet with water, they don’t change with time or temperature. In other words, the materials provide superior function with no liabilities. When housed in the sealed cylinder, our conical drag is zero lubrication and zero maintenance for the lifetime of the reel.

TCO: What is the process behind “Hard Alox”, and what are the benefits?

Ryan H: Competitive reels out there in the market – regardless of price – are finished with a “type 2” anodize. In the anodize industry, this is called “decorative type 2”. And that describes the main attribute of this type of anodize: it’s pretty on the store shelf. You can make it shiny gold, bright green, red, fish patterns, the American flag, etc. And so it’s eye-catching in the shop, but as soon as you actually FISH the reel, the liability of decorative type 2 becomes obvious: it’s easily scratched off to expose the bare aluminum. Type 2 anodize is both thin, and made of soft material. It’s a really poor choice for serving the most important function of a finish: protecting the aluminum over time in the real world conditions of fishing. Why do other reels use this inferior finish? My speculation, from experience, is that 1) it’s easy to work with in production, 2) it looks good at the point of sale and 3) it’s always been the only option – why change?

On Velocity, Litespeed, Waterworks ULA and Vanquish models we uses a proprietary combination of mechanical preparation of the bare aluminum surface, chemical preparation of the surface, and then “type 3” hard anodize. In the anodize industry, this finish type is called “hard type 3”. In this type of anodize, contrasted to decorative type 2, the surface aluminum is converted to a much harder material and at a much greater depth or thickness. This combination of harder material and thicker depth results in a finish that is very, very difficult to penetrate. We have customers who have fished our Hard Alox reels for years in demanding conditions and don’t have a single scratch. This is exactly what the function of the finish is intended to achieve: long-term protection of the aluminum. We call our proprietary combination of mechanical preparation, chemical preparation, and hard type 3 anodize “HARD ALOX”. (The word “alox” refers to “aluminum oxide”.) It’s a significantly more expensive process, it is quite fickle, and offers limited cosmetic/color options, but it’s well worth it for the consumer benefit it provides over the life of the reel.

TCO: How is Vanquish different from Litespeed?

Ryan: Let’s start by identifying what’s the same:
- Both models offer “true large arbor” benefits
- Both utilize the same sealed conical drag technology
- Both benefit from Hard Alox finish
- Both are extremely light weight across all sizes

From that common ground, there are many departures. While the core drag technology is the same, the scale of the drag – or stopping power – differs by line weight at 8 weight and above. We have three different sizes of our conical drag system. The largest size is reserved exclusively for Vanquish 12 and 10 weights. Litespeed never scales up to this largest size. The intermediate drag size is used in the 10 weight Litespeed; and in the 8 weight Vanquish. The smaller line weights of both Vanquish and Litespeed use the smallest drag format.

The arbor on Vanquish is designed with a “V” shape taper to help guide line back onto the spool without line stacking in the corner. Litespeed has flat arbors.

Another point of difference is the reel foot. Vanquish uses a unique single-part foot that has two benefits. First, by being a single part we’ve eliminated risk of the foot separating from the frame under heavy load. The second feature is that the foot is flush to the frame, bringing the center of mass of the reel closer to the center axis of the rod. This reduces the pendulum and pronating forces that the weight of a reel exerts on the rod. Said simply, it quiets the reel, makes it feel lighter and reduces casting fatigue.

Vanquish also offers a removable stripping arm. In the 10 and 12 weight Vanquish, this stripping arm is made from stainless. Stainless is much less susceptible to structural deformation and line grooving. And by having a removable/replaceable stripping arm on all Vanquish reels, any damage due to dropping or line grooving can be easily and affordably solved by replacing only the stripping arm and not the entire case.

Vanquish, while using a Hard Alox finish, also benefits from a final process called “bright dipping” to give it a million-dollar gloss finish. All of which you can buy for $550-900.

TCO: You guys make what seem to be the lightest fly reels on the planet. Where do you see the evolution and what types of materials are you looking at to help you achieve these goals? (Can reels get any lighter, anything new on the horizon, carbon fiber, titanium, etc.)

Ryan H: I’m going to have to be cagey on this one, because we don’t want to show our cards to all the players at the table. Can reels get better? Yes, certainly. They can be lighter. They can offer more value for money. They can be more reliable and durable. Than can offer greater ease of operation and unburden the user from maintenance. They can perform better. Our designs, in particular, have advanced the standards listed above. Konic and Guru bring technology and design to the $100-200 price range that was never previously available. Velocity and Litespeed offer more for the money than any other reels at comparable prices (lighter, larger arbor, fully sealed conical drag, Hard Alox). The Waterworks ULA is still the world’s lightest machined reel, and has been since it’s inception in it’s first generation in 1996. Vanquish represents superior features and benefits never before seen on any reel at any price. But more can be achieved in all these areas and we’re constantly working to improve. With us, there’s always something new on the horizon….

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