Century 100B Drag Design Question

[CStan]

Does anyone know why the external drag shoes on the 100B are beveled on one side? Just got thru with a complete disassembly and cleaning of the reel and that was the one part that didn't seem to make sense. I reassembled the reel the way it was when I received it but from the schematic scans I have seen you can't tell which way the beveled ends should face. The reel works great after cleaning and oiling/greasing as specified in the manual.

Can't wait to get out on the water and give the reel a workout.

[CStan]

Well, looking at a 40th anniversary model 100B manual scan which showed a higher level of detail it appears that the bevelled ends of the front and rear external drag shoes should face the internal drag shoe. My reel appears to have been re-assembled wrong at some point in the past.

[AL]

That is good information. I wonder how many times they have been installed incorrectly.

[Huckster37]

I have taken apart several 100B's and found the beveled side facing both ways and some without a bevel. Johnson kept changing this drag in an attempt to perfect  it, but if you look at the later Johnson reels they abandoned it all together. I've tested these reels with the bevel both ways and noticed no difference in performance.