Allcocks Feathero

[Benj1dog]

Hi i have an Allcocks feathero which is in a bag that could be the original, is there any way to tell.

The rod looks to be fibreglass, but not totally sure..

[Nobby]

That's interesting, as far as I can recall no Feathero in fibreglass is listed in the Allcocks Guides.
Your image appears to show a post 1964 rod with that transfer on it.


Edit: I've found it!

I don't have an Allcocks Guide for 1964 they are very rare, it seems, so the Feathero might have been introduced then. There was a very rare Feathero before, last made in 1963, which, as far as I know was the only hollow-built cane rod they ever offered. I've seen but two!

But there is no Feathero in the 1965 Guide, so possibly it isn't in the '64 either. Neither is it in the 1966 Guide after Noris Shakespeare took over. However...it IS in the 1965 trade-only Catalogue.

I have a copy, a gift from a kind TFFer, that has been altered by Allcocks for the upcoming 1966 season to reflect the huge reduction of wares from Top Tackle, the Cope-Alman amalgamation of Allcocks, Lee and J W Youngs and the massive influx of 'new' tackle lines from America.


The Feathero is to not continue into 1966, the entry had been ruled out in red ink, suggesting it may have had a very, very short production run indeed. If it didn't make the '65 Guide and isn't in the '66 Guide this suggests an abandoned project possibly?

Now here's the surprise.....you never stop learning when browsing these old books.....your rod is hollow tubular metal!


I had no idea Allcocks ever ventured into this short-lived phase of rods made from tubular metal.....1965 is a long time after the old tank aerial rods reputed to have been made by de-mobbed soldiers.


Rather than steel, the Allcocks rod is described thus:

The 'FEATHERO" 3-joint tubular alloy match rod, step-tapered butt and joint, hollow fibreglass tip, reinforced internal ferrules, agatine butt and end rings, full stand-off intermediates, long slender cork handle, finished gold with red silk whippings, partitioned bag.


A 281 12 ft. ...... 150/- each + 25/- P Tax.

A 282 13ft. ...... 157/6 each +26/3 P Tax.


OK your rod is black not gold.....I wish I had a 1964 Guide, I really do.....if it's not in that it might be a pre-production run prototype, sent out to dealers test reaction.


I fear it may not be very valuable, but it is without doubt very rare indeed. Who knows, a serious Allcocks collector might just feel he just HAD to own it.....?

[Nobby]

Just found this old reference too:

http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/gene ... items.html


It might be that the Finch signed rod is a cane rod though...the other two rods mentioned are and are, of course, most collectable.


I can find no reference as to who John Finch was though.

[Benj1dog]

Hi Nobby thanks for the reply, i have just got the rod out , the picture was one i took some time ago.

Looking at this more closely i think i would now say it is cane. The butt section is hollo, and very thin walled. You can see where the none ferrule ends the male parts, are plugged, with a pale brown substance. The unpainted section, have a speckled appearance, which also leads me to believe it is cane.

It is very light, so from your first post , i assume this the 1963 one you refer to.


The whipping, is red and gold


No sign of a signature though.

Thanks

[Benj1dog]

Hi again, still not sure, the ferrule sections, both male and female, are raised , and wider than the rod section. The unpainted section of the male ferules, which i described as speckled, seen closer up seem to have a woven texture in a diamond pattern. One section has a chip off the paint, and the same material and texture can be seen. This I think is why i had it in my head that it was a hollow fibreglass.

I have tried to take a close up picture of the diamond effect.

[Nobby]

Well that is strange!


That is indeed early hollow fibreglass, the 'diamond' pattern is the woven glass fibres. A few years later these rods would have been finished with a gel coat on top, usually coloured, and you wouldn't see the fibres.

Then your rod would appear to be an uncatalogued rarity.


Hollow-built cane, is just the same as built cane to look at from the outside...hexagonal, or six-sided. The difference is that the cane has been filed flat on the inside of the six strips, before being glued up, instead of being assembled from what is basically six triangles. It's just a bit lighter to hold.


Since you've mastered the camera so well, would you be able to upload an image of the transfer for us?

[Benj1dog]

Hi, you will probaby get two on past experience, but here goes.

[Benj1dog]

image.jpg

Was too big hope this works.

[Nobby]

Well it's certainly a Top Tackle product with that transfer and it is indeed a round butt section, so not cane.

If it is listed at anywhere it'll be in the rare 1964 Guide, otherwise it's unheard of...though definitely genuine.

I doubt any of us will ever see another one.

[Wandler]

What an interesting post... and again a wealth of info. from Nobby!