Sparky's Reels

[Sparky]

Okay chaps,

seeing as my Palace thread quickly turned into a reel - based thread, I decided to create a seperate one here. :-)

I've had a look at the centre pin reel, I will post pics in a bit, but there are no marks or anything. A little corrosion but nothing too severe.

I've got a question about another mitchell reel. It's labelled as a 30J. Certainly not 301. I've looked at images of 301's and it certainly a J - or a very weird 1.

What do you make of it?

Sparky

[Loop Erimder]

I'd guess that it is actually a 301 with the J bit a slight mistake, I'm no expert

[Sparky]

Me too, although I was suprised that the 1 was finished properly.

Sparky

[Sparky]

Here are this pictures of the other reel. There is nothing marked to the top of the reel.

[Vole]

Open it up and see if there's a "D" stamped inside, on the backplate.
(The fly reel, that is!)
N.B. try to use a driver that really fits, so as not to damage the screw head in any way. If it's a good'un, this matters.

[SeanM]

My thoughts exactly. It does look remarkably like a Dingley.

[Vole]

Whoever made it, the clearance round the front plate is fine enough to make me suspect they were tasty! Malloch, perhaps? Were they in that league? (Actually, that may not be such a bad guess; if there's no Dingley "D", and if you pass through Perth on your way to Grandpa's (my Scottish geography's a bit shaky, it's been a while...) it might be worth taking it into Malloch's and seeing if they can identify it - big East-coast maker, it could be one of theirs.

Sparky, I think you've got keepers there; not to mention family history. Seek guidance before using the greenheart in anger, but I think the other three just need light maintenance and are "good to go".

Personally, I'd give the Palace a wipe-down (soapy water, rinse, dry off completely, then meths) followed by a fingered layer of varnish, but you don't want to lose any more ink from the inscriptions, so proceed with caution... then fish with them!

Any doubts about servicing the Mitchell, and Nobby is the chap to ask, but the guiding principle is to be aware of the existence of "shim" washers spacing the gears; they can be hidden by old grease, so actively look for them, note their positions, and take great care to replace each in its own place.

[Sparky]

Sure thing.

I tried to take it apart, but could get to the back plate as one screw behind the front brass panel has virtually no groove.

They are also fairly tight.

However, I will put it together again, and will take it to Mallochs, my grandparents live in Inverness so we'll pass Perth on the A9. I must remember to do the driving at that bit. When I'm driving, I decide where we're going! ;-)

Perhaps I should mention that it doesn't have any ratchet - or click. It just spins, which lead me to believe it wasn't a fly reel, but I've never had any experience with old fly reels.

Sparky

[Nobby]

On the subject of your early Mitchell, the one on the Forshaw's spinning rod, I think it must be a 3rd. version, which should have had primer paint.

You can look through these excellent images by Wallace Carney here:

http://mitchellreelmuseum.com/index.php ... &Itemid=72

There should be a serial number, but they are so often hidden by deep paint. The reel handle is black painted aluminium, apparently, replacing the earlier rosewood ones, and this reel was the first to have the 'boomerang' anti-reverse lever, so it can't be an earlier version.

One often finds these reels have spare spools with them from even earlier reels, for some reason. One of my reels from 1965 came with a spare spool from 1941! It's always interesting to use these images and inspect them.......

[Churchill]

Here are this pictures of the other reel. There is nothing marked to the top of the reel.

Hiya, it's not a Dingley shop reel.

It's a plate-wind trade reel.
Possible makers include Reuban Heaton, Slater, Smith & Wall, or one of the Redditch workshops.
Many late 19th Century makers made similar reels - named ones are becoming collectable.