Ambidex bail arm.. is this right?

[Mr B]

Good morning Gents,
Looking at my Ambidex bail arm from the front..,. Is this how it was made or is it got a little bent along they way?

Thank you
Mr B

[Moley]

Does it flick across the spool without hitting it?

If all works as it should, leave well alone and just accept the eccentricity of the Ambidex design.

Personally it is the inherent strangeness of these reels that appeals. Plus if you get a good one they can be very reliable.

Having said that, most of the damaged reels that Fatty comes across are from people hamfistedly attempting an aesthetic repair for no reason.

Hence the initial question.....does the bail arm work okay? If so leave it alone.

Hope this is at least a little bit helpful.

As ever,....

Moley

[Watermole+]

As Moley says; if it works OK, leave well alone!

This rather odd design was J.W.Young's effort to produce a full bail-arm from a Half bail-arm, without infringing the Hardy Bros. patent, which still had time to run.
The chrome-plated steel wire was a bit fragile and "liable to derangement" (getting bent) which could cause it to stick on closing, but unless thus damaged, it worked fine.
If the wire part was bent, the chrome invariably cracked off and the wire rusted!

If you find that the bale arm does not close easily or fouls the spool when the latter is in the fully out position, a simple way to check is to first remove the spool then remove the screw and captive small circular part on the wire end, where it is attached to the flyer-or rotor, NOT the main arm/ spring end- and gently open and close the arm manually (from the spring end). The wire loop where the screw passes through should more-or-less stay central above where it is screwed on. If the position is noticeably out, or if it moves far out of place you can move the arm or tweak the wire until it is central, then replace the screw.

Hoping this may be of help..

wm+

[Nobby]

Looking at your photograph I'd say your bail arm is exactly as it was made. It's a 2FP by the way, 'flexible pick-up' sold with a number two size spool.

There does appear to be a little of the chrome loss Watermole+ mentions on the wire section. You could pop it open and clean that area with some mild abrasive like a Scotchbrite pad. This will gently remove any rust there and allow the wire to go smoothly into the tubular section of the bail.

As someone who has often run the line up through the rod rings only to find I forgot to open the bail arm I thought the idea really good, but Hardy didn't, they refused to let J.W. Young make it until the extended patent expired in September 1954.

Incidentally Hardy had already allowed the Ambidex to go ahead with an earlier breach of patent, that of the worm-drive for the rotor head and early Ambidexes have the Hardy patent number on them!

I'm told Hardy also wrote to the angling press remining anglers of their worm-drive patent, but I've never personally seen an example of it. Some where I have a picture of your reel in bits:

[Mr B]

Thanks Gents, thats great.
The bail arm dose close well and doesn't catch.
Hear it a photo of the bail arm open... yes, they are a little eccentric!
I have taken this one to bits and cleaned it up and re oiled etc.. lightly
Thanks for the photo... I should have taken one..
I haven't used it yet but plan to this season, looks a fun kind of real to use.

Thanks again

Mr B
Ps as a quick add on... what a fantastic idea, yes, forgetting to open the bail arm... just tried that.. it slid out nicely... "Fantastic!!!"