The First Drags and Pflueger

[coastal_dan]

Understood, I agree, like you mentioned it seems to happen in many business ventures.  I would also be a little peeved having my name attached to something my heart wasn't truly vested in.  Thanks

Dominick - Haha!

[Reel 224]

Joe, the Plueger family have been looking for years for the long last heirs to the Plueger fortune.    The search expired in 2015.  Close but no cigar.  Dominick

I wasn't aware of that in the first place, and when it come to inheritance I never was one to get excited about it. We were a poor family and I was never enamored by money anyway. It would be interesting to find out if there is some connection there though, I do know that my mothers family were bakers and owned a Delicatessen in Jersey City in the late 1800s and that's about all I know. By the way cigars were my favorite when I smoked    

[mo65]

I just love these educational posts about the vintage gear...great stuff! Here's a pic showing an early drag set up Pflueger offered on the Supreme called the "Cub Handle". It actually works pretty good. 

[Penn Chronology]

just love these educational posts about the vintage gear...great stuff! Here's a pic showing an early drag set up Pflueger offered on the Supreme called the "Cub Handle". It actually works pretty good

I believe the Cub Handle was sold separately by Pflueger. It was not installed on the Supreme in the factory; but, (there may be models with the Cub handle that I am not aware of ?). Great add on that could be put on any Pflueger Bait Casting reel that would allow it to mount. It was very similar to the old Rabbeth Drag, except it was much smaller.

[mo65]

just love these educational posts about the vintage gear...great stuff! Here's a pic showing an early drag set up Pflueger offered on the Supreme called the "Cub Handle". It actually works pretty good

I believe the Cub Handle was sold separately by Pflueger. It was not installed on the Supreme in the factory; but, (there may be models with the Cub handle that I am not aware of ?). Great add on that could be put on any Pflueger Bait Casting reel that would allow it to mount. It was very similar to the old Rabbeth Drag, except it was much smaller.

Oophs! A typo...I should have said "shown" on the Supreme. I think I've seen these handles on the Akron too.

[Tightlines667]

I recently aquired a Miesselbach Sea Line 75 reel which has a drag system that was operated by a unique handle-mounted thumbscrew cam.  

Background


This patented drag adjustment mechanism was only offered on the Sea Line #75, and the New Neptune #85 reel models from 1931-1935 period.  Both reels were developed as a result of the depression, and the desire to produce inexpensive all around saltwater reels.  Tue SeaLine was offered at $11, and the New Neptune cost only $7.50.  The Sea Line reel switched to a star drag ca. 1935, and the #85 was dropped from production in 1935 as the result of excessive failures of its Bakelite spool.  This reel model was replaced  New Triton #90.  Only 423 of these were manufactured over a 5 year period, and by 1940 Miesselbach saltwater reel production ceased, and in 1941 the company disbanded.


Operation


Basically the drag system on this reel was typical of reels of this period.  

This included a bronze gear sleeve with a 9 tooth ratchet that engaged steel antireverse dog when the reel was thrown into gear (via a Kopf-style bridge, eccentric cam and lever).  

The sleeve had a flat-honed surface which butted against a hard fibrous drag washer housed within a shallow recess on the bottom of the heat-forged bronze main gear.

The main gear was free to spin about the sleeve, and deep upper recess which housed a second drag washer.

A thick top hat keyed to the gear shaft fit within the recessed main and rode directly on this upper washer.



There was a unique steel cam washer keyed to the gear sleeve above the top hat with 2 taller/peaks at 90 deg. to the handle arm.  

A thick steel washer rode above the cam washer, and there was a thin steel washer directly above it.



The thick german silver cam lever rode on top of these washers.  It was loosley connected to the gear shaft, but had a lever the extended outwards along the handle arm (directly above it), with a recessed hole that married to a screw.  The screw was threaded through the handle arm and it had a coin-edged german silver dial with markings above.  Pressure could be increased on the drag stack by tightening the handle screw.  This pushed the lever downwards.  Increased downwards distance by the screw, increased the angle of the lever which causes the metal washer to move downwards against the cam (which is cut to accept the angled lever and washer).  The keyed gear shaft, and cam washer keep the handle arm and lever aligned so that pressure can be maintained, and adjysted via the screw.



This seems to me to be an interesting and somewhat ingenious drag adjustment design.  It is curious that it was discontinued after a short time (~5 years), and replaced by the more popular (and simplier?) star drag.  This unique handle arm drag screw design was never used on any other reels or by any other manufacturers.

Hope that makes sense?

John

[mo65]

That's top shelf cool John...thanks for posting!

[sdlehr]

Very cool, John. This drag was just another way of applying pressure to the drag stack. I understand its short lifespan, it's not better than the star drag.

Sid

[Alto Mare]

Very nice John, thanks for posting.
Here is a couple of shots of my Meisselbach, this one is missing the eccentric lever:






Sal

[Tightlines667]

Very cool, John. This drag was just another way of applying pressure to the drag stack. I understand its short lifespan, it's not better than the star drag.

Sid

Whether or not the design is better may be up for debate Sid.  The success of the star drag system is without a doubt unquestionable.  So everyone who used it must have considered it better in some way, shape, or form.  But if you ignore its popularity, and widespread use, some other patented methods of applying and adjusting pressure on a drag stack housed in the main gear, may be worth exploring.

The adjustment on this system is much 'finer' then that afforded by a threaded star, and the markings provide a quick reference.  The use of a lever to apply pressure to a cam washer, seems to me to actually takes advantage of basic physics here.  The pressure applied at the end of the lever is amplified at the top of the stack.  The 2 reel models that used this drag only produced 4-10lbs of drag or so, but I see no reason why this system couodn't have been used with affect on larger reels.  The commonly encountered.. star binding on the sleeve due to high heat would not occur here.  It, like many of the Miesselbach designs, was more complicated though.  

Simplicity, and ease/cost of manufacturing won out during the era of prolonged economic depression leading up to the war.

I do wonder where this system, and others, might have been employed if General Industries Co. and the A.F. Meisselbach & Division had not been dissolved.

The history of the Miesselbach saltwater reels, and the company's connection to Cozzone, and possibly Ocean City are interesting to me.*

*It is widely accepted that Pliny Catucci was good friends with Mr. Cozzone and it is likely that his thinking and advice fed into the development of Miesselbach's saltwater line of reels.  The later Cozzone-Ocean City connection then begs the question as to whether or not there was a Miesselbach-Ocean City connection at some point?

Let me provide a bit gleaned from Phil White's Miesselbach books (please excuse any mistakes, yhis was a quick-n-dirty recollection).

Some more Meisselbach History...

The Miesselbach saltwater reels went through 3 eras.

First era (1910-1922)...

Gus Miesselbach's one great passion was surf fishing and he aimed to develop top quality surf reels that bested the revered Julius Vom Hofe reels of the time.  He He must have believed his company's designs were superior since the asking prices of his saltwater models were nearly double those of Vom Hofe.   Pliny Catucci, who worked for Meisselbach since ca. 1900, designed and patented many of the features of the saltwater line of reels.  By the time the company moved to Newark NJ, the FreeSpool Surf reel had been through 4 different versions.  4 other models (Deep Sea, Marco Tarpon, Neptune, & Tournament Surf) were added in 1911, 1912, and 1916, and 1918 as well.

Second era (1923-1929)

This era saw the reduction and refinement of the saltwater line of reels to include 3 models (Neptune, Triton, Surf).  Production of the saltwater reel models during the Newark factory era increased.  We know 5,205units of these 3 models were produced during the first 2 years (1922-23) alone.  

Third era (1930-41)

The financial uncertainty of this era led to decreased production, and using up all of the remaining parts stock.  Production of the popular Neptune reel ceased in 1932, and the Surf in 1933.  Two more cost effective models, the Sea Line, and The New Neptune emerged in 1931.  The fancy handle arm drag adjustment was dropped on both models in 1934, and a new model (New Triton) was introduced in 1934.  Production numbers from 1931 to 1935 were 1139Sea Line #75 reels produced, and 919 total New Neptune #85.  

Despite shifting the focus to more cost effective reel designs (in the hopes of increased production, decreased unit price), total production of the remaining 2 Ohio Saltwater reel models decreased significantly to a mere 434total units in tye 1935-41 period.  

Total production of the 4 Ohio Saltwater reel models from 1931-1941 period was 2,857.  This may be in the 15-30% range (>10,000 estimated) of the total number of saltwater reels produced by the company during the previous decade.

The End or the Beginning?

In a twist of irony...
The Miesselbach reel company was eventually merged with its saltwater reel competitors Vom Hoff, and Coxe under the Bronson Reel company (who, by the way, largely discontinued saltwater reel production).

The economic depression took its toll on the more expensive reels and the companies that had designed and produced them.  

Pflueger and Ocean City, and their much larger production and diversity of reel models, weathered this period much better, but the reel winner in the saltwater reel game was Penn.  They figured out how to offer more for less.

John

[Tightlines667]

Very nice John, thanks for posting.
Here is a couple of shots of my Meisselbach, this one is missing the eccentric lever:






Sal

Sal,
I have one of those as well.

This is the Free Spool Surf #50, which is the final version of the most popular saltwater reel produced by Miesselbach.

It was manufactured from 1918-1932.  The later Ohio-produced reels (such as yours) substituted Bakelite for the hard rubber on the endplates.  This model features a throw off push button on the headplate, and pulling the crank inwards re-engages the drive gear.  It also has the popular quick Take-a-part mechanism, and the Miesselbach-specific automatic drag controlled by the button of the tailplate rim.  

Seems Gus was obsessed with the idea of an automatic drag located on the tailplate end of the spool.  It had tyevadvantage of only engaging when the spool was rotated backwards, and it automatically disengaged when cranking the spool forwards. 

There were >1800 units produced during the 1922-23 period so it was likely the second most produced Meisselbach saltwater reel (after the much smaller Neptune).

Thanks for sharing!

John

[Alto Mare]

Thanks for the info John.


Sal

[Penn Chronology]

Great history lesson here. These old companies had great designs that they were sharing with each other or stealing from each other on a regular basis.

They have very rich history back to the turn of the 20th century and even before. Excellent research and development and finely made products. Penn came along in the heat of the Depression with a new idea. Make a simple product that could be sold to the masses. The other makers like Ocean City and Pflueger tried to compete in the saltwater industry but their products were more costly to make. Ironically, Penn was the new kid on the block and outlasted them all. Funny how that happened, especially concerning Ocean City. Their company history began under the Ocean City name in 1923; but their parent companies go back into the 19th Century. They even trained Otto and then he leaves and destroys them in the market place. That was really rude!!!  

[oc1]

Thank you for the write-up, history and photos John.  A great addition to what was already a great thread.  Makes you realize that the star is just one way to skin a cat.

A question for you guys on the Surf 50 tail plate drag.  This is a cast control drag, right?  Not a fish fighting drag?  Is the drag slider putting pressure on the clicker ratchet, the spool shaft or is there a special drum for the drag?  Also, is it a all-or-none thing or can the pressure be adjusted.

-steve

[Tightlines667]

Thank you for the write-up, history and photos John.  A great addition to what was already a great thread.  Makes you realize that the star is just one way to skin a cat.

A question for you guys on the Surf 50 tail plate drag.  This is a cast control drag, right?  Not a fish fighting drag?  Is the drag slider putting pressure on the clicker ratchet, the spool shaft or is there a special drum for the drag?  Also, is it a all-or-none thing or can the pressure be adjusted.

-steve

Great question Steve!

The drag option was available on several different saltwater models over the years, and varied slightly from model-to-model.  The basic concept was to provide an antireverse tied to a simple drag on the tailplate side.  The simpliest one I have is on my Neptune.  There is a honed steel disc on the tailplate side of the spool.  Then a composite drag disc that rotates freely, then a metal disc with 2 teeth at 180 deg. apart.  The throwoff switch on the tailplate rim activates a dog through a series of springs that will catch the outter disc when the spool is rotated clockwise/line is paid out.  The disc stops but the spool can rotate against a set pressure/friction on both sides of the drag disc.  The drag is basically preset at a given tension, and csn either be on or off. 

The larger surf 50 has a series of 3 metal discs with fins on them  (maybe to dissipate heat) with drag discs sandwhiched between.  This reel produces nearly 3Xs the drag of the smaller Neptune.