Old Penn Squidder No Number

[Dominick]

Alan: I purchased the Alan Tani wrench.  It worked great.  Thanks for that.  I'm a big fan of the right tool for the job. 
I am going through some old reels that I acquired over the years and I am preparing to crack a Squidder that has no number on the side plate.  Since your tutorial on the Penn Squidders are numbered 140 etc. what can I expect when I take it apart?  Any cautions?  Will I be able to follow the tutorial you have shared on the
Squidder 145 for the Squidder I am ready to work on?  This is a great site.  Thanks again.  Dominick

[akfish]

You've got a 140, the original Squidder. It's insides are exactly like the tutorial. Have fun!

[alantani]

yup, they're all basically the same.  please let me know if you have any trouble.  alan

[Dominick]

Hi Alan:  No problem it went smoothly, except that the right side plate was frozen.  I used Liquid Wrench on it and left it overnight.  It still resisted but finally broke loose.  I will have to take it apart again when the drags i am ordering come in.  thanks for your response.  Dominick

[oldsquidder]

Alan: I purchased the Alan Tani wrench.  It worked great.  Thanks for that.  I'm a big fan of the right tool for the job. 
I am going through some old reels that I acquired over the years and I am preparing to crack a Squidder that has no number on the side plate.  Since your tutorial on the Penn Squidders are numbered 140 etc. what can I expect when I take it apart?  Any cautions?  Will I be able to follow the tutorial you have shared on the
Squidder 145 for the Squidder I am ready to work on?  This is a great site.  Thanks again.  Dominick

In searching for some info on old Penn Squidders I noticed this post. I have never seen nice photos of an original early Squidder save for what I have seen in old books. I would greatly like to see this one you mention without a number on the reel sounds very interesting.

Thanks, Charles

[Dominick]

Charles:  I see what you mean.  I did not mean that the Penn Squidder did not have a number.  I mean't that it had no letter designation, like 140L or 140H or some such designation.  The Penn I was talking about does have a number as you will see by the photos.  Dominick

[oldsquidder]

Dominick: Not a problem it happens to all of us at some time. Thanks for posting anyway. Just for the sake of conversation I am posting a few images of what I believe to be a very old Penn Squidder that I own.









Here is what I know about this reel: Chrome over Nickel Silver on frame instead of brass, no part numbers on any of the components save for the model # on sideplate, reel seat like the 155 Penns, handle is short with a oversized torpedo knob, spool is more slabsided with flanges less rounded than on later models, clicker spring with one rivet instead of two, dog uses a leaf instead of a coil spring, bridge pin is smaller diameter than on later models, handle balance do-hickey is of a different design, bearings are open face and the dust shields are marked with the words OIL and there are some extra wording on the right hand sideplate. This reel has seen a lot of fishing it really has been around the block and had layers of crud inside it. It looks like it was never serviced but at least he must have shot oil into it on many occasions because it was everywhere inside this reel. Unbelievably the bearings are still good and I intend to try fishing with it sometime soon. Charles

[Norcal Pescador]

Charles -
The spool on your reel appears to be plastic. You may already know this, but if you're going to fish with the reel, don't put line on it until you replace the spool. The plastic spools can't take the compression forces of modern line without blowing apart. An aluminum spool (29L-140) is your best bet. Love those old Penns!
Good luck with it.
Rob

[oldsquidder]

Charles -
The spool on your reel appears to be plastic. You may already know this, but if you're going to fish with the reel, don't put line on it until you replace the spool. The plastic spools can't take the compression forces of modern line without blowing apart. An aluminum spool (29L-140) is your best bet. Love those old Penns!
Good luck with it.
Rob

Rob,
Yes, it is plastic and you are right I wouldn't fish with this spool as it would be too hard to replace if broken. But I have fished many a year with plastic spools and never had a problem as I use a dacron backing and I don't use the reel to horse a fish in as I let the rod do the work. I have used both aluminum and plastic at different times and prefer the plastic for casting as it is lighter. Also I have a good supply of maroon plastic spools anyway just in case I do have one go on me.
Charles

[Norcal Pescador]

Wow, that's the first good report I've heard on plastic spools! I'm glad to hear it's working alright for you. Tight lines!
Rob

[Alto Mare]

Nice little reels aren't they Charles. I also have a few of those maroon spools and one of them is black in its black box, that pretty much disintegrated. It has to be before the 50's, that one is also syncronized. The Squidder is one of my favorite reels, I have a few narrow's (146) and a few with the  Accurate conversion. The weekest part that I noticed on these reels is in the right side plate. That little area that holds the dog spring snapped off on a couple of my reels in the past (you probably know what I'm talking about) . All and all I really like my Squidders , Sal 

[oldsquidder]

The weekest part that I noticed on these reels is in the right side plate. That little area that holds the dog spring snapped off on a couple of my reels in the past (you probably know what I'm talking about) . All and all I really like my Squidders , Sal 

My original 145 that I bought in the 1950's and fished for many seasons did just exactly that .......broke the post for the dog spring. Even though there was still enough of it left to hold the spring, I never liked that reel as much after that and eventually sold it for that very reason. I suppose I could have done something to fix it back then but to me that was surely a very poorly engineered part of that reel. The person I sold it too didn't seem to care and was glad to buy it anyway.

I have bought a number of these new do everything reels but the Squidder is still my favorite and works very well for me.