Article--Restoration of a Edward vom Hofe--Commander Ross--14/O

[Penn Chronology]

This is an experiment. My first piece of published work was in 2011. Ray Hodges aka "Superhook" bought a rough EVH Commander Ross--14/O big game reel. These are rare in any condition. Ray decided to restore the reel and I wanted to write about the restoration as Ray was going through it. The folks at ORCA were kind enough to publish the article in their bi-monthly magazine.

Since there are so many tutorials here, I figured there might be room for one more, so here goes::











That's it, hope you guys enjoy the article.

[Tightlines667]

Great stuff!

Somehow I knew you would have 'just what the doctor ordered'.

Thanks for sharing this here.  I enjoyed the read.  Now...
if I only knew where I could find an Edward Vom Hofe Commander Ross 14/0?

[Penn Chronology]

John,

Glad you enjoyed the article. Here is a picture of the reel after Ray got done with it. The published picture did not do it justice.



Good luck on your quest for a Commander Ross. They do pop up from time to time, if you have to ask how much they sell for, then you cannot afford one. They are big bucks. That is why I do not own one. The one that Ray restored was a very beat reel when Ray received it. He put many hours into that restoration.

[Superhook]

Here is a before photo .

It was a real let down to see the crappy looking weld job on the head plate side of the spool flange........probably how i managed to win the Auction. ( Weld was not shown or mentioned in the auction description...oh well .)



After a trip to the Machine Shop the Lathe Operator did a perfect clean up by just cleaning the weld off and none of the original metal . No heat distortion from the weld . BONUS.



All polished up and no ugly bird crap weld . Looks a lot better now .

[Penn Chronology]

A thing of beauty. You made your reel into a World Class Commander Ross

[Superhook]

Thanks Mike.    They are a beautiful reel and strongly built too.

To give others an idea of the value of a 14/0 , in May 2011 this one sold for  US$1600 at auction which grew to US$1960.00  including premium & the $100.00 to ship to OZ .

The spool fix was $100 and whatever the wet & dry and polish cost. The result , i think was good and to see Edward Vom Hofe's reel is a piece of mechanical Artwork to enjoy . I think i am lucky.

It was at the cheapest end of the auction prices for a complete 14/0 sold over quite a few years.  EVH 16/0's go about double that so i don't think i will be buying one of them. They are are substantially larger than a 14/0 .  If you keep looking you will find them cheaper and dearer over time. A 14/0 cradle reel with butt , no tip , sold for $US$2,200.00 + premium just recently .

The Commander Ross EVH's were made in 10/0 , 12/0  14/0 and 16/0 sizes with and without cradles  . The cradle options were available for an extra $30.00 on the 12/0 , 14/0 & 16/0 sizes  in the early 1940's.

You don't need a 14/0 to enjoy quality . The 621 series from 1/0 up are basically of the same design , beauty and strength  .

[Dominick]

Good article.  Thanks for keeping some of that history alive.  Dominick

[Penn Chronology]

You don't need a 14/0 to enjoy quality . The 621 series from 1/0 up are basically of the same design , beauty and strength  .

I agree, all EVH reels are superb works of mechanical design; but, even though I own a few of them up to 9/0, there is a little man in my head that says I do need a 14 or 16/0. I just cannot get that little brain brat to shut up.............

[Penn Chronology]

Good article.  Thanks for keeping some of that history alive.  Dominick

Thanks Dom. It is all about the history.

[Oceanreels]

Ray, VERY nice work.

[johndtuttle]

Beautiful job restoring, an inspiration to us all. 

[The Great Maudu]

That is an amazing polishing job Ray. The contrast between the brass and silver is the highlight for me.

[sdlehr]

Absolutely beautiful! I never would have thought that spool could have been returned to such a beautiful condition without replating. It is inspirational!

[Penn Chronology]

That is an amazing polishing job Ray. The contrast between the brass and silver is the highlight for me.

Absolutely beautiful! I never would have thought that spool could have been returned to such a beautiful condition without replating. It is inspirational!

It is the properties of Nickel Silver that makes it all worth while. Nothing polishes like German Silver. It polishes fairly easy and the results can be so rich and stunning. The only negative is the alloy is not always good. German Silver can be sort of a Pot Metal and the alloying elements that give it its high quality are sometimes skimped on by some makers. There is basically no set rules for Nickel Silver, so it can vary in quality. The vom Hofe reels are made from high quality German Silver, but, not all reels share that high quality. You know as soon as you start polishing, if it looks more like brass color than silver, you know the quality is low.

[The Great Maudu]

Is there a way to tell whether or not a reel is made with German silver?