New board request

[sdlehr]

I don't know if there is a better place for this post.

I know this is a reel repair/maintenance site primarily, but secondarily we are all things reels, and tertiarily(? is that a word?) we are all things fishing. There are a lot of Penn enthusiasts here, and, dare I say, a few collectors as well. I'm proposing a new discussion board primarily for information pertaining to dating vintage Penn reels. This is information that isn't easy to find the way it is currently scattered about the site. For me it would be nice to have a resource where one could go to find information about chronological changes that came out with each reel or reel family as they evolved over the years. IF this gets set up right it could end up being a valuable reference source for a lot of people.

So, first, is there interest? I'll put out my name to moderate if a moderator is needed. I don't have a command of the information; so if Ray or Mike or Ted or John are interested in moderating I'd be fine with that (that is not meant to be an all-inclusive list, it's just the guys that come to mind first). After a few years it might be possible for someone who just bought a Penn Long Beach with a particular type of side plate and handle, clicker, etc. to go to a Long Beach discussion and find the criteria for that reel to date it's production to a relatively narrow time frame. It's possible that I'm way out in left field and this isn't feasible. That would be something I'd want to know now. I think maybe flow diagrams would be a good way to organize the information; one flow diagram for each reel model. If you're not familiar with flow diagrams I can provide an example.

If there were a way to separate out each model, so that we can have cumulative contributions to chronological information for each model, with multiple contributors, well, that would be a valuable resource for many collectors such as myself that are just starting out and need help.

I think some discussion out to occur about whether we should try to do this, as well as what might be the best way to set this up. Likely there will be a bit of trial and error involved. This is something that is an obstacle for me at times; I get a reel and I know it's a vintage model and I want to know when it was produced, and for now the only way I have to get that information is to read for hours and hours hoping I find the information I am looking for or post pics and description and ask others for help. I find this information confusing, because what may be true for one family of reels may be to a little different for another. I know there is a lot of ambiguous information out there for a lot of reels.

So I'm hoping to open up a discussion regarding the last paragraph and what people think about trying to develop this sooner to help keep AT.com on the cutting edge of reel husbandry!

What does everyone think? I'm especially interested in the folks that know a lot about this - would you like your own section to be able to help the rest of us to understand what you do and how you do it? And would it be nice for someone to be able to come to this section in a few years and run through a flow diagram and be able to date the chronological age of their reel?

Please let me know what you think of this idea...

Sid

[alantani]

done!

[sdlehr]

Thanks!

[Dominick]

Sid, good idea.  How do you propose to do this?  Perhaps we can use some of the information in Mike's book.  To start for example we might put something like Penn Senator 1/0 manufactured from date to date.  Changes over the years etc.  Dominick

[sdlehr]

Sid, good idea.  How do you propose to do this?  Perhaps we can use some of the information in Mike's book.  To start for example we might put something like Penn Senator 1/0 manufactured from date to date.  Changes over the years etc.  Dominick

I don't know, Dominick. Do you think a post started for each model would work, so there was one post that ran to eternity about each model and included all the info on that model through the years? Most of the time the age won't be known when first posted, so it won't be so easy to know where to put it if it's done as you propose.

Suppose there are separate posts for each model. You know where to go to research previously-asked questions. You post up pics of your reel with any questions not previously answered. After a few years it might be possible to go through each thread (one for each model) and make a summary of what changes happened when for that model.... and that's the makings of another book.... or two..... It might be possible to make a flow diagram for each model to arrive at the likely production date at the end. There will be exceptions and parts replaced on some reels that will make for interesting discussion.

Does that sound feasible? I'm open to all ideas. Now would be the time to organize....

Sid

[swill88]

I think that a caution may be in order to avoid anyone merely uploading published material to a post.

Maybe a lawyerly statement from Dominick?

Steve

[sdlehr]

I think that a caution may be in order to avoid anyone merely uploading published material to a post.

Maybe a lawyerly statement from Dominick?

Steve

As long as the information is not presented verbatim I think it's ok. It's not like we're not doing this now, it's just a different place to do it. And a place primarily to do just that.

Sid

[FatTuna]

I'm not a collector but I'm always really interested in learning the history behind reels. There have been so many different changes made to Penn reels over the years. I support this idea.