a wooden reel

[alantani]

from my friend, brad shirakawa.  this was made during wwII, at a relocation camp in jerome, arkansas. 

Hey Alan
Ever see anything like this? Might be one of a kind, at least among the Japanese American community. Made in Jerome camp by Yoshimi Nakahira, 1944. Guy had time on his hands.  I gave the crank a spin, it works. Not sure how heavy a fish you could land with it. Or if it was ever used.

I'm going to send the photos to Densho's archive soon. If you have any comments, thoughts about how some guy in camp made this, I'm happy to add those to the captions for the photos.

Or if you know of anyone in your community who might know something about wooded fishing reels (!), lemme know.

[alantani]

wow!!!!  i'm certain that it is indeed a one of a kind fishing reel.  this would be a "direct drive" reel, meaning that the "spool shaft" goes straight out the handle arm.  every turn of the handle gives you one equal turn of the spool. there would be no bearings for the spool shaft, no gears to increase the retrieve ratio, and likely no braking or "drag" system.  to slow down a fish, the only thing that you could do is put your thumb on the spool and put pressure on the line.  it is likely that this reel was never fished.  if it had ever been clamped to a rod, you would see dents in the soft wood on the reel foot. 

during the war, the most common fishing line used in this country was cotton linen.  it was basically sewing thread.  monofilament line was made of nylon, developed by dupont in 1938. it was stiff and difficult to work with.  the other line that was used was dacron, developed in the 1950's.  i'm going to guess that the line on the reel is cotton.

of course, a reel is of limited value without a rod.  split bamboo was a popular material.  very strong and very flexible.  good quality homemade rods were actually possible to make.  line guides could be made of bailing wire.  hose clamps could securely attach a reel to the rod at the bottom.  heavy cord made an excellent grip for the rod.  i've attached a photo of a possible wire line guide for a rod. 

getting back to the reel, i'll bet that all it would take is an apple crate to provide the pine wood, screws and nails.  then a pocket knife, a screwdriver and a small hammer might be all the tools you would need.  a bottle of wood glue and a can of varnish would be nice.  to make a rod, a single piece of bamboo,and a light spool of bailing wire to make the line guides. take sewing thread to wrap the wire guides to the rod, more varnish or glue to cover the thread wraps the and the split bamboo rod blank. wrap the butt in heavy cord to make the top and bottom grips of the rod, then add some hose clamps to secure the reel to the rod.  spool up your reel with sewing thread.  make hooks from sewing needles. use old nuts or bolts for fishing weights.  then dig up some worms or catch a few crickets. 

mmm, mmmm!  fresh trout for dinner!!!!  alan

[oc1]

That guy was not only handy with tools, he was imaginative.  That is definitely folk art of the finest kind.

[Brewcrafter]

Thank you for sharing.  That is a beautiful piece of both workmanship and history. - john

[foakes]

Wow!

Out of one of the stupidest & darkest decisions in American history —- this wooden reel probably belongs in the Smithsonian.

Best, Fred

[Crow]

Lots of talent went into that!

[alantani]

as a kid, i saw a movie with burt lancaster, called the birdman of alcatraz.  i remember he made a cage for a canary from a wooden crate that originally contained fruit.  given enough time, i'm certain that many of us could reproduce this reel.  there is plenty of talent on this website!!!!

[Midway Tommy]

My good friend Dr. John Elder is a master at fabricating wooden reels.

Here's a couple of his examples:

[jtwill98]

master at fabricating wooden reels

What a relaxing hobby and he's very skilled at wood working to boot. Very nice work!

[oldmanjoe]

I like it ,nice simple design .

[Brewcrafter]

Tommy , those are beautiful!  Does he also actually use them (I wouldn't!  I would be too nervous!  I'm not judging here, I'm just curious.)  And I suspect his resources for tools are probably a little more sophisticated as opposed to the reel posted at the top of the thread; but these are both works of art. - john