1949 French Fraser spinning reel/ complete stripdown and restore/ Completed!

[Woodbilly]

Acquired this used and in rough shape, but beautiful,  French Fraser spinning reel.
ca: 1949

any help on info appreciated.

Can't find much out there.

She appears to have had an active life and could probably tell some stories.

This is a big body reel for saltwater or large freshwater fish.

Nice anodized cobalt blue finish and anodized gold spool.

This is way larger than any reel I'll ever use, but the very unique sleeved, pull out internals really lured me in. No pun intended. . Lol

A solid body that requires the entire reel internals to first be assembled and then set into reel body.

Never saw this before. Very cool construction.

Sweet brass brightwork and parts on this old girl.

Look at that side plate cover, drive gear, and non rotating shaft spring loaded yoke!

I had no strip info on this other than an exploded parts diagram I found online.

Took alot of pictures and had to stop and investigate closely, quite a bit upon disassembly.

This one was tricky, but easy, after the fact, once it was figured out.

Crank and flier bail arm fitments are crusty and nickel finish is pretty much gone.

Original wooden knob is still nice and intact with some original paint.

I am going to try and clean the oxidized crust up with the buffer wheel.

We'll see...

Everything getting a clean and polish before reassembly.

Stay tuned!

[Woodbilly]

Final pictures

[Donnyboat]

Nice strong looking reel, thanks for posting, first one I have ever seen, cheers Don.

[Woodbilly]

Nice strong looking reel, thanks for posting, first one I have ever seen, cheers Don.

 Thank you! It is a very robust reel.
 Could easily handle a good sized fish for sure.

[happyhooker]

A beauty! Very unique.  Viva La France!

Frank (Francois)

[Woodbilly]

A beauty! Very unique.  Viva La France!

Frank (Francois)

She is! Thanks!

[Woodbilly]

Finished up the stripdown and restore on the 1949 Fraser.
Quite the unique reel, if I must say.
 Only kind I have ever seem like this.

Got everything cleaned and shined up nicely!

I also used my letter punches to initial brass check carrier.

28 ball bearings to handset on this one.
 The 11 at the butt end of the worm gear are set in a threaded sleeve race.
 Thread bushing down almost all the way, exposing the race, to set bearings.
 After settling bearings, thread bushing upward to lock in bearings to shaft.
 Set in place with 2nd threaded ring.

The other 17 are set and then sleeved into housing.

 Very smooth reel with worm gear and bail arm is very responsive, now.
 Nice crisp drag click, as well.

 This old girl works perfectly, now and looks way better, too.

 I will never use it, as it is way larger than anything I use.
 I just had to work on one!
 Now, I can say... mission accomplished!

 This one most likely going up for sale.

Anyways, hopefully this will assist anyone in the future or just provide some reading material!

Peace!

[Woodbilly]

Final pictures

[MACflyer]

Wow! Nice work Woodbilly. Enjoyed seeing the tear down and completed work. Someone will get a reel good for another lifetime. Thanks for sharing.

[happyhooker]

I believe "Mer Saumon" means, literally, in English, "sea salmon", which could be either a model name for this reel, or, the fact that it was intended to be used for salmon or other fish of that size.

Tres bon!

Frank

[Woodbilly]

Wow! Nice work Woodbilly. Enjoyed seeing the tear down and completed work. Someone will get a reel good for another lifetime. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you! It is really a great functioning and looking reel, now.

 

[Woodbilly]

I believe "Mer Saumon" means, literally, in English, "sea salmon", which could be either a model name for this reel, or, the fact that it was intended to be used for salmon or other fish of that size.

Tres bon!

Frank

Exactly, sir! This old girl would easily handle a big ol' salmon and make it a fun time, too!
 Very smooth and well balaced.

[Bobcat]

Beautiful work sir! My hat is off to you!

[Woodbilly]

Beautiful work sir! My hat is off to you!

Thank you! It's really is a spendid reel. I wish it was smaller.

[Midway Tommy]

Well done! Those are tough reels to come by.

Michel Hareau patented the design in 1949. He also had a 1944 patent on a drag design that was used on a reel called the Super-H, but it's not known if he actually made the Super-H. He advertised and sold many of the early manufactured Fraser reels from Paris. Early reels with the perforated spool were considered the Model 49, but there is also a another model with a perforated spool named Corsair Sea. A later model with a solid spool & torpedo handle knob came out in 1951 and was called the Model 51. There was another model made for the US market called the River-Surf. The reels were in production until 1971 and were being advertised by a French mail order company named Motillon. They were also sold by Manufrance under the brand name Ferax. Fraser reels came in three colors, black, blue and a brownish caramel color.