Old, Weird, Historical, and Unusual Spinning Reels --

Started by foakes, August 26, 2017, 06:36:33 PM

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foakes

If any reel deserves to be restored -- it is this little guy...

Small, grey, extremely well engineered, feels good in your hand, operates well after nearly 70 years --

Metal, solid and compact.

A Martin Precision 27 spinning reel -- out of Mohawk, NY.

Just minding its own business at the bottom of a crate of old reels.

Martin has been around as a fishing tackle company since about 1884.  Known for fly reels, automatic fly reels, and other quality products.  The company has gone through a few ownership changes.  

But like many manufacturers in the early 50's -- when it came time to produce a spinning reel to keep up with the competition -- they cut no corners -- just built it as well as they could.

As I examine this old soldier -- I notice that the upward angle of the reel compared to the mounting foot -- is about 5 degrees -- just enough of a subtle difference to insure the line travels as friction free as possible to the first stripper rod guide.

I am impressed by seemingly small engineering adjustments that some might not notice -- and that most manufacturers just ignore -- if they ever even realized they could make a difference.  Particularly in their haste to produce a spinning reel to compete with other brands.

Best,

Fred
The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

whalebreath

Quote from: Maxed Out on September 01, 2017, 03:42:15 AMFound this one hanging around in my tackle room. 100% functional
Started out with a Crown Planet Junior but soon upgraded to a Johnson Century caught many a Pike, Walleye & Smallmouth with it too actually think I owned two at one time before upgrading to a Shakespeare spinning reel.

Gfish

How come?... Relative to the Mohawk Martin and others such as the Z. Cardinals, etc., how come more spinner designers don't use the worm-pinion ossilation system. It seems superior in simplicity and strength.
Gfish
Fishing tackle is an art form and all fish caught on the right tackle are"Gfish"!

Midway Tommy

Quote from: Gfish on September 01, 2017, 07:08:56 PM
How come?... Relative to the Mohawk Martin and others such as the Z. Cardinals, etc., how come more spinner designers don't use the worm-pinion ossilation system. It seems superior in simplicity and strength.
Gfish

Because it is more expensive to produce. Materials are more expensive and tooling/machinery has to be much more precise, which is also more expensive. If you pay close attention to some reels of 10 to 15 years ago they have a worm gear but the gears are quite abbreviated. Some of those worm gear pinions are only 1/2" long and their teeth are quite coarse. They still call them worm drives, though, but they're clearly not as tight or smooth as the quality reels.
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)

happyhooker

#49
For our left-handed friends....

We see lots of Mitchell 300s, and occasionally, a 301, 300A, 350, 400 or even a 300C.  But, while not rare, you don't see a 301C nearly as much.  They were "improved" over the 301s by having, mainly, a roller line guide and 2 roller bearings inside, one on the rotor shaft & one on the main gear handle shaft.

Frank

foakes

That is a nice old Mitchell, Frank --

According to my records, only a little over 30,000 of those manufactured worldwide between 1969 to 1985.

I have a few 300C, and a few 301 -- but no 301C -- very nice...

Compared to the 20,000,000 in the 300 styles -- that is a pretty low number.  The bearings are nice to have in these reels.

Here is an old guy -- this was the predecessor to the egg shaped body of the 300.

It is an old CAP, round body with a half bail, knurled aluminum crank knob, and a pillar spool.  It does not say Mitchell on it -- so it is before the little round body 304.  There are many variations of the old round bodies --  but this is one of the earlier versions.

This reel may be between 65-70 years old?

No serial number -- just a fancy "7" stamped on the foot.

C.A.P stands for Carpano and Pons -- one of the earlier companies before Mitchell.

Best,

Fred

The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

Midway Tommy

Here's an interesting little reel from 1948 by Lou Meyer, Co of Kenosha, WI. It's called the Flo-Line and was advertised as two reels in one, a bait caster and a spinning reel.  ???  The line spool is about twice as long as a standard sewing thread spool and about one and a half times the diameter. Some people call it "The Pencil Sharpener".  :D

Mount the reel on a casting rod with the spool in line with the rod and cast. The line uncoils like an open face spinning reel.



Flip the lever on the foot at the bottom of the stem to spin the reel 90 degrees and crank in the line like a bait caster. 



The friction washer type drag is adjusted by turning the knurled knob on the crank handle. The small knurled knob on the side of the body is an adjustable click. The more you turn it the more tension and louder the click. If line twist becomes an issue you just pop the spool off the front and flip it around and the line will come off in the opposite direction. The small lever at the bottom on the side of the body reverses the rotation of the spool in that instance.

Unique and neat little reel from the early US spin fishing era. As much as I like it I doubt very much that I could have ever gotten proficient with the crazy thing.  ::)
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)

Alto Mare

Interesting reel Tom. I found one a couple of years back, brand new with box and extra spool. Of course I had to have it :).
Once received, I was surprised to see how little it actually is.

Sal
Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will.

foakes

Look what comes in the mail yesterday -- along with (3) jars of freshly canned Albacore -- regular, smoked with a piece of Salmon, and Jalapeño style.

Thanks, Ted!

Best Always,

Fred
The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

foakes

Here is a little 3500 all metal skirted spinner -- similar to Daiwa or Ryobi.

My guess is late 70's.

Kmart!!!

Few folks outside of those in our age group know that at one time -- Kmart was the single largest retailer of sporting equipment in the world.

Fishing tackle, firearms, camping gear, and much more.

A few of the reels offered were trade reels that were Kmart branded -- but obviously came from Daiwa, Ryobi, and others.

Kmart handled DAM Quick, Mitchell, Penn, Shakespeare, Shimano, Fenwick, Wright-McGill, and many other quality brands that were not rebadged with the Kmart name.

This little reel is impressive -- smooth, solid, probably one main bearing -- works perfect and will catch fish this afternoon if spooled up.

Best,

Fred
The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

newfuturevintage

Nice!

Looks nearly identical, down to the finger-masher/bail trip, to the Daiwa 1500c reel I've got, as well as the 7000c that's my go-to for kayak fishing in salt water...because 1. it works well, and 2. I don't care if it sinks to the bottom :)

happyhooker

I gotta say I'm impressed with Tommy's Flo-Line and Fred's 3500 K-Mart.  All links in the chain of history of spinning gear.

When I was entering adulthood, K-Mart was what WalMart has become today.  I bet if I hunt around, I can find some tackle still in the K-Mart packaging in my basement.

In Phoenix, one of the places I grew up, they had two stores that were my "go-to" sporting goods places (besides K-Mart), those being Yates and Yellow Front.  Yates was an old military surplus store that branched out into sporting goods; Yellow Front was similar, but more sporting goods, especially fishing, right from the get-go.  YF sold "Bud Adams" branded tackle; not sure who Bud was, but he went on a lot of fishing trips with me.

Frank

Midway Tommy

I've often wondered why they would compromise the weight of those style reels with that stupid looking stem and external bail trip configuration. Supposedly the main intention at the time was to reduce net weight and that bail trip set scenario sure doesn't accomplish that objective.  ::)

Few people realize that in 1970 Shakespeare decided to cheapen their spinning reel product line and give KMart exclusive sales rights. The last version of the 2052, 2062, 2081A & 2091A were sold only through KMart through 1977. Towards that end Shakespeare added the President II 2800 series and Bicentennial models. They didn't sell very well, prices were reduced and stock was dumped. It marked the end of that line of USA made spinning reels. The next model, President II 2900 series, was made in Japan.  :(  
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)

happyhooker

I wonder if, on those external bail trip reels, part of the idea was to eliminate some small, moving parts, including a spring that could break.  Might be a little cheaper to assemble, too, by eliminating the need for putting an internal bail trip mechanism together.

Hard to know, I suppose, what Shakespeare might have been thinking 45+ yrs. ago when it made their deal with K-Mart/Kresge.  Thinking back, K-Mart would have been maybe the biggest storefront retailer then, but Sears & Monty Wards were going great guns then too, and not only with catalog sales.  Sears sold everything & had a good sporting goods retail presence as I recall.

Midway Tommy

That was at a time when there was a big Asian competition push and cutting price meant the difference between sales or no sales. The '70s & early '80s were really tough on a lot of the quality reel makers all over the world.  :(
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)