Fin-Nor reels - Just as you find them.

Started by 54bullseye, October 11, 2019, 08:47:50 AM

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54bullseye

Just picked up a nice older Fin-Nor off "the bay" and was very pleased when I opened the box !!! I haven't cleaned reel yet but will over this weekend. Many old Fin-Nor's seem to have sticky drags and sometimes there not working at all but this one is smooth and everything works great !!! I believe it to be an early 1950s reel. Serial # F 166 and I have a friend that has the exact same reel serial # F 165 that is a cool find for the older Fin-Nor's !!! I think it is one good looking old reel that seems to work like a charm !!!!   Thanks for looking.    John Taylor

54bullseye

#1
couple more pics.  To me these old Fin-Nor's are art work !! ;D    John Taylor

milne

Wow John,
              That is beautiful reel,
             Congrates on your find.


Col

CapeFish

That's quite a piece of engineering! Very nice.

Cheers,

Leon

Swami805

Do what you can with that you have where you are

Crow

Good score !  They look to be a quality machine !
There's nothing wrong with a few "F's" on your record....Food, Fun, Flowers, Fishing, Friends, and Fun....to name just a few !

Donnyboat

Great find John, your one lucky man, cheers Don.
Don, or donnyboat

1badf350

It should be "Fin Nor reels just as John Taylor finds them" LOL Nobody else has a chance
-Chris

"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people and I require the same from them."
John Wayne as J.B. Books in "The Shootist"

Reeltyme

All right John! You and I gotta talk! I scour the Bay EVERY morning! I check big game, vintage big game, Fin Nor, ?/0 sizes, and every other configuration known to man, never did I see this beauty listed! You have to share that secret! That's a true beauty! Congratulations.
Reeltyme,
Randy McConnell

54bullseye

It wasn't on there long enough for you to see it !!!!  Lol !!!  No shared secrets either !!  John Taylor

Cuttyhunker

Last year You folks here helped me ID a Regal 20 that came in a pail deal, 1bad350 Chris was the guy who nailed it.  While rough on the outside, I opened it up a few days ago for a lube and new drag grease, just simple elegance internally.  Spooled it up with mono and braid and took it for a boat ride out in the Gulf looking for grouper.  Ended up with some "other" species in the fridge at the end of the day. The Regal was just a joy to work with. It'll be heading out again soon.  Cool old reel.
Doomed from childhood

54bullseye

Nice reel !! The Regal was designed by Gar Wood Jr. son of the boat racer / designer from Florida he also designed the Fin-Nor fly reels and the No.3 and No.4 spinning reels from Fin-Nor. I have one of Gar Woods Prototype Regal reels.   John Taylor

Cuttyhunker

John,
I remember a Fin Nor spinner from the late 60's that, if I recall correctly, had a pickup notch, that was an automatic line pickup, in the spinning rotor with no bail and was quite a bit smaller than the Mitch 302 or Penn 700 common in the day.  Never did get to fish it, just played with it on the dock as it belonged to a charter party.  I know that the conversion of the 704 and others to manual pickup is a common mod these days as full bails can be a pain.  Why has this design seemed to have vanished?
Thanks,
Bob 
Doomed from childhood

Penn Chronology

Very nice Fin-Nor John. I have never seen one colored like that. I seem to remember that war time Fin-Nor reels were black. Do you the age of the reel. It looks like a two speed version. I do not know when Fin-Nor upgraded to the two speed reels, so I am lost in the vintage.

54bullseye

#14
Quote from: Penn Chronology on December 22, 2019, 08:08:03 AM
Very nice Fin-Nor John. I have never seen one colored like that. I seem to remember that war time Fin-Nor reels were black. Do you the age of the reel. It looks like a two speed version. I do not know when Fin-Nor upgraded to the two speed reels, so I am lost in the vintage.

Mike Fin-Nor came out with there first two speed in 1937 different than mine it was very complicated to switch gears in the heat of the battle. Then in 1939 or 40 they came out with the design of two speeds like this one and they stuck around "with minor changes" into the 80s maybe even 90s ! This two speed gear box is bullet proof with big heavy bearings and very rugged gears. As far as dating this reel looking in Ed's book it's early to mid 50s from what I can see and I have seen others in a few different color schemes. The serial # on this is F-166 I have a friend who has reel F-165 and it is exactly the same color combination with all exact same components.

I have about 6 or 7 other 12/0s with the "F" above serial numbers some just silver some silver trimmed in gold
"bearing caps and cross bars" the all gold 12/0s came a bit later. To me these were some really well built reels they reel so smooth with a beautiful clicking sound and when they have been maintained well there drags are smooth and strong !!  Well that's what I know so far about the "F" serial number 12/0s. Between myself and a few other Fin-Nor collectors I know we have around 15 reels with the F # and it's neat to see the slight changes Grieten did on his reels as time went on. I believe all reels were hand fitted in this era not yet mass produced and parts are not all interchangeable.

Thanks for looking.  John Taylor