Tatler (Grice and Young) - a quick look

[redsetta]

Hi all,
Here's a cracker old 'Tatler' workhorse by Grice and Young (Christchurch, England) from the late 1940s/early '50s (as far as I'm aware).
They remind me of old steam engines - 'Flying Scotsman'-style.
Full cast-alloy frame, with a bakelite spool.
I've collected five to date and reckon they're a great example of considered design, well-executed.



There are no ball bearings, just Jigmaster-style bushings - though I believe this pre-dates the first 500 (ie circa 1958) by quite some years.
Freespool is great, despite the bakelite spool being very slightly warped.





You can see here the stainless/brass clicker mechanism - well thought-out, yet simple...
After 60-odd years of use, there's no evident wear and the long spring still has plenty of torsion.
A standard bridge, eccentric and yoke set-up, but the pinion has the opposite male/female junction to Penn etc.
Both the main gear and pinion are S/S.



Even the spacer spring between the handle and star is S/S and nicely cut.



The star drag is really nicely made, too.



Here's the anti-reverse mechanism - lovely. Double S/S dogs, working on an 'alternating click' like Sal's 114H upgrade (http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=3077.msg22269#msg22269).
It's a bit hard to see due to the flash, but the dogs engage one at a time.
The dog springs are an excellent design.
The ratchet is a stainless 'ring' gear which slots in over a smaller brass ratchet.



Nice alloy side plates (edit: they're actually GFN, as noted by Tom below) make it a pretty robust frame.
Also, another view of the clicker mechanism.



All I've done here is replace the fibre washer under the main gear with an HT-100 from a Penn 320.
At some stage, I'll measure up the drag stack and replace the lot with CF, but will need to cut some new S/S washers as the current set-up is 3+1 and will need to be 5+1 to fit properly.



And that's that (for now)...



Hope it was of some interest.
All the best, Justin

[Bryan Young]

Wow, thanks Justin.  It's amazing what was deisgned years ago is still used in designs today.  That looks like one quality reel.

[Irish Jigger]

Great reels,I still see some being fished over here,must be at least 50 years old. I think the frames were made from GFN(glass filled nylon) as they never corroded. The late and famous Irish Aviator and dedicated Sea Angler,Captain "Paddy" Saul who navigated Charles Kingsford Smith on the North Atlantic crossing of his circumnavigation flight in 1930 imported these reels into Ireland from the UK in the 60's. He then had a fishing tackle shop in Carlingford County Louth and sold them in kit form at about $2 each as they were duty free when sold as parts. We had a guy in our fishing club who assembled them for us way back then.(Dry drags!)
Incidentally the actual "Southern Cross" is exhibited in the Aviation Museum, Brisbane,Australia where  many of "Smithy's" pioneering flights started and finished.

[redsetta]

Thanks for the clarification on the frame material Tom.
It's really indistinguishable from a light alloy on this gold one, but after a closer look at some of my more 'battle weary' Tatlers, it's apparent that it's a composite.
$2 for a Tatler?! What a bargain! 
Cheers mate, Justin

[Snagged2]

Great "Expo" on that reel,, Interesting to say the least..Thanks

[Irish Jigger]

Aye Justin,those were the good old days. Grice and Young made some great reels.  I still have one of their original all stainless steel Seajecta boat reels.
Cheers,Tom.

[Tile]

That reel deserves a full restoration: new paintjob on the frame and sideplate and a new chrome job on metal parts. I really like the bridge style desing on the gear train and the Jigmaster-style bushings. No wonder that it stood up to years of use.

[Alto Mare]

That's one nice reel Justin, thanks for sharing. I see a little Penn and Ocean City in that reel. I'm with Tile, that reel deserves a full restoration. I would also change the spool.... too much of a reel for a plastic spool. Sal
Show us the others if you don't mind. Very nice Justin .

[Jimmer]

I really like the double AR dogs right on the bridge, how much that must simplify assembly, no holding four bridge screws and making a 180 with springs flying out - Nice.

[redsetta]

Cheers lads.
Here's the rest of 'em, for those who're interested.
The first is the equivalent of a 6/0, while the rest are comparable to 4/0.







As an aside, here's the full assembly:



Will definitely look into a full restoration at some point.
Gears are no longer available, so will have to get some cut.
I reckon it'd be worth the expense and hassle though...
All the best, Justin

[eric]

Hi redsetta,

Great to find another Tatler collector. Used to fish them back in the 70's for sharks and rays off the jetties/piers in South Australia when I lived there. Still finding some top condition ones on eBay....recently got a mint Mark V black Tatler with box, spanner and brochure. I have collected the range from Mark III through V in brown and black and still looking for the elusive Mark II.

The holy grail find would be one of the 8/0 size white Oceanic Tatlers referred to in some brochures. Don't quote me, but I think they are not the same as the mottled silver side plated model that was produced early in the piece with the black spool.

Have you heard of/seen one of these Oceanic model Tatlers?

There are plenty of 'poor condition' Tatlers for sale cheap on eBay which provide replacement parts...it's good that the side plates and gearing are the same size for all the models making spare part swapping a lot easier.

Good to see the diagrams and pictures of you Tatler collection.


Regards
Eric

[Alto Mare]

Very nice Justin. Your posts are always enjoyable. Thanks for sharing . Sal

[Irish Jigger]

Coincidental or what?

http://www.tatlerreels.com/

[redsetta]

That's great news Tom - well spotted.

A BRITISH & WORLD RECORD HALIBUT of 234LB was landed using an original TATLER  Multiplier Reel.

A 234lb halibut?! Jaysus!  
Cheers, Justin
PS Eric, I haven't seen the Oceanic series, but will certainly keep an eye out now!
Cheers for the info - will keep in touch.

[Irish Jigger]

The  steel gears on these reels were about the only parts that gave trouble over the years. This UK reel repair company still carries some Tatler spares.

http://www.fishingreelrepairs.co.uk/about_us.htm