And yet another great vintage fly reel find.

[BilletHead]

              First of September and the 100-mile garage sale find on 54 highway. Scanning way ahead on a group of canopies I see fishing rods. Not a biggie until I see two rods sticking higher than the others. Bingo fly rods :). I go over and find two old glass rods. One with an automatic reel and the other a manual one. I have bought several auto reels but now in manual mode. Not interested in the two rods I check out the dirty cruddy reel on one of the rods. the fly line was brittle and could see corrosion where the line met the reel spool. Could barely turn the handle. Had 15 bucks on the outfit. the guy said I could split up the set and split up the price. Sold and I took off the reel. After getting back in Pat's vehicle I took an alcohol wipe and cleaned off the name tag. Humm another made in England reel. Second one made across the pond in three weeks. Cool Beans. It is a Pridex made by J.W. and Sons. Redditch, England. I began to google some on the road. The company is still in business. Been operating since 1884. Made several fly reels and some spinning and casting reels. I got the reel cleaned up and fine steel wool to clean up the corrosion on the spool. Some light rust dust around the click and pawl springs and a bit on the spool gear that cleaned up nicely also. I greased things up and put it back together. It was missing one screw that turned out hard to find. It is one of two that attach the release cap for removing the spool. A fellow in a hardware store said it was metric 2.5MM X 6MM. Well, I googled that size up. Of course, found some out of China. Had to order a bunch but stainless steel like the original and only a total of nine bucks. Now just had to wait for the slow boat from China to get them here. They did and not just right plus the head will not set in the cutout in the cap. Crapola, back to square one. I have talked to clock repair people, reel repair people. Sent Email to the reel company and other reel repair folks. No one will get back to me. Crapola again. There are a few Of JW and sons reels for sale on Ebay but did not want to go that way this is supposed to be a cheap hobby. Adding to that most are listed from across the pond and shipping was high.  So, I began to google more and found a J.W. Young reel collectors Facebook page. Again, I think most from Europe. What the heck I reached out and posted my quest for the correct screw.  Within a very few minutes I had a response welcoming me for the post and hey I have one for you and Message me the address. I did and asked how much? Nothing I am sending you a screw for the boss plate. Learned something there the plate is called a Boss over there. Good folks still out there if you search. Another response from a fellow in California offering one. He will be my backup if this first one gets lost in transit. These folks say these reels are every bit as good as Hardy. Don't know much about either one yet. Ok now for pictures. This is a wee reel. 3 inch diameter. Will be a three-weight reel and I have a place for it.  you can see where the missing screw goes on the "boss" with this next pic.    The inside where the click and pawl is. Made to adjust which I did for left hand retrieve. This reel was made in the 50s to early 60s. In this pic you can see a stamped 7/63 and as a guess I thought that was the manufacture date. Turns out my asking on the Facebook post I was right on that.     Then the spool opposite side of the boss.    The screw that is missing.  

 

 

          Got a message this morning the screw was put in the post. We will see when it will arrive. Now to get another 3wt line and @grizwilson said he has a new Rio for me next time we get together. What a Deal!  Just thought I would share this find. The stuff is out there and if it interests you look. If not look for me LOL.  Going to tag @tjm and @kjackson about this @Brian K. Shaffer if I can get his input, I think he leans vintage some? This reel is smooth, no play in the center pin. 

[tjm]

https://www.archuletasreelworks.com/fly-reel-service-repair is frequently recommended

https://www.orcaonline.org/ is a good source of old reel info

I only know what I read about British reels but I'd have said that early J. W. Young was considered equal to Hardy  by some collectors. Back in the '70s when I looked at them, I didn't think the British reels were as well designed as the Medalist was (and I still don't) so I've never bought one, but they sure are more collectable. Young sold a lot of his stuff wholesale under other names particularly Allcocks, but also many others including Hardy, Garcia, Shakespeare, Orvis, Farlow, Milward etc.; so same reels might have different names.

10 hours ago, BilletHead said:

The stuff is out there and if it interests you look. If not look for me

I'm always looking but in my  area I very rarely find fly tackle and when I do it's usually of no value. Well,  I used to always be looking, we don't do yard sales so much in the past few years. 

[BilletHead]

10 minutes ago, tjm said:

https://www.archuletasreelworks.com/fly-reel-service-repair is frequently recommended

https://www.orcaonline.org/ is a good source of old reel info

I only know what I read about British reels but I'd have said that early J. W. Young was considered equal to Hardy  by some collectors. Back in the '70s when I looked at them, I didn't think the British reels were as well designed as the Medalist was (and I still don't) so I've never bought one, but they sure are more collectable. Young sold a lot of his stuff wholesale under other names particularly Allcocks, but also many others including Hardy, Garcia, Shakespeare, Orvis, Farlow, Milward etc.; so same reels might have different names.

I'm always looking but in my  area I very rarely find fly tackle and when I do it's usually of no value. Well,  I used to always be looking, we don't do yard sales so much in the past few years. 

               Good morning and thanks I will bookmark these. 

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

Neat finds and interesting info Marty.  Thanks for taking the time to share.   There are still good people,  many are here.   

[BilletHead]

2 minutes ago, Daryk Campbell Sr said:

Neat finds and interesting info Marty.  Thanks for taking the time to share.   There are still good people,  many are here.   

YES sir they are!

[tjm]

If there is fastener specialty store  near you, they might have a suitable metric  screw that a hardware wouldn't have. And it just occurred to me that if the screw is metric, the reel must be post 1965 when Britain made the change. Otherwise it might be a British BSW size that would hard to find in US.

[BilletHead]

2 hours ago, tjm said:

If there is fastener specialty store  near you, they might have a suitable metric  screw that a hardware wouldn't have. And it just occurred to me that if the screw is metric, the reel must be post 1965 when Briton made the change. Otherwise it might be a British BSW size that would hard to find in US.

          No specialty store close. You might have hit the nail on the head here why the one the hardware store said would work as he compared what he had that were too long with the one I took when looking. The ones I ordered would start pretty good but after a couple turns begin to bind. The reel in question was manufactured in August of 1963 making it the British BSW size you mentioned. I really like this reel and should be looking for a parts reel like it. 

[fishinwrench]

Search "Gun screws". 

Brownell's (if still in business) can provide just about any machine screw you could possibly want.  

 

Or.....if you really want to be a cobbler.....drill it, fill it, and re-tap it. 😉

[tjm]

My guess  3/32" -48 Whitworth

Does the reel foot fit the seats on the rods you have? because some of the earlier JWY feet didn't fit modern rods and there are after market feet available.

 

 

[BilletHead]

6 hours ago, tjm said:

My guess  3/32" -48 Whitworth

Does the reel foot fit the seats on the rods you have? because some of the earlier JWY feet didn't fit modern rods and there are after market feet available.

 

 

                 So this is what I have found. The reel does fit the rod in question I want to put it on, but I have found one of my older English made Madason Reels I just acquired will not fit one of rods I tried it on. Made it work with a thin strip of thin foam under the foot. 

   For anyone interested here is the link for the J.W.Young Reel collector group.   J.W. Young Reel Collectors | Facebook