The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I picked up this quite superb float winder recently and discovered the floats attached are all Zephyrs that have been converted. 5 have been changed to an antennae style and the last 2 have a quill top. The workmanship is reasonable. The question really is why? Who would butcher a thing of beauty that is a Zephyr float?
There is nought as queer as folk.

Obviously done by someone that didn't appreciate what they had, shame.

I don't agree with you gentlemen. For me it looks like someone really loved his Zephyrs. He loved them so much that he even adapted them to specific situations where the original float wouldn't work as the angler might have wanted. How much more appreciation can one show to a beloved piece of tackle?

Of course, when we get our hands on an original Zephyr today, none of us would even think about cutting it in half and transforming it. But than it is more a collector's item even if it gets used.
Well, gentlemen, let's be honest, don't we all adapt our user tackle in one way or the other, only to get the best performance out of it?
What would we say if we found an avon float with a snapped off stem which suspiciously looks like Billy Lane's Trent Trotter?

Good point I had not considered that angle.

Extraordinarily ornate carving on the winder! I've never seen anything like that before.

It just might be that the owner didn't like Zephyr's own antennae floats made of heavy copper wire and thought they could be bettered....and he's probably right too!

Another great find, 'Fred'!

Never mind the floats, that winder is a work of art. On topic, I'd think nothing of adapting a drennen float bought today, so the same probably applied to the owner of those lovely old floats. Or maybe they were just the kind of sadists who'd drawn a moustache on the Mona Lisa.

Never seen a winder like that before looks very Nordic to me.

You've made a good point Martin, one I didn't consider.

It is a shame that years ago someone adapted their floats - for them only perhaps - to work as they wanted to and yet to get criticism for doing it!

Many on here adapt rods, reels, floats, rod rests, etc to their own design - I wonder if the winder was by the same hands?

I get some funny looks for fitting single-legged go-faster rings on my favourite canes, but, Oh Boy, do they benefit from them!
Zephyrs were made because paper was an economical material to use; the owner was quite right to adapt them for his own purposes, just as many regard Drennan's current output as raw material for modification.If the original owner turns out to be a well-known angler of his day, it might even make them more collectable.

I must concur with all those who lust after that winder!