An unusual Flick 'Em ....possibly a pre-production model?

[Nobby]

I got a quick look at this reel at The Moat, but it wasn't until I had it on the table under a bright light that I realised just how many differences it has to an 'normal' early Rapidex or Flick 'Em.

Obviously it has the low centreboss of the Forties reels...no one really knows how long it was before they put the taller one one.:



But look at the handles...I've seen just one other like this...it went unsold on eBay last week. Not the usual tapered three-sided patented ones. I can't find anything out about the patent to help with dating either.

Inside there was another difference...no strengthening webs to the inside central section of the spool:



That picture also has another clue that I missed first time around......

Look at the rivet ends that hold the handles and the brass counterweight. They have round holes. The usual rivet ends are square so that they may be gripped by a tool and held in place as the reel is pressed up tight.


This reel was hand-built before the production line was ungraded for semi-automatic reel assembly.

Here's more bits without the semi-automatic assembly holes:



The reel ( on the right ) beside a later one for comparison:...you can click to enlarge and just make out the 'square' holes on the reel on the left. You will see a different pawl arm pivot too.



Even the check spring is differently heat-treated.

But it's not a prototype I suspect as it has an enamelled badge:



That shot also shows it has a different sized screw for the spring mounting. The sculpted edge of the reel back is different in dimensions to usual early sculpted backs and appears to possibly have been machined rather than cast there......


So...when was it made? Who can tell, but everything about it suggests to me that it is from before the production line was up to speed fully....so sometime just after World war 2 had ended and reel production re-commenced....1945...'46 maybe?

The sculpted body of the reel back continued on in a slightly different form...cast I think, not machined...for several years, but was always used for the Milwards version of the reel for some reason, right up until the mid-Sixties when Milwards dropped the reel in favour of a Trudex clone.
The low centreboss seems to have been changed about 1949 but confusingly the Allcocks Guides continued right into the Sixties using the old image of a low bossed reel. Yet another fault in the Guides......

I'm indebted to a fellow TFF member for showing me such an interesting reel.

By the way..the reel appears unfished and has absolutely no wear in it....it's not even run-in yet!

[Lea Dweller]

I showed the reel to another knowledgeable friend that suggested that the "non-pinched" handles were used on several other j.w.young reels and they may have just used whatever was available when putting this reel together? I have no idea myself!

[Wallys-Cast]

I think those winding handles were only used on some Allcocks versions from Youngs. The 3 3/4" post war aerial had them and the Allcocks Viking which was the Allcocks version of the Seldex.

Ted, your reel is very similar to this one which I sold to another tff member last year. The only difference I can see is the winding handles and a washer on the inside of the check lever stud.






A lovely reel to use and very evocative of the war years with that wrinkle finish paint.

Wal.

[Lea Dweller]

I agree Wal, my reel is very similar to yours, but the two differences that you have mentioned obviously have some significance. Had it not been for Nobby's keen eyes my reel would have just been another early Allcock's Flickem, albeit in exceptionally little used condition! This is another example of being a member of this forum, I am learning so much about vintage and traditional tackle.

[Nobby]

Actually there is another difference..well two....Wal's had a brass badge and has the later, bigger screw for the spring mounting.

I'd have guessed at the brass badge being the first version, but maybe not with those handles. At a pinch I'd guess that both reels are late Forties, as there are some images of the new higher centreboss around for 1949, which is the year of the first post War Guide as far as I know.



This all just goes to show what a shower J W Youngs were....we're back with the Ambidex all over again and we all know that way lies madness!

[Wallys-Cast]

They were probably just using up backplates and other standardised reel parts before the launch of the new Rapidex which really only needed a different badge or colour change to put a different retailers order into production.

Wal.

[Reedling]

It sounds to me like Young's were a pretty shrewd company where nothing went to waste. I find it very interesting reading posts like this that show how these companies may have kept waste to a minimum, I should imagine leanness from the wars would have helped promote this attitude... and bottom line of course!

[Nobby]

I'm sure you're right..."Make do and mend" and " Waste not-want not" were expressions in everyday use then...I don't think a day went past without my parents or grandparents using one of those expressions.

Which is perhaps at the root of the rumour of them using up the old WD 'wrinkle finish' paint on these reels. There has been mention of them making aircraft instruments as part of their war effort, but their site only mentions the firing button on Spitfires.

No wrinkle finish paint, but it don't half look like an Ambidex flyer...

http://spitfirespares.co.uk/Website%20P ... ip%203.jpg

[Lea Dweller]

They were probably just using up backplates and other standardised reel parts before the launch of the new Rapidex which really only needed a different badge or colour change to put a different retailers order into production.

Wal.

I think that you are right Wal, I was told years ago when I showed my only aerial to a collector (The one with the ebonite rear drum flange) that Allcocks were using up the ebonite flanges that they had left. Similarly handles and feet were used up over time, resulting in some confusing combinations when trying to date them years later!

[Wallys-Cast]

They were probably just using up backplates and other standardised reel parts before the launch of the new Rapidex which really only needed a different badge or colour change to put a different retailers order into production.

Wal.

I think that you are right Wal, I was told years ago when I showed my only aerial to a collector (The one with the ebonite rear drum flange) that Allcocks were using up the ebonite flanges that they had left. Similarly handles and feet were used up over time, resulting in some confusing combinations when trying to date them years later!

Yes Ted and remember they offered really good guarantees with their reels so if a reel was sent back for repair and they had recently changed the design of the part required to do the repair, you would probably end up with a hybrid which would have us all puzzling over today.

Wal.