The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Hi chaps
I'm starting on a little study of the early post WW 2 J.W. Young Rapidex, the Miwards Floatcraft and Allcocks Flick- em for my own amusement . Theres are predominantly the " flat front" / "crackle finish " / "Pre LTD" reels . It is already becoming more obvious which are the earliest reels .
I was wondering if any of you might be able to help with one point , do any of you own or have ever seen the Floatcraft or Flick - an version with the early round handles ?
Kind regards
John

Hi john,
Interesting post, I too am interested in these early Young's reels.
These photo's may be of interest...the black reel is a 'flick 'em' and the silver one is a 'Rapidex'. Both are pre LTD, but with several interesting (for me anyway) differences. Please note the low centre caps, one has white writing, the other is plain, one has reinforcing ribs to the spool bush, the other hasn't, etc,. The brass rivets/bushes have the round, not square holes, on both reels. Please note, both reels have the later(?) scalloped/triangular handles.

Hi Crucian
I really appreciate you sharing the images .
The Allcocks has features I've found on very early reels but interestingly has one feature outside of the parameters I've found so far .
The rapidex is also of interest for a number of reasons , it may help show the timeline for the introduction of the black ratchet lever and move to the later high boss . It also has a feature found on much earlier reels .

Its early days yet but other things I'm looking at for the timeline might include:
The foot shrunk around the same time the reinforcing Webs arrived .
The lettering on the Rapidex badge .
Very early reels with round handles.
The top of the spindle itself changes shape from chamfered edges to squared edges and back to chamfered again.
The ratchet lever retaining clip changes position from on top of the pivot to underneath.
JWY204 appears with the web's.
The spring retaining screw head is large on very early reels and then shrinks in size but then it seems to go back to large .
The Floatcraft back is clearly different but it appears the Flick-Em front is different also .
There are other less noticeable things like the thumbwheel spring retaining cup , some rivets , the colour of the ratchet lever (grey , chrone , black)etc etc .
Rather embarrasingly some of the other things I do not know how to name

Both your spindle heads look Chamfered ? Are they identical or is the chamfered a shallower slope on the later rapidex?
John

Fascinating John. Both spindles are chamfered, the spools are in fact interchangeable.

Crucian wrote: ↑Sun Oct 28, 2018 8:26 pm Fascinating John. Both spindles are chamfered, the spools are in fact interchangeable.

Thanks Crucian .
That's What Would be expected, if you looked under a microscope the early one should have a steep chamfer and the later one more sloping .
Your reels seem to be at either end of the reels with flat bosses , one early and one late before the change to the new spindle/ boss .

Hi John, I did bring my early Allcocks Flickem Perfection to Romsey as I thought that you were coming? Nobby has seen it and there are pictures of it on here but I cannot find them. It has the round handles and several other features that Nobby identified as being early, perhaps you can find them?
All the best,
Ted

This is valuable stuff fellers.......and more reels with round holes in the components too! We might actually establish a timeline of changes, even if we can't actually date them.

The Milward's Floatcraft is a bit of an anomaly to my mind....it always has the early sculpted body after the other reels got a new shape. How was this achieved...and why? It has to be a deliberate policy, either by JW Young or at Milward's request...but why? Then, of course, there's the brown paint with a 'wrinkle' finish. It does, perhaps, suggest that Milward wanted something that looked different to what other firms were being supplied with.

Ted I still have the images of your early Flick 'Em if you don't find it on here.

Lea Dweller wrote: ↑Mon Oct 29, 2018 8:23 am Hi John, I did bring my early Allcocks Flickem Perfection to Romsey as I thought that you were coming? Nobby has seen it and there are pictures of it on here but I cannot find them. It has the round handles and several other features that Nobby identified as being early, perhaps you can find them?
All the best,
Ted

Hi Ted
Sorry I was intending on going to Romsey but I'm at the mercy of ill health.
I had remembered your reel but stupidly did not twig it was a Flick-Em with the round handles , (so much for my observation skills )..... so answers my question .
I was intending on looking at images of your reel in that thread and others like Wallys cast reel .

From what I can see so far your reel has a little anomaly outside of the timeline I can see so far . I'm guessing that it may mean yours is one of the last reels of the very early production with rounded handles and with the anomaly it could be important in seeing the timeline of how the changes happened .

I have one important question if I may , the very top of the spindle where it meets the grub screw , are the sides quite flat or chamfered please , it looks flat in the images ?
Many thanks
John

http://traditionalfisherman.com/viewtop ... l+flick+em

Nobby wrote: ↑Mon Oct 29, 2018 8:54 am This is valuable stuff fellers.......and more reels with round holes in the components too! We might actually establish a timeline of changes, even if we can't actually date them .

Hi Nobby
I firmly believe that if we much in and pool infirmation and images it is possible to establish a timeline of changes for all the flat fronted Rapidex models.
Well at least to start with up to the change to the new type spindle and high boss .

I think it's becoming more clear the timeline starts in 1946 or possibly late 1945 . I think I remember the J.W. Youngs history page even suggests wartime production started in 1946 .
I did have a copy of Elwyns J.W.Young book . Sadly I sold it to buy a centrepin

Hi John, here's a few pics of an early Rapidex which may be useful for your study. I found it on ebay a couple of weeks back. It had a broken centre cap but I managed to find an identical one to replace it.
I have taken a shot of the spindle end and there is a very slight chamfer to it but it's not enough to easily press the spool onto. I think this could be the reason we see many with the broken centre caps. It's always better to open the release latch when replacing the spool just in case the cap breaks, after all, they are getting on a bit and it isn't the strongest material.
As you can see from the pics, the rivet staking holes are round, rounded Allcocks type winding handles, no web strengthening and the wrinkle finish paint. It spins beautifully by the way and has no noticeable spindle wear.

Wal.