Two Zephyr Reels

[Harry H]

But who made which reel? Or is it a matter of how old they are?
Neither has been used in quite a while judging from the line that's fitted..
Both have Roman numerals inside.

[JW1]

I have one by Smith & Wall, their initials are stamped on the inside of the leg, which is covered up by the backplate, meaning I had to remove the rivets and taking it apart before discovering them.

[Crucian]

Two very nice reels, I would be interested to know how well they spin. I’ve been giving gentle thought to making something similar.

[Dokterhoo]

Hi,
I am not sure who made the "News of The World " reel, but I have seen several reels similar to the lower reel which have been identified as "Albert Smith" with the alloy parts being pressed from sheet material as opposed to being machined castings.

Hope this helps,
Dok

[Moley]

Reuben Heaton made Zephyr Reels, blatantly stealing the Slater Catch from Slaters of Nottingham. However some form of retribution came when they sacked Albert Smith in 1913 or there abouts, who joined forces with his mate Wall (sorry forgot his first name) copying the Heaton Zephyr when the temporary patent ran out. The tackle business was a cut throat one even then.

Reuben Heaton was a major manufacturer of a lot of unnamed old tackle, very often making up orders for Young's and even Hardy. A lot of this information has been lost to secretive collectors but was once shown the original ledgers that showed paperwork for these orders from other reel makers.


This subject has been covered long ago on this very site so good hunting..... it's all there.

As ever,.......

Moley

[Rod Fisher]

Reuben Heaton made Zephyr Reels, blatantly stealing the Slater Catch from Slaters of Nottingham. However some form of retribution came when they sacked Albert Smith in 1913 or there abouts, who joined forces with his mate Wall (sorry forgot his first name) copying the Heaton Zephyr when the temporary patent ran out. The tackle business was a cut throat one even then.

Reuben Heaton was a major manufacturer of a lot of unnamed old tackle, very often making up orders for Young's and even Hardy. A lot of this information has been lost to secretive collectors but was once shown the original ledgers that showed paperwork for these orders from other reel makers.


This subject has been covered long ago on this very site so good hunting..... it's all there.

As ever,.......

Moley

Smith & Wall Ltd. was formed in 1909, but Smith & Wall had been wholesale reel manufacturers in Birmingham since at least 1886. Slater was from Newark, and didn't invent what is termed the Slater catch/latch.

[Harry H]

Two very nice reels, I would be interested to know how well they spin. I’ve been giving gentle thought to making something similar.

Send me a pm if you'd like to borrow them

[Harry H]

Hi,
I am not sure who made the "News of The World " reel, but I have seen several reels similar to the lower reel which have been identified as "Albert Smith" with the alloy parts being pressed from sheet material as opposed to being machined castings.

Hope this helps,
Dok

That certainly looks to be the case with the spool, it looks like it could be easily bent.

[Crucian]

Two very nice reels, I would be interested to know how well they spin. I’ve been giving gentle thought to making something similar.

Send me a pm if you'd like to borrow them

Thanks Harry, that’s a kind offer, and much appreciated

[StefanDuma]

The Slater catch was invented by Brailsford of Nottingham as covered in my book Men of Trent. The Zephry or Zepher as it was originally named was introduced by Slater in December 1896. It was not patented. Heatons and other manufacturers did not originally name their reels Zephry. This term has, in my opinion, been adopted by modern collectors to embellish a style of reels similar to the Slater Zephry. They bear no resemblance to the superb quality of the Zephry, the Wallis Zephry, the Sandbach Zephry or the other variants of the Slater design.
I think the Smith & Wall reel was called the Walnut Whisper.