Mitchell Reel Museum Discussion Group

Hey JF,

C'est magnifique, magnifique!

Thank you for your post. (Sorry, I didn't get to say this sooner.) Also, wild guess on my part, I'm thinking you've got some some more of these things (?).

Plus, thanks for the additions from Mates.

All far beyond me, but I appreciate from afar (my 300's were everyday).

John

Well somehow I missed this thread from back months ago.

Jeremy, what a marvellous find! Searching your other posts I found even more!


Thank-you for taking the trouble to share your finds with us all.


Might you be the same Jeremy Fisher who once owned a certain Chris Yates Gudgeon Float Tube by Paul Cook? I still have an image of it for posterity.

Looking at these new shots of the handle, I would be of the opinion that it was made from rosewood, not mahogany. Mahogany is lighter in weight, softer and more open grained than rosewood.

The photos indicate the appearance of a very tight grained wood. I don’t think that mahogany is tough enough to make a reel handle that would take the strain without splitting.

On musical instruments, rosewood was used for bridges and fingerboards which are the hard use parts of the instrument. Mahogany was often used for necks, due to it’s stability.

This is only my opinion and I don’t hold myself to be an expert on the subject of tropical woods. It is unfortunate that Mitchell Company Records don’t appear to give any indication of what material was in use.

G. Glen Simpson
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Correction.

Thanks to Bailarm, I now know that cover plate screws were steel or plated brass : not aluminium.

JF.