Mitchell Reel Forum

Not bad shape, seems like 1949 vintage with the A2 serial number. Some paint loss, and a bad main gear, otherwise, everything was OK. Just cleaned and serviced. This one runs very nice, looking forward to a few casts this summer.

Ted

I think the reel is a little younger than 1949. George Saul's new book would put it as 1952 when the first serial numbers appeared. The gears inside will be very high quality.

FusilDarne,
It seems like there are multiple opinions about the dating of Mitchell reels. Just pick a year that you're comfortable with and it can be yours.

Regards,
Ted Lanham

Looks a nice reel

I don’t have a new Mitchell reel book. Or, an old Mitchell reel book. Just this:

https://mitchellreelmuseum.com/dating-m ... l-numbers/

It said A prefix was 49-50, and I just guessed that A2 was fairly early in the run. But, anywhere between 49-52 is still older than me. As to the gears being top quality, I would agree, but, this one had a main gear with a tooth knocked out of parallel, which caused a tick, felt in the handle while cranking, every revolution. The best guess I have to why this happened is the reel was dropped on the handle (the handle needed to be trued, it was slightly bent) and the gear took a shot. I needed to look at the gear under 10X magnification to see it, but, you could feel it as you cranked the reel at any speed. You could not feel it when the reel was run backwards. I bought a used half bail main gear, and the reel runs like a watch, today.

It is actually a very nice reel. I never had a half bail, didn’t know what a half bail was until a month or two ago. I guess I have a collection, but, it is more of an accumulation, and I am just as happy with reels that show a lot of use, but, still run like new, as I am with my very few reels that look like new.

Ted

FusilDarne,
That is quite an interesting 1/2 bail. I would love to see a few more photos of it, especially the insides. Could you give us a few more photos please?
Kind Regards,
Bill

Well, OK. I guess the reel isn’t camera shy:






lexus is 250 0 60 time

I draw the line at cleaning the fresh Mobile 28 grease off, however.

If you look carefully at the picture with the bad gear, you can just make out the bent tooth on the right side. The baggie contains some spare half reel parts that came off the ‘net.

Ted

FusilDarne wrote: ↑Wed Mar 08, 2023 9:14 pm I don’t have a new Mitchell reel book. Or, an old Mitchell reel book. Just this:

https://mitchellreelmuseum.com/dating-m ... l-numbers/

It said A prefix was 49-50, and I just guessed that A2 was fairly early in the run. But, anywhere between 49-52 is still older than me. As to the gears being top quality, I would agree, but, this one had a main gear with a tooth knocked out of parallel, which caused a tick, felt in the handle while cranking, every revolution. The best guess I have to why this happened is the reel was dropped on the handle (the handle needed to be trued, it was slightly bent) and the gear took a shot. I needed to look at the gear under 10X magnification to see it, but, you could feel it as you cranked the reel at any speed. You could not feel it when the reel was run backwards. I bought a used half bail main gear, and the reel runs like a watch, today.

It is actually a very nice reel. I never had a half bail, didn’t know what a half bail was until a month or two ago. I guess I have a collection, but, it is more of an accumulation, and I am just as happy with reels that show a lot of use, but, still run like new, as I am with my very few reels that look like new.

Ted

Yes indeed, this site's own dating system would suggest 1949. It was created many years ago and new evidence suggests it may not be as accurate as we all believed it to be.
It's no one's fault, it's just that the newly discovered evidence had been around for some time but wasn't fully understood.

One of the ways individual gears get damaged is when one tries to remove the handle without first turning the anti-reverse lever to 'off' A swift clout with it still left on can be enough to even knock a gear tooth right off!


Only last week I had the same issue with a second version, only it wasn't a click it was hard knock and I couldn't find the right gear second-hand, so I had to correct it manually. It took me the whole day and I was close to giving up when one more stroke of the file sorted it.

1952 is older than me too. But not by as much as I would like.........a mere two years

FusilDarne,
A very nice 3rd version reel. Thanks for the photos, we love seeing them.
You might want to hold onto those extra parts as spare parts are hard to find and quite expensive for 1/2 bail reels.

Kind Regards,
Bill

There isn’t really any good reason to get rid of a baggie of half bail parts. Since, I now own one.

Like I said, I’m an accumulator, not so much a collector, and I look forward to a few casts with my old reels after work in a few months. None of mine are precious except for the memories of friends and family that fished with me in years gone by. I don’t actually care if my reel is a ‘49, or a ‘52, I just wanted a half bail to play with. In my world, it will be the only one on the block. If I can find a lefty half bail, I’ll probably buy it, just because they are cool. My 301, purchased when I was still a kid, is the only complete reel I own, with box, yellow liner, spare spool and directions. Really, it is the only one I need, but, the others are just so fun to play and fish with.

Tight lines, fellows.

Ted

Added a lefty half bail:





Paint is in horrific condition. But, the reel functions just fine. It had been apart many times, and few of the screws on the outside were usable. The baffle nut was stripped, and I added a shim under the pinion. A6 prefix serial number, a bit later than my right hand half bail.

Waiting for summer. Which one to use first!

Ted

fusilDarne,
Now that's a great ole warrior.

Regards,
Ted Lanham

Thanks, Ted. I would have been embarrassed to put pre clean pictures of it up. It came in a cigar box.

Somebody sprayed some black paint on it at one time, and, taking a tip from the bicycle restoration guys, I went after the new paint with hopes of leaving the old stuff intact. The sideplate was the main victim of the shoddy painter, and a 30 second dip in acetone wrinkled up his low quality handiwork, and left the older Mitchell paint in the same shape it was in when he started. Working it with a toothbrush took the repaint right off. Somebody scratched off most of the paint around the word “Mitchell”, and I just cleaned it up, and left it bare. A lot can happen in 70 years.

The reel needed three better sideplate screws, a new baffle nut, and the spacer that goes behind the baffle, a pair of shims behind the spacer, a shim behind the rotating head, and an additional shim on the pinion. The heads on the two screws on the inside, that retain the plate that mounts the oscillator, were really beat up, but, they still worked, and a guy doesn’t see them, anyway, so, they went back in.

A very smooth running old reel, with fresh grease, and the dirt and grime removed. I don’t believe a collector would be all that interested in it, but, that won’t bother me a bit when I’m tossing a lure in the sunshine this summer.

Tight lines, my brothern.

Ted

FusilDarne,
With a little love the old ones work great !

Regards,
Ted Lanham