Can anyone ID the 'pin?

[JoeNickel]

Inspired by the piking on the pin thread...

Any ideas what it is? 5" drum, 1" wide. My grandad was fishing with it in the late '80s, but I've no idea if it was 30 years old then, or brand new...

Also - the bearing race is sealed behind that little window. It spins well, but sounds a tiny bit grindy. Presume I can unscrew the three screws, take out the plastic cover and oil it. Or should I take out the bearings, clean them, re-oil and hopefully redo the jigsaw...?

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[John Milford]

It looks like it's been hand made by a metal working engineer, Joe? The non-metalic fittings all look hand crafted out of workshop materials too.

Such artisan-made reels are known generically as 'Rolls Royce' centerpins, irrespective of where they were made.

There are holes drilled for handles, but it does not appear as if any were ever fitted? If so, it is a 'batting' reel, for roach and dace - as line would be recovered by simply batting the rim.

[JoeNickel]

Aaaaah, cool.

Yes, no handles. And he used to (and I do) bat it. Or occasionally stick a finger in one of the holes.

He fished in Staffordshire and Derbyshire - could quite feasibly be a Rolls Royce pin from Rolls Royce!

[Monts]

Not too dissimilar to this Dave Ploughman.

dlp-34.jpg

Swallow used to do some in the same style also. Nice reel Joe.

[martin(rockape)]

Nice pins, I'm beginning to feel a slight draw towards a Rolls Royce type pin.

I do like Grice and youngs though.

Regards

Martin

[JoeNickel]

Thanks fellas. Any thoughts on removing that window to oil it? Is this worth doing, or if I'm doing that, should I remove and clean the bearings properly - which makes me a bit nervous!

Monts, that reel looks LOVELY. I'm beginning to think there aren't enough fishing days available to justify all the reels I want to buy....

[Mike J]

Thanks fellas. Any thoughts on removing that window to oil it? Is this worth doing, or if I'm doing that, should I remove and clean the bearings properly - which makes me a bit nervous!

Monts, that reel looks LOVELY. I'm beginning to think there aren't enough fishing days available to justify all the reels I want to buy....

Joe, if it runs well you don't need to oil it.
For trotting you only need it smooth enough for the float rig to turn the spool sufficiently to pull line off and the more you use it the smoother it will run.
The partial knurling and rounded edge on the rim is an indication of it being handmade by an engineer or modified to suit the owner and the colour appears to be leaded, not something Ive seen of any of the reels made during my apprenticeship as a toolmaker.

Rolls Royce reels were made from the billets that were removed when the RR engineers turned the wheel rims from solid blanks.
It was accepted by shop foreman that their engineers were could make all manner of items (often referred to as government jobs) during their lunch breaks, material was free if it was taken from the waste bins and non anglers would even help if they worked on a specialist machine.

Why not do some research into your Grandfather life?

[Esoxuk]

It looks similar to a Nottingham style reel I used to own even down to the Perspex cover on the bearings.
They were made for long trotting on the River Trent in its match fishing heydays of the 1960's and used without the handles with the reel 'batted' to retrieve the line, with the spool removed if you are lucky there could be some information scratched into the backing plate.
They were made 'on the side' in factories or workshops that generally produced non fishing items when no-one was looking.
They are good reels though and worth looking after.
The bearings can be replaced and will have a code etched on the side that can be used to replace at a reasonable cost, if they don't clean up and re-lube well enough. Be careful with the Perspex though as it can be brittle.

[JoeNickel]

Thanks guys. This is fascinating! Really appreciated.

My grandad was an accountant at Allied Brewery (now Carlsberg Tetley) in Burton on Trent. So he'll probably have known boiler makers, engineers etc who worked in the brewery. And he was a president / hon life member of Burton Mutual AA, so could well have known people through the club who were making reels.

Reckon I'll leave the bearings as is. There's no immediate issue, I was just thinking about keeping it in good nick - sounds like it's all good sealed up.

[Mike J]

Thanks guys. This is fascinating! Really appreciated.

My grandad was an accountant at Allied Brewery (now Carlsberg Tetley) in Burton on Trent. So he'll probably have known boiler makers, engineers etc who worked in the brewery. And he was a president / hon life member of Burton Mutual AA, so could well have known people through the club who were making reels.

Reckon I'll leave the bearings as is. There's no immediate issue, I was just thinking about keeping it in good nick - sounds like it's all good sealed up.

Joe, some 'pin fishers run their reels in when new and before a season starts, to get yours up to speed you could do the same.
The basic method is to spin it in your hands while you sit watching TV.
The advanced method is to make a small sail out of plastic or cardboard and attach it to the spool then use a hairdryer to spin the spool. Half an hour is all it will need.

.

[JoeNickel]

It looks similar to a Nottingham style reel I used to own even down to the Perspex cover on the bearings.

It IS one of these - there's one on eBay now. That has handles, but otherwise it's the same reel. Very distinctive foot, with two angled reinforcing bars. And as you say, the bearings behind the little perspex porthole. It's described as a Trentman Leeds Sheffield pattern.

[Monts]

It looks similar to a Nottingham style reel I used to own even down to the Perspex cover on the bearings.

It IS one of these - there's one on eBay now. That has handles, but otherwise it's the same reel. Very distinctive foot, with two angled reinforcing bars. And as you say, the bearings behind the little perspex porthole. It's described as a Trentman Leeds Sheffield pattern.

Save your money for now and place a bid for this on April the 10th.

https://anglingauctions.com/lots/020-a- ... ther-case/

I've always wanted a Witcher, way too rich for me though.

[JoeNickel]

It looks similar to a Nottingham style reel I used to own even down to the Perspex cover on the bearings.

It IS one of these - there's one on eBay now. That has handles, but otherwise it's the same reel. Very distinctive foot, with two angled reinforcing bars. And as you say, the bearings behind the little perspex porthole. It's described as a Trentman Leeds Sheffield pattern.

Save your money for now and place a bid for this on April the 10th.

https://anglingauctions.com/lots/020-a- ... ther-case/

I've always wanted a Witcher, way too rich for me though.

Amazing! I'd consider that, if I wasn't saving my pennies for this; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303058585954

[Monts]

It looks similar to a Nottingham style reel I used to own even down to the Perspex cover on the bearings.

It IS one of these - there's one on eBay now. That has handles, but otherwise it's the same reel. Very distinctive foot, with two angled reinforcing bars. And as you say, the bearings behind the little perspex porthole. It's described as a Trentman Leeds Sheffield pattern.

Save your money for now and place a bid for this on April the 10th.

https://anglingauctions.com/lots/020-a- ... ther-case/

I've always wanted a Witcher, way too rich for me though.

Amazing! I'd consider that, if I wasn't saving my pennies for this; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303058585954

I've got one of those and use it as a paper weight, I'll pop it on eBay this evening when I get home from fishing.

[JoeNickel]