Old rod and reel

[laurelrun]

I rescued an old rod and reel from my father in law's garage. The reel is a Pfleuger Medalist 1494 which has a lot of wear. And the rod is an eagle claw featherweight 7' 6wt.

The two piece rod is totally frozen. I was afraid to damage it and would love advice on getting it apart.

As for the reel, should I disassemble it to really clean it well? I tore the very old line off it. Any suggestions on what to load it with?

I am guessing this was a very basic setup from the 60s or 70s. So I am not expecting it to be high end performance wise. But being a newbie, I figure an extra rod would be good and this is much shorter than my 5 wt 9' setup.

 

[pszy22]

Good news, both your rod and reel are classics. Both were (and still are) widely used and actively collected by folks who appreciate vintage tackle.

If you are interested, here is some info on your reel -

Medalist Reel

Here's a pretty good write up on how to get stuck rods apart. It helps if you can find another person to help you -

Stuck rod ferrules

have fun,

 

[springer1]

Kroil is the best penetrating oil around. I know people that rebuild commercial jet engines and they turned me on to it. It not only penetrates microscopically, it also breaks down corrosion that binds stuff together.

http://www.kanolabs.com/

It was once hard to find, not any more .... spray some in the connection & store awhile so it will seep in ..... try to pull apart .... repeat. Don't twist.

New Ferrules are available, let me know if you need links.

 

[laurelrun]

Update on the rod. Penetrating oil did the trick. I used PB blaster mainly because I had it. Thanks all for links and help! Now to work on the reel.

 

[mattofcarlisle]

Sounds like a great set up. I just hooked my daughter up with the same rod with a Martin 65 and a Cortland 444 WF6. It loads easily and the grip is not overly large for her 6 year old hands.

 

[springer1]

and a Cortland 444 WF6. It loads easily and

+1 ..... a decent place to start for that rod.

 

[BrookieChaser]

I learned to cast on a setup identical to that. It was what my Dad had and he used it to teach me casting. He still has it, I should grab it sometime and see if I can still cast it.

 

[gfen]

springer1 wrote:
Kroil is the best penetrating oil around. I know people that rebuild commercial jet engines and they turned me on to it..

Boeshield, from the fine folks at Boeing, which was (as you can imagine) designed to work on their aircraft without ruining rubber or plastic seals.

It also won't ruin 90 year old Japanning:

 

[GenCon]

gfen, that is a good looking reel. Laurelrun, glad you got the rod worked out. It's a great old rod.

GenCon

 

[gfen]

More germane to the topic is after a through cleaning with Boeshield and very minimal light greasing, after ~90 years, it continues to function nearly flawlessly (the pawl engagement toggle is worn and either is too lose and will fall off or tightens too far and locks the clicker in place).

The handle is worn and cracked, but the Boeshield kept it intact; which is more than can be said about most cleaners/penetrating oils and the enamel is still intact suffering only wear from years of use and not wiped off by a harsh cleaner.

It doesn't take much to wreck a reel, I've completely wrecked the painted finish of a 1950's era Pflueger Medalist with simple warm water and mild dish soap.

 

[Biggie]

laurelrun, that rod is perfect to use on Clarks.

 

[laurelrun]

Was thinking that yesterday as I was trying to navigate the hemlocks with my 9' Mystic. Should have brought that instead.

I need to convert the Pfleuger to left hand wind and load it up with backing and line. But next time I give Clarks a try, I will bring that rod instead.

 

[gfen]

Some Medalists were easy to convert, some are not. If you open yours and the "drag plate" is plastic, you're in. If its metal, YMMV. You'll know it won't work after you try to flip the plate and there's no groove cut in it to accept the inner ring that holds it in.

Remove two screws holding down the metal ring around the spindle.

Lift off drag plate which will bring the metal ring along with it, watch for the little metal check and the spring under it, depending on how much ancient grease is in there it might go flying off.

Flip plate over, re-align metal check on the spring, put it back on the spindle and use the metal ring to again hold it in place. Test turn. It works? Put two screws in.

If you're motivated, remove the three columns between the upper and lower frame, and stick the line guards to face the alternate direction. Reattach.

 

[foxfire]

gfen is correct, metel plate is PITA. I took me an hour to figure out how the pieces interact - even after having a diagram I printed off the internet. Take your time.

 

[barbless]

gfen, I don't think the reel with the black side plates is japanned. From the photos, that looks like ebonite rubber.

 

[gfen]

Incorrect. It is not ebonite.

 

[barbless]

That's probably the earliest japanned reel I've seen. I had a japanned Shakespeare from the 1930s once, but that one is more like a 1910-1920s style.

 

[foxfire]

What's the best way to add weight to a reel - weighted trolling line as backing???

 

[redietz]

foxfire wrote:
What's the best way to add weight to a reel - weighted trolling line as backing???

That's one way.

If you're talking about a Medalist, there's a little tab on the arbor that you can pry up, add shot, and bend back down.

Or you can wrap the foot with lead wire. (By "foot" I mean the "ankle" if the foot were really a foot.) I used to do that with the little stamped metal Martins back in my less prosperous days.

 

[foxfire]

Yes, it's a 1495. It's at my camp. I can't envision the tab you're referring to?? You mean the tab that takes the spool off, and just insert shot that way? Seems very simple and more effective than changing the backing.