Left handed Mitchell half bail

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spadej1
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Left handed Mitchell half bail

Post by spadej1 »

I posted this question over at the Mitchell Museum, with no response yet. I'm wondering if anyone here (Tom D?) has anything to say. I found a right hand wind Mitchell half bail with no serial number. I initially thought maybe it was a replacement body but in opening it up I'm thinking it's legit. There is a "4" or "v" on the foot. The head is early with a solid baffle and very early spool pawl. It's levelwind and has "THECLA" casting marks on the body and cover plate. Mitchell on the cover plate is inverted. I was just windering if anyone has ever seen this before, as all the info I have seen says that the lefty models came with the beginning of serial numbers. Here are some pics in case my description isn't clear.

-James

Last edited by spadej1 on Sun Aug 27, 2017 7:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
-James-
New to reel collecting so bear with me please. I like reel deals!
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Midway Tommy D
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Re: Left handed Mitchell half bail

Post by Midway Tommy D »

I'm far from a Mitchell expert but it sure looks authentic to me. Hopefully Ed or another one of the Mitchell experts will stop by and add some comments.

It would be my guess that it's one of the earlier 301s since it isn't serialized. The edge wear and priming look consistent all over and the handle & knob are time correct. Those early 301s are very rare. Nice find!
Love those Open Face Spinning Reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco)

Tom DeLong, NE
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Ron Mc
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Re: Left handed Mitchell half bail

Post by Ron Mc »

pretty sure Tom is on this - I've seen one of these before, as well, was owned by my sister's FIL. Note that the mechanism still rotates the same way - the body was the only part that had to be different.
spadej1
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Re: Left handed Mitchell half bail

Post by spadej1 »

I'm far from an expert myself but I know a few things and this seems authentic to me. I wanted to get a second or third opinion just to be sure.

I'm not sure about the mechanisms being the same. My right and left handed half bails spin in opposite directions. I know the later ones have bail trip pins on the opposite side but this one is a solid baffle so I'm not sure if it makes a difference. I could be wrong or mistaken on that though.

-James
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escharfie
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Re: Left handed Mitchell half bail

Post by escharfie »

It looks like it's all original to me. The left hand half bail made it's appearance in 1949 whereas the standard Mitchell came in 1946. What you have seems correct for an EARLY left handed half bail. I agree with Tommy about the lack of serial number making this an EARLY model.

The evolution of the early early spools is quite interesting and I'm not 100% sure as to what the exact sequence is. Here is what I know. Your spool is one of the very early designs, both with the design of the clicker pawl and with the assembly style. Originally the spools were assembled with screws with a couple of different clicker designs. There were lots of variations.

The very first first version spools (large capacity and small capacity) looked like this and was probably not found on the left hand model:


Then more screws were added to the large capacity spool (like your reel). Then the pawls were changed. I know of several different pawls, but I don't know the sequence in which they appeared.



After a while the screws holding the spool together were discontinued in favor of rivets.


The casting marks inside the reel look legitimate to me. Carpano and Pons had more than one outside company do the casting of the reel bodies. These compaines put their marks inside.

The very first Mitchells came with no primer paint. Then the red primer was added (like your reel) for a few years, which was a major improvement. Then the primer was deleted, I think because the type of top coat was improved.

Nice find!
spadej1
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Re: Left handed Mitchell half bail

Post by spadej1 »

Thanks Ed! That's what I thought, but I wanted some extra opinions. I was happy to find a lefty for a good price anyway, but a very early one is even better. The best part was, I got a great deal. Great information as well.

-James
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escharfie
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Re: Left handed Mitchell half bail

Post by escharfie »

James, I stumbled across some information concerning the "THECLA" marking in your reel.

The Thecla Foundry was founded in 1925 in Delle, France, a small town in the French Alps near the Swiss border and not far from Cluses, France, where your reel was made.

Thecla specialized in precision "ZAMAK" castings. ZAMAK is a Zinc-Aluminum-Copper alloy. The Thecla Foundry Co. does not exist anymore. However, the company has morphed into a large, privately held business called Thecla Industries S.A., still in Delle. They now make cast and extruded Aluminum parts for automobiles, like transmission housings and engine parts.

From what I could find out from my source in the Europe, it appears that ONLY the left handed Mitchell reel bodies and cover plates were made by the Thecla Foundry. This will have to be verified.
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Midway Tommy D
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Re: Left handed Mitchell half bail

Post by Midway Tommy D »

If accurate and true, Ed, what a great historic Mitchell informational find!
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Tom DeLong, NE
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escharfie
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Re: Left handed Mitchell half bail

Post by escharfie »

I agree, Tommy. Now I've opened up a can of worms for myself. I'm going to have to open up every early Mitchell reel I have and look for that casting mark to see if it is in the left hand only. This could take a while. :D

I have verified the historical information about the Thecla Foundry from Ministry of Culture France through en.patrimoine-de-france.com.
ED
spadej1
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Re: Left handed Mitchell half bail

Post by spadej1 »

That is some very interesting information. It will be great to see how the research turns out. I don't have enough reels to help much, but I do have an A series serial # lefty that I can check. I have a few right handed early reels that I can check too. I'll let you know what I find.

-James
-James-
New to reel collecting so bear with me please. I like reel deals!
spadej1
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Re: Left handed Mitchell half bail

Post by spadej1 »

Well, I checked my small collection of early Mitchells and here is what I've seen:

Left handed half bail no serial - THECLA
Right handed half bail No serial - Aluvac
Left handed half bail A72378 - THECLA
Right handed half bail B14943R - None
Right handed half bail B83921R - None
Right handed half bail B77617R - None
Right handed half bail A00749R - None but Aluvac on cover plate
Right handed half bail B4?387R - None

Right handed full bail B70008 - None
Right handed full bail B76900 - None
Right handed full bail B54919 - None
Right handed full bail C60372 - None but Aluvac on cover
Right handed full bail 343355 - None

I looked over at the MRM and see that Christian Lhermitte, a well known French collector posted that THECLA produced the early left handed reels. I don't know where he found that, but it would seem to agree with Ed's info. Time will tell, I guess.

-James
-James-
New to reel collecting so bear with me please. I like reel deals!
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