How about a cradle reel with a NOS----1960's Penn 349HC

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m3040c
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How about a cradle reel with a NOS----1960's Penn 349HC

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OK, here is how it all happened. I saw a Neptuna Cradle reel on EBay. It seemed to me to be all new parts, but not perfect. When I saw it, I felt this may be a display piece or something like that. So I throw a low bid and watch it for a few days. I put in a snipe at about $150.00 and forget about it.

This is a complete cradle handle assembly built by Neptuna. I have seen this style before. This one happens to have a NOS Penn Left Hand drive Penn 49 mounted in it. That is what started the wheels in my rusty old head turning. Not that I am left handed, but, I know someone that was looking for a mint, left hand drive Penn 49 (they are not that easy to find). This someone, also has a large supply of really nice Penn 349's.

Anyways, The auctions ends and I win the rig for $110 plus $15.00 shipping. In my book that is a good deal.
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So now I ask my friend if he wants to trade a NOS Penn 49LH missing a stand and some cross bars for a decent 349HC to mount in this Neptuna cradle and he jumps at the deal.

Let me take a step back here. The cradle assembly I won had a Penn 49LH mounted into a cradle that Neptuna drilled and tapped for a 349. The first thing I had to do when I removed the 49 from the cradle was to Epoxy Putty the extra stand holes that the previous owner drilled into the cradle and clean out the threads of the old 349 stand holes. Now I was ready for the 349HC I was going to mount in this cradle after the trade was done. While I was waiting for the mail runs to be accomplished and for me to have my 349, I started playing with the other reason I bid on this reel.

I have had for years, a custom built wire line trolling rod. It was built on a Lamiglass blank, with carbide guides and a Aftco roller tip and it was a really nice rod. So, I now cut the handle off this perfectly good rod and begin the preparation to install it on my new Neptuna handle. The biggest kink with this build is to get a male locking ferrule that mates with the female ferrule that is epoxied into the Neptuna cradle end. This was another reason I bought this rod. I have a few very old but NOS locking reel seats. I keep all kinds of old junk.

Anyways, I put all these loose ends together and my project has a real possibility of actually having a positive end result. I found a old NOS ferrule that fits. Of course I wind up throwing away a perfectly good locking reel seat because I have stolen the male ferrule from it, filled the 49 holes and cut up my perfectly good trolling rod. Now I am ready to build up my rig
Image

I check the fit of my parts and the mail arrives. I neglected to mention that I placed an oak dowel about ten inches up the hollow butt of the rod blank to strengthen the rod end and epoxied the oak dowel inside the end of the blank.

Image

After opening the mail I see my friend has treated me very well. He sent me a NOS in the box 1960's Penn 349HC. Needless to say I was very happy with the second part of my deal / trade.
Image
The time has come to start the finishing process of this little project. With the 349 Mounted into the cradle and the new ferrule epoxied to the rod tip base, this rig is ready to go together.

Image
Image

So, I now have a few less parts floating around my shop and new wire line trolling rig to stand in a wall mount until I get another boat or someone gives me an offer I cannot refuse.................... :roll:
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Last edited by m3040c on Thu Jun 04, 2015 2:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Tightlines666
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Re: How about a cradle reel with a NOS----1960's Penn 349HC

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:D
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john elder
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Re: How about a cradle reel with a NOS----1960's Penn 349HC

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Quite an adventure, Mike! Your story sounds like Frankenstein putting together the monster, but the outcome is stupendous!.... No Abbey Normal, that! :D
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m3040c
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Re: How about a cradle reel with a NOS----1960's Penn 349HC

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Quite an adventure, Mike! Your story sounds like Frankenstein putting together the monster, but the outcome is stupendous!.... No Abbey Normal, that! :D
Thanks John, as I get older, my adventures are not nearly as adventurous as they were in my younger years but they are fun.
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Midway Tommy D
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Re: How about a cradle reel with a NOS----1960's Penn 349HC

Post by Midway Tommy D »

Mike,

Nicely done! :bow: The epoxy should be 100% now, so take it along to Ft. Lauderdale in 2 weeks and try it out on Thursday!

Tom
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Re: How about a cradle reel with a NOS----1960's Penn 349HC

Post by fishhead »

Great job. Those Neptuna cradle rods sure are very cool. I just picked up a really nice Neptuna cradle rod that has a gold cradle and was fitted with a first generation Penn International 50 reel. I picked up the rod and reel combo for $300 complete. The only problem was one of the screws that attached the headplate to the the cradle was frozen and the screw head was all buggered up. I soaked that screw head in Kroil for about 2 weeks putting more Kroil on the screw head every day. Then my best friend and I put that rod and reel on the tailgate of his pick-up truck on top of some towels. I held the rod and reel down while my friend unscrewed the frozen screw. It came out in about 10 seconds. We used my Wheeler 84 piece gunsmithing screwdriver set to use the exact bit that fit that destroyed screw head. Now I am able to disassemble the the reel and service it and put everything back together. Victory at sea! It looks great in the game room and that's where it will stay.
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m3040c
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Re: How about a cradle reel with a NOS----1960's Penn 349HC

Post by m3040c »

The cradles made for Internationals are very hard to find. They make a great display piece. When these reels are in use, it is very import to use anti-seize on the screw thread because of the dis-similar metals in the salt water environment. Putting a chrome plated brass screw into an aluminum casting is an invitation for corrosion and a seized screw. I have fished with a Neptuna rig for many years. Every year I completely take the rig apart, clean and lightly grease everything. They will last forever if cared for. Hanging in a game room only requires dusting from time to time............. :D

My International 80 before completion;
Image

The only Neptuna International 80 I have ever seen.
Image

I have seen a couple of International 20's and, now with your 50, I know of two International 50's.

Neptuna made these cradles in many sizes and for many brands. I have seen Everols mounted in them, Ocean City's and Fin-Nors. I was always surprised that they were not more popular.

I fish with a Neptuna rig set up with a Jigmaster 500. You retain the quick take down feature and the reel become very solid. I am a fan.................... :)
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Re: How about a cradle reel with a NOS----1960's Penn 349HC

Post by fishhead »

That's great. Thank you for sharing that information with me. That Neptuna cradle rod with the Penn International 80 is fantastic.
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Re: How about a cradle reel with a NOS----1960's Penn 349HC

Post by 54bullseye »

m3040c wrote:OK, here is how it all happened. I saw a Neptuna Cradle reel on EBay. It seemed to me to be all new parts, but not perfect. When I saw it, I felt this may be a display piece or something like that. So I throw a low bid and watch it for a few days. I put in a snipe at about $150.00 and forget about it.

This is a complete cradle handle assembly built by Neptuna. I have seen this style before. This one happens to have a NOS Penn Left Hand drive Penn 49 mounted in it. That is what started the wheels in my rusty old head turning. Not that I am left handed, but, I know someone that was looking for a mint, left hand drive Penn 49 (they are not that easy to find). This someone, also has a large supply of really nice Penn 349's.

Anyways, The auctions ends and I win the rig for $110 plus $15.00 shipping. In my book that is a good deal.
Image
So now I ask my friend if he wants to trade a NOS Penn 49LH missing a stand and some cross bars for a decent 349HC to mount in this Neptuna cradle and he jumps at the deal.

Let me take a step back here. The cradle assembly I won had a Penn 49LH mounted into a cradle that Neptuna drilled and tapped for a 349. The first thing I had to do when I removed the 49 from the cradle was to Epoxy Putty the extra stand holes that the previous owner drilled into the cradle and clean out the threads of the old 349 stand holes. Now I was ready for the 349HC I was going to mount in this cradle after the trade was done. While I was waiting for the mail runs to be accomplished and for me to have my 349, I started playing with the other reason I bid on this reel.

I have had for years, a custom built wire line trolling rod. It was built on a Lamiglass blank, with carbide guides and a Aftco roller tip and it was a really nice rod. So, I now cut the handle off this perfectly good rod and begin the preparation to install it on my new Neptuna handle. The biggest kink with this build is to get a male locking ferrule that mates with the female ferrule that is epoxied into the Neptuna cradle end. This was another reason I bought this rod. I have a few very old but NOS locking reel seats. I keep all kinds of old junk.

Anyways, I put all these loose ends together and my project has a real possibility of actually having a positive end result. I found a old NOS ferrule that fits. Of course I wind up throwing away a perfectly good locking reel seat because I have stolen the male ferrule from it, filled the 49 holes and cut up my perfectly good trolling rod. Now I am ready to build up my rig
Image

I check the fit of my parts and the mail arrives. I neglected to mention that I placed an oak dowel about ten inches up the hollow butt of the rod blank to strengthen the rod end and epoxied the oak dowel inside the end of the blank.

Image

After opening the mail I see my friend has treated me very well. He sent me a NOS in the box 1960's Penn 349HC. Needless to say I was very happy with the second part of my deal / trade.
Image
The time has come to start the finishing process of this little project. With the 349 Mounted into the cradle and the new ferrule epoxied to the rod tip base, this rig is ready to go together.

Image
Image

So, I now have a few less parts floating around my shop and new wire line trolling rig to stand in a wall mount until I get another boat or someone gives me an offer I cannot refuse.................... :roll:
Image
HI My name is John I just joined ORCA this morning but have watched and been logged into the forum for a while. I noticed this post about the Nep-Tuna cradle you rebuilt nice job !! You bought this from me off Ebay and you got a great deal !!! I figured it would go higher oh well. I bought it with a couple other cradles they have right handed 349s mounted in them along with rods so I figured I would recoup some of my funds by selling the lefty. Glad you found good use of it. I also noticed that post about the Nep-Tunas with Internationals mounted in them "I love yours with the 80 in it" !!! I have one with a International 30 mounted in it along with a rod. The reel is not the early International with the round clicker knob it has the round knob with the lever built in. The rod is a Garcia Conolon "looks factory" with Aftco older style roller guides on it. If you want I can send you pics to your email but I haven't learned to post pics on this site yet.
I have a bunch of neat cradles Ocean City's some with Montague rods others without and a bunch of Nep-Tunas mostly with rods some factory some I have created like you. I guess Cradles are my biggest passion but I like OC big game reels 600 series and all the early International series and I really like big game rods at least the ones I can afford. Well I just figured I would let you know you did a nice job on the cradle. Thanks John T.
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john elder
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Re: How about a cradle reel with a NOS----1960's Penn 349HC

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Welcome, John! We always love pics here and the board hosts them so feel free to add your show-and-tell!
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54bullseye
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Re: How about a cradle reel with a NOS----1960's Penn 349HC

Post by 54bullseye »

Haven't figured out the picture loading on this site yet "Kind of computer illiterate" just learned how to post them on Ebay. Also not sure if I replied to this post the right way ? I hit the "quote button" probably should have hit reply $%^%$ Oh well I'll get it soon enough. I do have pictures of much of my stuff. Thanks for the reply and I hope the guy who did the post replies to me also as he seems to like the cradles pretty well also !! John T.
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Re: How about a cradle reel with a NOS----1960's Penn 349HC

Post by fishhead »

Beautiful job. I have a Spoofer cradle that needs a rod and has the same set-up where you can insert the rod blank into the sleeve. I guess you just have to get the right size blank that press fits into the sleeve and epoxy it in there right?
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Re: How about a cradle reel with a NOS----1960's Penn 349HC

Post by fishhead »

That oak dowel method looks pretty cool. So that will be plenty strong and it will hold up?
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m3040c
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Re: How about a cradle reel with a NOS----1960's Penn 349HC

Post by m3040c »

Thanks for the reply and I hope the guy who did the post replies to me also as he seems to like the cradles pretty well also !! John T.
Hello John,

Welcome to ORCA, you have found the Holy Grail of historic fishing information right here. We also love new members.

Glad you like my cradle rigs. I have been doing them for many years. I kind of have a soft spot for Neptunas but also like Ocean City rigs or basically any type rig that is built in the cradle reel style. I actually built one I fish with. A jigmaster Neptuna using a modern rod.

A few years ago I bought about fifteen Neptuna cradles, they were all NOS from someone that was connected with the manufacturer. I sold many of them (big mistake on my part); but, the large one I kept and searched for the reel that went into it. Of course, we can see that big cradle was fitted for the International 80. I did not have to modify it at all. The 80 mounted right into it. I am fitting one as we speak for a International 30 and was surprised to hear that you own one. I have to fit the 30 into the one I have and I still have to drill and tap it.

My email address is <mcass1@optonline.net >.

Again,, welcome to ORCA
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m3040c
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Re: How about a cradle reel with a NOS----1960's Penn 349HC

Post by m3040c »

The International 80 project was difficult. I had to find a rod that would fit, be the appropriate era and have a locking reel seat that I could cut and fit to the cradle. The cradle came fitted for the International 80; but, had no rod butt or rod ferrule installed in it. Luckily, I know a Flea Market guy that sells tons of tackle and he had a selection of old rods. Fitting the female portion of the ferrule to the cradle was a trick. I had to ream the cradle to fit the ferrule. I believe I used a 1 1/4 reamer and jigged up the cradle in a drill press to ream it to size. Fitting the handle was easy.The cradle is really massive when compared to other Neptuna units or standard sized reels;
Image

This is basically what is left of the reel seat after you cut it up to create a locking reel seat for the Neptuna.
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And this is what gets fitted into the rod tip end of the cradle.
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Must be conscious of the line up.
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This is one of my favorites. A Neptuna cradle fitted for a Penn Senator 114H. I used a Penn Special Senator 6/0 rod to make a matching rig.
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