Penn Prototype!

[robert ellis]

I saw this at the Santa Rosa, CA Fishing Show during room trading today, cool reel, anyone interested I will give you a phone #

[kingfisher]

Would they swap for a flying PIG that can yodel?

It's based on a '48-'52 model ...The reel I mean ...not the pig.

If you're fair dinkum ...keep your money in your pocket...and I'm just joking about the pig...It's not for swapping or for sale and it can sing , not yodel.

[m3040c]

I agree, it is extremely rare. So are all the tools I have made for my special needs.

There may be some Penn parts used here but this reel is not something that is in the price category the seller is asking. Unless there is some thing here that I do not see.

[john elder]

Holes are neatly drilled in the spool, but not a good life plan for a saltwater real, methinks. Perhaps it was modified as a distance casting reel? But seems the lugs would be a pointless add. Nice conversation piece, but think you could spend that $K in a better place, Robert!

[robert ellis]

I posted this thinking that either Ray or Mike would like to see it and also the guy who is selling it is a great guy and very sharp on vintage tackle, he told me that the side plates are hard rubber, and that unusual for Penn, also the foot is large or maybe he small? so apparently that put it in a different time frame, me I dono? I was just trying to be helpful! Next time I will get some more info before I start typing!

[john elder]

No sin, robert! Thanks for posting. I got a whiff of deja vu with that post... Think we may have seen it before? BTW, is the reel marked anywhere as being Penn?

[robert ellis]

John, I did not see any markings I'm sure, nothing in the pictures, I did listen to his spiel and it sounded very cool to me, about the bronze thing and the crank looks alloy of some sort? would have been to early for stainless but the later crank nuts threw me off a little?

[m3040c]

Robert,

I posted this thinking that either Ray or Mike would like to see it and also the guy who is selling it is a great guy and very sharp on vintage tackle, he told me that the side plates are hard rubber, and that unusual for Penn, also the foot is large or maybe he small? so apparently that put it in a different time frame, me I dono? I was just trying to be helpful! Next time I will keep get some more info before I start typing!

No need to feel that way. It is a interesting reel that raises many questions.

I have seen Penn prototype side plates made of brass but never of hard rubber but that does not mean there are none. This looks more like a high quality home built than a factory reel. If it is a factory reel the time period could never be the 1920's as the tag suggests because the head plate spool bearing and the scalloped handle retaining screw are much more modern parts.

I have no idea what this reel is but one thing is for sure. It makes for a good post.

[kingfisher]

My concern was for Robert and his pocket. With a tag that says very rare , circa 1920's when the first Senator in production was in 1936 and Otto virtually making his Senator from a beefed up Long beach design it was deeply suspicious at once. The spool and posts are the only parts that could be penn made parts.

There was no thought of a dupe by Robert . If it was not for it being called a Penn prototype with a crazy $850 price tag it could be seriously taken for a well made reel build along the design of a Penn .

Thanks for posting Robert. How would it have been if it was genuine and it would have been"Look what you guys missed out on!"

[robert ellis]

Thanks guys, love this club and all you!

[kingfisher]

It has gone to ebay and the highest bidder will decide what it is worth.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/380597250758 ... 1423.l2649

[m3040c]

Ray ,

I hope you and I are not going to fight over this one too and then loose it anyways

[kingfisher]

Haven't recovered from the last Barney . I'll leave this one for you to take on all comers

[m3040c]

Glad to hear that. Now that means it is One Down and One Thousand to go

[kingfisher]

Sic 'em Rex.

[Midway Tommy D]

What are you guys paying if I don't bid

[kingfisher]

Compliments

[robert ellis]

Sold for $179.50

[m3040c]

It certainly did but I did not buy it...

[BAP-62]

I'm the one that got it. It arrived today, quite a reel. The plates are hard rubber as you can see that they are still black on the inside and have turned brown. The rosette screws thst hold the handle and free spool lever look like Penn, but the Penn wrench will not fit them. I'm going to have make a wrench to fit them so I can take it apart the rest of the way. This reel is larger than a Penn 9/0. Plate dia is 5.140, Penn 4.642. Inside plate to plate width is 3.680 Penn 3.235. I like it.

[robert ellis]

So glad someone in the family won it! I did want to see its innards! I bet if you wait, you may find someone here that has the correct wrench, (to big or to small?) whether it be a from another reel maker or an after market tool? I'm sure Mike would know!

[john elder]

Brian, all the wrenches are not the same, as you've probably noted. There is one that has a series of at least 3 if not 4 different sizes on the one wrench and that one usually covers anything I've tried to open. I should have a spare if you can't dig one up.

[m3040c]

No doubt a Penn design but many of the parts have a hand made rather than a production look. The bridge is a Penn style but does not look like a Penn part. The eccentric jack plate also looks hand made. I would think the eccentric cam and spring are Penn as are the main and pinion gears.

The wrenches for the scalloped screws come in at least two sizes for Penn reels and there are other sizes used on other brand reels that may fit. If I remember the looks of the handle screw correctly, it did not look like any I had seen before. There was a subtle difference between it and a Penn screw.

What I do find a bit strange is the fact that the side plates are made of hard rubber. The strength of Bakelite, I would think, is necessary in the design of this style reel. Especially if you consider the eccentric jack plate is guided by a molded in post. Hard rubber does not seem like it would the structural integrity to be strong enough to guide the plate over too long a period, but being that this reel may be a prototype and the side plates are machined rather than molded, that may be a meaningless observation.

The spool sides look like Swiss cheese, very strange for a conventional reel. Being that the holes have also been countersunk on the inside, I have to assume that all these holes exist in order to reduce weight.

Congratulations on winning this interesting reel. I hope, in time, you find some provenance on it and share that with us.,