Thoughts on this Mitchell Full Bail/Half Bail

[spadej1]

I tried to post this to the Mitchell Mates forum, but couldn't create an account. I figured I'd try it here as there are plenty of savvy collectors around to pitch in. I just acquired this Mitchell reel, which I took a chance on because it seemed interesting. It was a pre-300 with a full bail, but had an early serial number usually attributed to the half bail era. The spool and handle were newer, but those are frequently replaced with new parts. Anyway, I figured it was a half bail that had the head replaced (and a few other parts), but maybe it was a legitimate very early full bail which I had heard about on the Mitchell Museum website and Wallace Carney's Mitchell history book. Low and behold, when I receive the reel, it has the baffle plate and head parts that are listed as only found on the very early full bail pilot runs. Now the question here is whether or not these are indeed rare. Like I mentioned, the handle and spool are not likely to be original, and the information about these pilot reels says that they all have level-wind gearing. This one has cross-wind gearing. Makes me feel like the head may very well be a very early full bail, but this is probably not something as rare as it seems or original to this reel body. I am attaching some pics of the reel body, gearing, and baffle plate and would love feedback. The reel isn't in great shape cosmetically, but seems like it will be fully operational once I get it cleaned up a bit. I should also mention that there is red primer on the head, and another pre-300 Mitchell I have with a full bail does not have red primer. I don't really know when this changed, so I can't say if its relevant or not.

[Smead]

I'm not that sure that what's called a full bail "Pilot" reel is as super rare as suggested, perhaps just very early. There was a period of time before the Hardy patent expired during which it has been stated that Mitchell paid to use the feature. Having primer would seem to support this. It does have the early style CW gearing.

Link from the MRM, the page includes a picture of the inside of a "Pilot" rotor:

http://www.mitchellreelmuseum.com/index ... y/133.html

I run across 4 of them in the last 5 years.

Anything Mitchell is open to debate and interpretation.

[spadej1]

Ok, that's where I was leaning but I'm not really experienced at this. I read thoroughly and try my best. I figured I would get some other input on this. As near as I can tell, as the baffle plate was sticking, the rotor looks the same as in the pictures. I didn't want to use much force before but when I clean it up I'll check for sure. Either way, it didn't cost that much and I'm really happy to have something interesting to show. Thanks for the info!

[Midway Tommy D]

You guys might want to check your computers for a trojan or malware. Google Safe Browsing stopped me from going there because they detected malware on the Mitchell Museum site.

[Smead]

That has been brought to the attention of the website owner previously with no response so far... I posted about the issue to a moderator again last night.

[Paul M]

Yeah, that is a shame. The Mitchell Museum website has been a handy resource for many. I hope that someone gets it back under control.

Paul M

[Smead]

From reading at the directed Google page, it's likely that the issue is in the forum and probably is a missed spam post with a suspect link in it. Eliminating any such posts found may fix the issue. I suspect that one of those Google search bots found something it didn't like.

The site owner may have lost interest.